MyFishFinder Forum
MyFishFinder By Species => Northern Pike => Topic started by: Mackdaddy21 on Mar 13, 2004, 10:00 PM
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Colorado has lakes with good pike populations, but the action is often slow as the pike are well fed.
I just want to know, what is your favorite lure for numbers of pike? I have had the most luck on big spinners, spinnerbaits, soft plastic jerkbaits, and soft grubs or soft shad bodies like sassy shads on jigheads. What do you guys like for the elusive pike?
Tyler
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My Berkley Frenzie lures seem to catch alot of Pike.
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I'm right there with ya Van, especially the firetiger pattern.
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My Berkley Frenzie lures seem to catch alot of Pike.
where could someone get these? They seem to have a lot of popularity on this site.
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rapala huskyjerks in various colors. clearer water i use blue/silver and for murkier water, black/silver sides work best. there's so many lures that they will hit, and at other times have no interest.. on days like this, keep trying different presentations. they sometimes get so many things thrown at them, they become dis-interested.. grump
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Beauty Moe! Husky jerks in perch patterns when active, 4" steelhead maribou jigs when locked up, and #5 Blue fox spinners when others won't work. Top water torpedo lure is really fun to watch them bust on a sunny day. ;D
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I like both a spinnerbait pulled right over the top of the weeds after a rainstorm and I also like a a dardevle spoon.
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the flatfish + swimbaits
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i love using buck tails ive had alot of diffrent species hit them while fishing for pike ;D
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RAPALA!! all i can say
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i have a few daredevils and have yet to get a pike on one. tie on a white terminator spinnerbait and hang on. the firetiger spinnerbait has been pretty successful to.when after pike there my go to baits. they chew on anything though so don't be afraid to try it all. you to will find your favorites. have not tried the frenzy yet but will this year.
by the way, i do my pike fishing in upstate ny and in canada
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I Do 2 differnt Rolly...One i have Custom made Perch Color Daredervil Spoon types done up...I like the action but don't care as much for the Old color DD spoons..So i get Perch color ones instead....But formost for Pike I'll use a spinner bait Mepps Number 5-6 with Floresant Orange Blades with or without bucktail depending on If im in Musky territoriry or not! Anyhow Tight lines! I don't fish for them or Target them anymore but This is what i did use when i did.
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Grew up tossing a red and white daredevil on clear days and a black and white one one heavy overcast days. It always caught a lot of pike especially varying the retrieve and pulling the lure once in a while and letting it flutter. Mepps Anlia in a gold #5 blade is hot, hot, hot in the fall. Lots of others may be better lures but those oldie but goodies work well for me.
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A wide bladed, gold colored spinner pulled slowly through the water. Cleo's also. If I'm fishing shallower waters, which I normally am, I really like buzzbaits. I'm a buzzbait freak. Have lots of them. All kinds, colors, and sizes. With finecky pike, if you pull that buzzbait over his head enough times eventually he's going to get pi$$ed and kill it.
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A Mepps #5 Black Fury (dressed or plain) has allways been good for lots of
"Hammer-Handles" for me.
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Mackdaddy,
As you can see, like all the other fish, the Pike will eat many different baits. It is all about "search and destroy!" Keep trying different baits and colors until you find what is working for you. Bassmaster has a great article that is in every issue about a pro fishing a small lake they have never fished before. to get to the point, I was and am amazed at how fast they fish and how often they change lures and change locations until they find the right pattern.
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It really depends on the time of year. In the spring, I like suspending jerkbaits like huskyjerks and Smithwick Rogues, and soft plastic jerkbaits. In the summer smaller swimbaits like rapalas, spinnerbaits, and Mepps bucktail spinners work. In the fall I like BIG spinners, 10" Fin-S fish soft jerkbaits (great around boats and docks), and big spoons (red/white daredevil, 5 o'Dimonds).
For colors....firetiger, perch, white and silver, silver/black, hot orange/Chart.
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Here's another vote for the red and white, and five-of-diamonds, daredevils.
I make my own bucktail spinners and have a lot of good results (not luck!) on firetiger. I also like natural brown bucktail with brass blades and bodies in clear water and all chartruese when there's a heavy algae bloom going on.
