MyFishFinder Forum
MyFishFinder By Species => Northern Pike => Topic started by: Water Wolf on Apr 12, 2005, 01:22 PM
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Hi guys, what's your favorate top water lure when targeting lunker pike? and what colors do you like to go with? >*)}}}>{ :laugh:
Water Wolf
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On my lakes, top water for pike means shallow, dark water with quite a bit of emergent vegetation (pads, rushes, etc.). This is one of my favorites:
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=15430&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults
Perch color works well for me.
kc17
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Jitterbug.....any color although black seams to be the best.....the larger the jitter bug the better!
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Buzzer. No snagging problems, and one nice solid hook for an upper jaw set.
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Don't really use them but I like getting some big pike on a torpedo or a popper. I love to see them boil on it. ;D
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buzzbaits will take some very large pike, they get my vote.
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I vote Jitterbug again!!........
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I agree - buzzers work well. Also torpedo types.
Topwater is fun stuff :D
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Buzzbait, followed by frogs.
Buzz will probably get bigger fish, but the frog can provide nonstop action at times...
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How do you guys think a zara spook would work for pike?
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big rdg.... The spook gets my vote, if you can "walk the dog" it is deadly. I have never had the success with any other topwater lure as much as the ZS, it comes in all sizes and colors, my favorite is the LMB pattern. The best thing is that if your targeting pike youll catch them along with anything else that sees it, I target tigers at my camp and have caught a few on it. I spotted one on a flat one morning and threw 4 or 5 lures (cranks, buzzers, big spinners, jigs) made like 40 casts at the fish as it snaked along...kept following it and threw on the spook, twitched it 3 or 4 times and the fish exploded on it. Have also caught some JUMBO SMB on it.
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Definitely a buzzbait. I like the big black ones that Booyah makes.
I would be very careful with poppers, Spooks, and Jitterbugs.
If your bait isn't moving you have a much better chance of getting bit off.
You can't really use a steel leader with a top water, it kind of ruins the action...
8)
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One more thing about buzzers..... Have a Sluggo or other soft stick rigged on another rod as a follow-up bait. If you get a blowup or short strike, toss it back behind the buzzer. Rarely do you miss again.
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I have 3 top water baits I was thinking about trying for pike, the first one is Rebel's Buzz'n frog in swamp frog color, and the other is Heddon's dyeing flutter in silver and black or just twitch an original floating rapala along the surface.
What would be the better choice here? :blink:
Water Wolf
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A larger popper or a buzzbait. However the lure I really want to try this year is the arbogast sputterbuzz. It is a weedless buzzbait that floats at rest. When retrieved it has basically the same action as a buzzbait, but you can pause it or jerk it for a popper action. I think this will be a premier pike bait.
Tyler
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hey Wolf.... if you do not already know how, learn to "walk the dog" with a zara spook of any size or color, it is the best topwater bait known to man in my opinion.
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I see there are many of good top water lures out there,I might have to purchase few of the ones everyone mentoned and try them out this year.;D
I have seen on fishing shows guys fly fishing for pike, have any of you ever tried pike that way? If so I bet that was a blast.:)
Water Wolf
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I don't know if a SUICK is a true topwater but it can be worked like one with sort twitches and long pauses...................ohhhhhhhhhhh :o !!!!!!! i can hardly wait
and water wolf fly fishing for pike is a blast but its hard to muscle a bruiser in the cabbage even on a 9 or 10 weight.
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My biggest pike from the Hudson have consistently been taken on a Zara Spook, Blue back wiith a silver belly. Probably fifteen last year and Istill have it. Not much color left, but she gets the job done.
My secod is probably a big Scum Frogs filled with plastic worm parts for added weight. I don't get to actually land many, but worked really fast over the slop, the pike put on a great show. They frequently miss, but still track the d**n thing very close to the boat. Most times you set he hook and it's just the end of the line flopping in the breeze. Oh, that's right, they make steel leaders now...
