Looking for input on lures for catching pike in early spring. I do decent with spinnerbaits but thought it was time to expand my toolbox.
Pike will eat your shoe sole if you throw it there. They are very aggressive so anything on the faster side of bass fishing works well. Cranks, spinners, spoons, topwater. One other big producer for me is hollow body swimbaits or hard swimbaits. There are so many up here it gets annoying.
Posted Today, 03:33 AM
There isn't a doubt in my mind these home lures would not slay pike and muskie, I even caught bass on smaller versions I've made, weight is about 1.5 oz They are cost effective as the surgical tubes used lasts a long time.
Jig head or trolling sinker..........$.50
Ball chain swivel.........................1.00
Tubing........................................1.00
Limerick 12/0 hook........................50
Wire,split rings, swivels...........nominal
Total about................................$3.00
I catch barracuda from 35 to well over 50", mh spin, 4000 reel, 14# mono.
This is an average sized one.
Bomber Long A and Luck E Strike Tickle Tubes. They work the best for me all year long (except Winter dang ice), but if you find some Tickle Tubes ya better tell me I haven't found any in stores for over 4 years and I'm down to my last one.
Back when I was in NY, I used spoons and caught pike.
Down here in VA, I catch Pickerel on almost anything I throw for bass....
i also catch a fair share when throwing 3.5" shadalicous's for largies...but a bit spendy of baits to get torn up though...the tried & true daredevil...an original rapala floater will slay them as well...jerk baits, white flukes...
when pike are active, i burn the hell outta baits...pike love chasing & fast presentations...up here its very common to speed troll for them, you'd be surprised how fast
Big spoons, big topwaters, swimbaits, and a double tail grub on a heavy jighead are my top baits. I'll give a nod to big jerkbaits as well.
Thats easy...............your most favorite bass lure you have!
I usually throw Terminator spinner baits in the spring and catch a ton I like the Terminators because they dont get destroyed. I also catch a bunch on swim jigs.
Interesting video about using deadbait for pike after the ice gets off of the water.
Husky Jerks (In clown, ghost, and anything with blue/green)
Daredevle spoon - in Red/White
Inline Spinner - Anything with Red in it.
And believe it or not chatterbaits - caught more pike on them than anything else
As Mark said, they'll take anything. If I had to start somewhere, I'd try spinnerbaits. Or grub on jighead in deeper water. They also take all colors, but I've always thought they had an affinity for chartreuse.
I caught this on a pointer 100 jerkbait.
Nice fish Dwight. Can't wait to catch one like that.
They will hit anything. I hauled in a 30" pike on a crappie tube and ultralight gear once - still not sure how I actually got the thing to the boat.
On 2/22/2013 at 1:19 AM, Dwight Hottle said:I caught this on a pointer 100 jerkbait.
I am convinced that Dwight does not catch anything that is considered small. Please prove me wrong..
Awesome fish!
I'm from the same geographic area as you (CNY) and never have any problems catching pike on spoons in fire tiger colors. They hit them all the time.
When pike fishing, several lures are staples in my arsenal:
1) Swim Wizz or Believer plugs in the 8" - 10" size - great trolling lure
2) Wendel's Musky Harrassers - inline bucktail spinners - casting and trolling
3) Hard jerkbaits in the largest sizes available - casting
4) Standard floating Rapala in the #13 size - trolling
Never leave home without them.
The pike around here seem to love my High Power Herring swimbaits.
Nice thing is the finish on them is so hard, it's not an issue with the teeth digging in. All hooks.
Early spring? Jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and inline spinners. A larger bucktail/hair jig if they are being picky.
1. No. 5 Mepps spinner
2. Orange blade/black skirt and trailer BIG spinner bait
3. Spoon, yellow/red 5 of diamonds
4. Black hair and feather streamer on fly rod
5. Silver/black sinking Rapala
6. Anything else you have on your line, especially if you're fishing for other species without a wire leader.
Oh, by the way, I didn't always live in Florida
On 2/21/2013 at 1:53 AM, ccummins said:
Interesting video about using deadbait for pike after the ice gets off of the water.
Is that a Griffon I see in your profile picture?
Two staples in Canada are the 5 1/4 inch jointed Rapala and the bigger rat-l-traps. Trolling red and white daredevils also work well.
My favorite bait is the one I get back after I've hooked a big pike on without a leader! Seriously, my two favs are an inline Mepps GiantKiller and either a 5 of Diamonds or a DareDevil spoon. I've caught muskie on those same lures when targeting pike.
Agreed on this one!
On 3/22/2013 at 11:24 AM, papajoe222 said:My favorite bait is the one I get back after I've hooked a big pike on without a leader!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Johnson Silver Minnow. Put on a yellow or white 4 inch twister tail, and it comes through thick weeds with no problem. Fishing for pike, you should always be near weedbeds in the spring. Rapalas are great, but not so good in the weeds. The single hook with the weed guard makes the silver Minnow a must have.
One mistake many anglers make with early season pike is using lures that are too big. Even though pike will eat big bait, you'll catch a lot more fish if you stick to 4" spoons and not much larger. One of my top producers for big pike early in the spring was a 4" twister on a 1/4 to 3/8 oz ball head jig attached to a beetle spin arm.
Spoons (Daredevil) or Rapala Glidin' rap
i agree the point that they will hit just about anything...