Don't overlook Redeye spoons or Rattletraps (try orange), either. They can be dynamite on a given day!!
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I think if it is big and has color a pike will bite it. There are so many things to catch them on as you can see from my other post and evryone else's here.
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I think Onemorecast is dead on. Biggest thing with pike it to vary the retrieve. Burn it, jerk it, stop it, etc. Just don't throw it out and steady retrieve it. A steady retrieve will get you lots of follow ups, but not many strikes. My favorite technigue is to point the rod tip right at the bait as I'm retrieving, then "set the hook". Sweep the rod tip all the way back as hard as you can and then reel up the slack. The sweep will speed up the bait, and then as you reel up the slack the bait will stop and start to settle toward bottom. Most of my strikes come when I've got all the slack picked back up and start reeling again. With buzzbaits, I like to cast to the same point twice. First time I burn the buzzbait as hard as I can. You can almost see the steam coming off it when it gets back to the boat. Second time run it normal speed. Seems to rile'm up that they didn't catch it the first time, and the second time they plow it.
kero
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A "go - to " selection? Len thompson spoons 5 of diamonds, red and white, black and white for overcast days and the Original Floating Rapala. You can put an original Rap as deep or shallow as you want with line weights but it's got to be the best top water lure around. (No bass here so I don't know about that, but for pike, yes, maybe take off some of the hooks, though.)
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red and white
five of diamonds
Reef Runners
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Don't overlook Redeye spoons or Rattletraps (try orange), either. They can be dynamite on a given day!!
Yesterday, on a 1/8 oz. banana colored rattletrap, when I was fishing for smallies in the river, I got a 34 " 11 or 12 lb pike. (estimate on the weight). He was very fat, and oh, what a fight on 6 lb. test!
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Different lures work great for different situations, bucktail jigs (black or purple) always seemed to produce. Rattle traps seem to always catch a bunch too (years back I got my first pike casting a lure on a gold rattle trap) and have caught many since then. Large spoons like daredevils work great too. Never have fished stick baits too much for them, mostly have used sticks for pickerel the last few years. I think any good tackle box should contain a couple of each different types of lures and a couple of different colors of the lures. Great thing about pike is they do not always need to be hungry to catch them, just use something large and annoying and they hit it.
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Like everyone has said, there are countless number of lures that will catch pike. They can be very aggressive some days hitting anything that comes along or they can be a picky as a fine wine connoisseur. You have to match the size , color and retrieve to the mood of the pike. They will even vary in there reaction based on location in the country and food source. For my self I have always had good luck with a good old white twister tale grub, or the swim baits. Some of the crankbaits that rattle also can be a good item to try and on pike that don't have much fishing pressure a Len Thompson in 5 of diamond or red and white is tough to beat. We all have our fav lures and having confidence in it is part of the battle, best thing is to go out have fun and let the fish tell you what they want, if you get it they will answer you quickly. :flex: ;D
WW
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I think if it is big and has color a pike will bite it. There are so many things to catch them on as you can see from my other post and evryone else's here.
Hey !!!!! Don't just think BIG !!!!!!!!
I caught a 10lb er the other day on a 2" grub !!!! Ultralite pole what a rush.
I had another up to the net when she shook her head and was gone. Next day the grub wouldn't work but I caught a 41 1/2'' on a Storm hot n tot 2 1/2'' model
Had another on almost as big and lost that too. The rear treble broke off one of the hooks :'( I have been cut off numerous times while fishing for panfish using small jigs so don't discount the small stuff. Same goes for hard water. You don't need huge stuff to catch big ones.
Jack
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opening day spawning pike huge black bucktails . they look like big leeches and the pike hate leeches. this fishing is NOT for fishers with heart problems. tight lines and hold your pole like its yours ;D. did i mention chippewa bay 1000 islands area?
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Its a tossup between the daredevils, or a firetiger jointed rapala. But my favorite big pipe bait would have to be a jumbo sucker, put a bobber, and stealleader on and hang onnn ;D
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i love the daredevils for pike, a big creek chub on the bottome with a egg sinker rigg works good to.