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A larger popper or a buzzbait. However the lure I really want to try this year is the arbogast sputterbuzz. It is a weedless buzzbait that floats at rest. When retrieved it has basically the same action as a buzzbait, but you can pause it or jerk it for a popper action. I think this will be a premier pike bait.
Tyler
I plan to buy one as well, , but I think of it more of a propbait like a Smithwick Devils Horse than a buzzbait.
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While fishing with top water lures has anyone ever tried trolling with them? :
I wonder if that would work? ??? :blink:
WW
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While i have thought about it, I believe that most topwater baits are meant to simulate an injured baitfish or a frog, both of which swim erratically, and that cannot be attained by trolling, as it can by cast and retrieve.
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I've never tried trolling for pike. The thought of it just isn't right.
Drifting is better IMO.
If you get a hit trolling you better have good tackle!
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I've never tried trolling for pike. The thought of it just isn't right.
Drifting is better IMO.
If you get a hit trolling you better have good tackle!
Speed trolling with big minnow diving baits is popular, those guys troll up to 5mph! :o
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never trolled for pike??? strange. ???
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we troll for muskie in n. maine with shallow diving rapalas and large daredevils. in the spring esp. they will come up to grab it even in deeper water. i tie 12in. homemade streamers and get em' on those as well. its the best way to pattern water. in the summer go back to the spots you got em' in the spring and cast there . often you'll hook up in the same places,.
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When fishing with top water lures what's the deepest that they will call up pike?
:blink:
WW
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I've pulled up pike from 25 feet with Zara Spooks.
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I have settled on buzzbaits being the best topwater lure and one of the best lures for pike period in my area. I have landed some nice pike up to 10 pounds this year on buzzers and have had much bigger ones on. A buzzbait in th evening when fished in really shallow weeds or broken rocks produces some SCARY strikes and is a pretty reliable pattern around here, where pike fishing is tough.
I had 10 pike smack my buzzer on one river trip this year and landed lots of them the next trip too. Will post pics of my big river pike soon.
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revival time.......I was about to start this topic again, but since there is so much good info we might as well just revive it.
This will be my first season targeting pike and Im a top water fanatic....I have some spooks, that I have been using for for a few years for bass and will be giving them a try for sure.....has anyone tried using the double buzzers on Pike? If so how have your results been so far....I bought my first double buzzer on the off season and cant wait to give her a try.
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I like to use a frog (plastic not real), it is kind of a plug type thing, I use it mainly near islands or a place where it is shallow with lots of week cover.
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buzzbaits hands down but frogs work well too. just got a few poppers gonna try them out tomorrow night
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I see there are many of good top water lures out there,I might have to purchase few of the ones everyone mentoned and try them out this year.;D
I have seen on fishing shows guys fly fishing for pike, have any of you ever tried pike that way? If so I bet that was a blast.:)
Water Wolf
One of my first fly fishing trips every year is for pike. I continue to fly fish for them until the water warms and they head deep. I love it both for the fish themselves, and because it starts as soon as you can get a boat pushed in over the remaining ice. And because I almost always have the water to myself. I love late ice pike, but it's always nice to get out and cast for the first time in a year, especially when I was ice fishing a week or two previous to that.
The standard topwater fly, at least for me, is the Dahlberg Mega-diver. Here's one of mine.
(https://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc77%2FXrhino%2F2006-04-1310-37-42_0011.jpg&hash=16fa2d1de2f86d35092589972d36295b)
(https://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc77%2FXrhino%2F2006-04-1310-36-33_0007.jpg&hash=fd9ebd67d30ca9f635cf10228086e3c2)
I usually fish out of my kickboat early in the year because it's easier to get up in the skinny water where the fish are around here. They can be a real handful, but it's a blast! 8)
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Neat fly xrhino, it looks kind of like a bleeding mouse. 8)
Good luck with the poppers Big Burk. :)
WW
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Neat fly xrhino, it looks kind of like a bleeding mouse. 8)
Good luck with the poppers Big Burk. :)
WW
Mice work great too, but the mega-diver is about eight iches long -- for the big girls! ;D