Flatfish For Pike

[Mackdaddy21]

How many of you think that casting and retrieving flatfish or jointed flatfish work for pike? I would probably use a 4 - 6" model and would use 8 - 12 pound line. I need to find a lure I can retrieve fairly slow at any depth that will have that wild shimmying action so I thought flatfish would be a wise pick. Is there action okay when casting and retrieving? I have basically never used them.

[bigredfishing]

flatfish's action is great, i've mainly only trolled with them, but i see no reason why it wouldn't work for you.  Have you checked out the new x-raps?  They suspend but when retreived have an amazing wobbling action and cast like a bullet.

[devil-man]

I have caught many pike on them. I believe they used to be called Beanies?
Yellow with red and black spots. Their action is truly unique.
I've always used them in the 4" size, non-jointed.

[Mackdaddy21]

flatfish's action is great, i've mainly only trolled with them, but i see no reason why it wouldn't work for you.  Have you checked out the new x-raps?  They suspend but when retreived have an amazing wobbling action and cast like a bullet.

Oh I will definately pick up a couple X Raps the next time I go piking along with a couple flatfish. I know the X raps will work well in the deeper, weed free lakes I  fish for pike. My favorite pike lake is very shallow and weedy so when I use a rapala or minnowbait I use a floating, jointed model. I'm sure trout and walleyes will slam X raps too.

[bigredfishing]

have you tried big white tubes, big white swimming jigs, or slow-rolled spinnerbaits in that weedy lake?  Those usually produce for me best in weedy lakes for pike.

[TroutFishingBear]

have you tried big white tubes, big white swimming jigs, or slow-rolled spinnerbaits in that weedy lake?  Those usually produce for me best in weedy lakes for pike.

Yeah, he has. Last time we went he caught 2 on a spinnerbait and another guy caught 6 on  a bomber crankbait and those were the only pike landed on the lake all freakin' day, and quite a few other people were fishin' for em. I've tried about everything at that lake and the pike proved picky for me in 3 trips so far I've caught 0. For two days I threw zara spooks in the twilight (it was hot so topwater was a good consideration), crankbaits, spinnerbaits, flukes, and senkos without catching a d**n pike. Pike are hard to catch though, so 2 or so a day is pretty dang good and 6 is unheard of.

[devil-man]

Pike are hard to catch though, so 2 or so a day is pretty dang good and 6 is unheard of.

Pike are a lot easier to catch than trout around here. 

[Pasquatch]

Pike are hard to catch though, so 2 or so a day is pretty dang good and 6 is unheard of.

Pike are a lot easier to catch that trout around here. 

Other than panfish, they don't get any easier to catch than el piko

[Water Wolf]

You got that right Pasquatch, lol, if only one fish bites in a day, it will usually be a pike, in my area they bite even more than the perch. I have not used flat fish very much but the few time I have used them, I have had good luck. They require a slow troll, I like to use them when drifting with the waves, just throw it out and let it slowly wiggle along. The Canadian wiggler is another lure that looks very similar to a flatfish, and are worked the same way.

WW

[Mackdaddy21]

How I long for that to be so about pike around here. They are very hard to catch. Usually I catch 2 or 3 in a day of hard fishing. Best day ever for me was hooking 7. They are very finicky. However in my last trip I did have 8 follows. Pike do follow lures a lot without striking. Still I love fishing for them even when they are this tough cause they fight like mad devils and can be huge. And I actually think they are beautiful fish.
The little ones are as good as walleye almost for food in my opinion.

[Mackdaddy21]

have you tried big white tubes, big white swimming jigs, or slow-rolled spinnerbaits in that weedy lake?  Those usually produce for me best in weedy lakes for pike.

Spinnerbaits are my best pike lure in that lake. I have caught them on jointed minnows but big white sassy shads on heavy jigheads work too. My friend usually does really well fishing big jigs for pike, but he too only catches 2 - 4 per day.
I think a really great lure in this lake would be a sassy shad rigged on a weedless jig or even a bass jig. Better yet, a weedless jig tipped with a spinner arm to make it a jig/spinnerbait. Two great pike lures in one.
That day I hooked 3 pike, landed two, and had 8 other follows. The one I did lose was a decent pike that was probably better than 28". Still not a big one but not bad.
It was slower than I wanted it to be, but at least I don't get skunked anymore fishing for pike. I have gone piking 3 times this year so far and caught them every time. Better than no pike at all.

[devil-man]

I am hitting my "Backyard Pond" for Pike this morning with my dad.
I will try all the suggestions posted here and report back later. 

[devil-man]

Well, I tried everything except the sink.
All the pike wanted this morning were spinnerbaits with some red in them.
Silver blades. See the Silver Lake (NY) thread for the story and a couple pics.
It was a great time!

[Water Wolf]

Have any of you ever tried those flat fish type lures with the water activated strobe light in it? How did they work?

WW

[TroutFishingBear]

Pike are hard to catch though, so 2 or so a day is pretty dang good and 6 is unheard of.

Pike are a lot easier to catch than trout around here. 

Trout are so much easier than pike! I can go out and river fish and any day if the river is clear I'll get at least 20 trout it seems, not dinks either. (14-18" average with fish over 20" common). Trout just aren't that fussy, when I was fishing for pike in a clear, deep, rocky lake I was using a #15 panther martin spinner in known pike habitat. I didn't get a pike strike but low and behold I got a small 13" trout on it
My last trip for pike in that clear, deep rocky lake I fished for pike for over 2 days using x-raps and big spinners mostly without a strike. I did however throw a 5" white fluke or bass assassin I forget, and I got bit off. That was my only pike bite. I fished for trout for 1 hour where a small stream came in and cut a deep channel in the reservoir and caught 5 really nice trout, 4 16" 2 pounders and a 20" 4 pounder. I just don't see why you guys say pike are so easy to catch when most anglers around here consider 2 a good day. Mackdaddy did catch 1 pike that day on a spinnerbait and a shore angler caught 2 on sucker meat but there were about 20-30 people fishing for pike and no others were landed. People were getting plenty of trout on pike presentations though Trout are just meant to be pictured as the dainty insect eaters when they really will attack about anything and pike are meant to be considered the sharks of the freshwater world when they are as picky as a baby. Its just every once in a while a pike will hammer a large lure so they are considered aggressive. IMHO