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Anything alive... big shiner, sucker, rat, mouse, duckling :evil:
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Anything alive... big shiner, sucker, rat, mouse, duckling :evil:
me and my buddies were thinking about going to the pet store and getting soem guineia pigs one day to try for bait, a little pricey thougth.
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DUDE, not joking here, use white mice....wrap a treble hook on em with a rubber band then float em out on a wooden shingle or somethin similar, twitch em off and they go nuts all over the surface and get slammed. kills 2 peta birds with one stone :evil:
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I have settled on the top six pike lures for the waters I fish:
1. Spinnerbait
2. Jointed Minnow
3. Soft Plastic Jerkbait
4. Sassy shad with jighead and spinner head
5. Buzzbait
6. Large In - Line Spinner
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I want to try trolling for northern this fall. Will be using cranks, traps and other trolled crankbaits. My question is do you need a wire leader when trolling these lures, or do they generally not bite you off while trolling?
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Hi princecraft, I would recommend using a wire leader anytime you are fishing for pike, those toothy critters can cut fishing lines like a hot knife through butter. They are not usually line shy unless heavily pressured, if you find a leader reduces bites, you may try a leader made from heavy fire line,but, still risk a bite off. There are also titanium leader but they are very pricey. Good luck this fall :)
WW
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Hi princecraft, I would recommend using a wire leader anytime you are fishing for pike, those toothy critters can cut fishing lines like a hot knife through butter. They are not usually line shy unless heavily pressured, if you find a leader reduces bites, you may try a leader made from heavy fire line,but, still risk a bite off. There are also titanium leader but they are very pricey. Good luck this fall :)
WW
Water Wolf is right, unless you lose wire you risk a bite off. However using heavy fluorocarbon will make it very hard for a pike to bite you off. Fireline is hard to bite off too but they can.
However I find pike to be VERY leader shy here in Colorado and unless you are fishing murky water, DO NOT use wire leaders. I don't care what Doug Stange says, he is wrong and wire scares pike. Ditching the wire is critical, especially in places like Colorado where pike are very finicky and often difficult to catch.
I have landed 103 northerns this year and had five bite offs. Three of those on regular mono, only two on 15 pound p - line fluorocarbon leaders. I always wondered why it was so hard to catch pike around here, and now I know. I used wire leaders and now I do not. Now I always catch at least a couple pike. It is that simple.
Besides using wire is really hard when fishing with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, which in my mind are the two best pike lures around.
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Casting a number 5 Mepps, silver and/or gold, a johnson spoon, or a giant live minnow on a drift. Just use 12# test mono with a swivel for the lures and you will not lose many on bite-offs. The last time I used coated wire leaders was 1964!
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In my personal experience a 10" Suick jerked over about 6-14' fow in cabbage has produced most of my biggest open water pike, especially in the fall. I've also had real good luck with a 9-12" sucker with just a hook on it. I throw it out over the cabbage and slowly retrieve it, just keeping it above the weeds. Obviously the lake I am fishing is very clear and I'm using polarized glasses, but I get some mean strikes doing this. But heck, I've caught some big guys while fishing for bluegills with a waxie, too!
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Troll a super shad rap, they smash them. ;D
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live bluegill always works best or perch
lure though, my unstopable is a firetiger rapala
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A good sized Mepps..or any bucktail for that matter is my favorite. ;)
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#1 for me would be bulldawgs, especially when its slow going for the big ones, followed by mepps cyclops, black furys, johnson silvers, sluggos and daredeveles. And I can't forget a bunny leech for a fly.
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If I absolutely had to choose....these are all fun to fish with and work great.
1. Mepps #5 in Red and White
2. Dardevle in Red and White
(gotta love the classics)
3. White Spinnerbaits
4. Husky Jerks
5. Jighead/grubs in white or chart.
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A "go - to " selection? Len thompson spoons 5 of diamonds in yellow and red, asst. sizes in red and white, black and white or the green and black frog pattern for overcast days and the Original Floating Rapala. You can put an original Rap as deep or shallow as you want with line weights but it's got to be the best top water lure around. (No bass here so I don't know about that, but for pike, yes, maybe take off some of the hooks, though.)
I'm bumping this up because I finally managed to download this pic of the tomic lures. They're a left coast salmon plug and move so well I've had a seagull grab one off the surface and try to fly away with it!
(https://www.sharemation.com/buzzbomb1/tomiclure.jpg)
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It really depends on the time of year. In the spring, I like suspending jerkbaits like huskyjerks and Smithwick Rogues, and soft plastic jerkbaits. In the summer smaller swimbaits like rapalas, spinnerbaits, and Mepps bucktail spinners work. In the fall I like BIG spinners, 10" Fin-S fish soft jerkbaits (great around boats and docks), and big spoons (red/white daredevil, 5 o'Dimonds).
For colors....firetiger, perch, white and silver, silver/black, hot orange/Chart.
This gentelman is the Man With The Plan ! The only addition I can think I will also use is a Johnson Silver Minnow with a red hula skirt or a black silver minnow with a black skirt . :thumbup_smilie:
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It really depends on the time of year. In the spring, I like suspending jerkbaits like huskyjerks and Smithwick Rogues, and soft plastic jerkbaits. In the summer smaller swimbaits like rapalas, spinnerbaits, and Mepps bucktail spinners work. In the fall I like BIG spinners, 10" Fin-S fish soft jerkbaits (great around boats and docks), and big spoons (red/white daredevil, 5 o'Dimonds).
For colors....firetiger, perch, white and silver, silver/black, hot orange/Chart.
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Looks like this post is settled, I agree with the quote above. 8)
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sorry I would have to say one method nobody mentioned. Big smelts on bobbers. I have done alot of fishing in northern manitoba which is home to some massive pike (like in my photo under biggest pike) And the best and seemed to have the fish most interested is suspended but dead 8 to 10" fish of your choice hanging from a bobber. Just always seems to outfish artificial baits wether they are active or not they will go for it. Caught many trophy's that way, well its the only way we do it now.
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By far my favorite go to lure would have to be a Johnson silver minnow weedless spoon. i usually use either silver or gold and have the best luck trolling them.
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hello newbie in this good i nice site my favorit is
Agila No.5 Vibrax No.5 Spinnerbite Husky yerk lots colors X-rap that for me...
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A big 'ol booyah spinner bait (chartruese), rapala shad rap in firetiger, or a red and white daredevil spoon.
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#4 or #5 aglias work great for me. Sometimes I'll use some smelly jelly on the blade to try and get a few more hookups. The smelly jelly seems to be really productive in some lakes, but not in others. Also, an Erie Dearie with some smelt on the trailer hook works well.
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Colorado has lakes with good pike populations, but the action is often slow as the pike are well fed.
I just want to know, what is your favorite lure for numbers of pike? I have had the most luck on big spinners, spinnerbaits, soft plastic jerkbaits, and soft grubs or soft shad bodies like sassy shads on jigheads. What do you guys like for the elusive pike?
Tyler
Mepps #5 w/ no bucktail but w/ 3inch curley tail grub then storm pike minnow swim bait .
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Good old 5 of Diamonds!! Can't go wrong with old faithfull. 8) Always lots of pike action on those spoons.
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1. Spinnerbaits
2. Buzz baits
3. Blue Fox Super Vibrax Spinners
4. Rat-L-Trap
5. Johnson Silver Minnow
6. Mann's 1-Minus
7. Dardevle
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i just went to the store yesterday and bought 2 of my go to lures for pike there made by a company called Apex tackle it's a 3.5 inch firetiger spoon.normally i get them snagged up on bottom and lose them. that's why i just got 2 more.as for top water pike lures i always use a weedless topwater frog.they love those too.(https://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi205.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb17%2FRollin_Bonz%2FPikeBait-1.jpg&hash=59ed4302f47c0dd175cd94d9a4dfcc5d) these work well too but the neighbors don't like it.. :laugh: yellow is a key color for Pike fishing IMO..
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WILLIAMS WABBLER. BIGGEST THEY'VE GOT, TROLLED REAL SLOWWWW
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;D