lures/tackle

[fishinjosh98]

I know you can never go wrong with a good old spoon but what else are they into? I have some money now and I would like to know what to get

[20lbSloughShark]

Get some quick strike rigs, when they come in shallow, you can't beat a live sucker. Some of the best trolling lures for me have been a husky jerk, a Lindy crank bait (probably a river rocker about 5" long, I got it off a sandbar on gull lake) and 6" Jake. As far as casting, no lure has ever been as good as spoons so far. Some of my best fishing has been on the super hot, cloudless days, with NO wind at all casting spoons. I have been having good luck giving my jake 3 good yanks and letting if float back up, making it a surface/glide bait. Glidebaits like the hell hound are not popular yet around here, it would be good to try. especially with spoons and smaller cranks like the huskyjerk you'll get bite-offs, so get some steel leaders.

[wahoo]

ditto om quick strikes. I also like the old larger Mepps.

[ThunderLund78]

On the note of live suckers, I'm a fan of larger jigs combined with 5" - 7" suckers, slow-trolled along outside weed edges on or near deep breaks.

Bigger road runner jigs are my go-to. Northland used to make a bigger jig with a stinger hook of which I can't recall the name but I haven't seen it recently. I'm sure their airplane jigs would work equally as well but haven't tried them. I'm personally not a huge fan of the stinger hook when slow-trolling. It often gets lodged deep, depending on how they hit it. You'll get more hook-ups but I find that if I give them a little line before the hook set, I land the fish 80% of the time with a standard jig.

Use a good stiff rod to support the drag of the large bait, keep your finger on the line with the bail open so you can drop it when the fish hits. You'll know when they hit it...

[slurpie]

Thanks guys I have aLso been looking for some good choices for pike. Been getting lots of Dinka looking for some big ones. Used a big red eye last night and caught little slimers yet.

[20lbSloughShark]

I still say bigger is better. I tried downsizing, and caught a lot more, but less over 24". I have never had a pike even struggle to take a 12" sucker. Don't feel bad about throwing 8"+ lures. spoons 2.5" to 3" seem to be the best to me. I think spoons only act as the first 1/3rd of a fish, so a 3" spoon looks like a 9" fish (only a guess).

[mainbutter]

I've had my best results for big fish and numbers with soft plastics.

I've caught more 30+''ers on paddle tail swimbaits and curly tail grubs than any other lures.

My PB 37''er came off of a senko.

Outside of soft plastics, I like crankbaits of all shapes and sizes, chosen for depth first and size second. Easy to troll, always a great choice.

I will always have a spoon (I'm a fan of good ol' dardevles) or inline spinner (mepps musky killers in chartreuse/black are the only ones I feel I need in my tackle box) on a rod when I'm up in canada. In particular if the SMB seem reluctant to bite in a spot I know is good, I'll throw out the spoon or spinner out towards the open water with the hopes a big pike is keeping them a little wary. It's worked for a number of bigger pike, and seems to call them in from a distance.

[JPenny]

If you're looking to round out your tackle box, take a good look at hard plastic swimbaits. The Sebile Magic Swimmer has put a ton of pike in my boat since RK gave me my first one several years ago. This year I'm going to give the Koppers Live Target models a try. The Sebile comes in several sizes, but I'm not positive about the Koppers.

What seems big for a 30" fish might seem small for 45"+ fish.

[goblueM]

I'm a big fan of Rapala DT 10s and 16s for summer pike. Swim jigs with curly tail or paddle tail trailers. Spinnerbaits. Mepps musky killers. Large x-raps and husky jerks.

If fishing shallow, suicks are hard to beat

[delmuts]

Been fishing a bay by my wifes' trailer on the Miss. ( when the water gets low and the temps high, the pike move in there for a while big time!) I was catchig them on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, but after a while they get accustom to these and won't bite.( i'm mostly catch and release) So i went to a white and silver in-line, and caught more fish, but i kept my number 1 lure ( and mepps #5 fire tiger) back for my daughter to use when she came up. That lure has produced our big fish. I caught two 33 inchers, and Ashley caught a 37.5 with it.( which qualifies for a Master Angler award in Iowa)

Been searching, and a couple of other companies make in-lines in a fire tiger that are cheaper than a mepps. Plan to try a couple of these.

[kyleharty]

If you're on big fish, don't hesitate to use muskie lures. I fish big pike in the summer and muskie in the fall, using all the same gear and baits, more often than not the "magnum" muskie baits. My top few of 43" and 42" have come on 10" Jake and 10" Phantom softtail. Mag dawgs, double 10's, and 10" Suicks are go-to's for me as well. 3 footers won't hesitate to hit these baits so if you're on spots where you believe big pike are present you'll increase your odds greatly by using big baits in my experience.

[lookincalifornia]

my favorite way to catch pike is with a super spook. fished over milfoil beds just before the weed tips break the surface. pike will follow for a while throwing a wake then they attack from the side. it's a lot of fun.

[mainbutter]

Jpenny:

When it comes to jointed hard swimbaits, how do you fish 'em, what sink rate do you like, and where do you fish them?

I have a handful of ones that haven't caught diddly for me. A floating 8'' model (floats with 1/8 of an inch of fin sticking out of the water, looks kinda like a shark and is FUN to see swim) got a few attacks from small bass that failed to hook it.

I'm a big believer in plastic boot tail swimbaits, but they are a completely different deal.

[JPenny]

Mainbutter,

The hard bodied swimbaits, like the Magic Swimmer, will make some pretty fancy moves if that's what you're looking for. They do a nice "dying flutter" when twitched and paused. But most of the time I just give it a normal retrieve with a few pauses thrown in. I prefer to use ones that sink. Doesn't matter if it sinks fast or slow, just that it sinks. When I'm fishing rocks, and I fish them a lot, these are one of the first lures I reach for. The multiple trebles don't work well around weeds, but I have altered a couple by taking the trebles off and adding an extra split ring to the front hook eye and attaching a single J hook. With a slow sinker, it will swim at about 2 or 3 feet deep and works well if weeds are not all the way to the top yet. Much easier on the fish too. Actually, I use this setup around rocks too and haven't noticed any loss in the number if fish hooked.

[JPenny]

I neglected to add that I also use the soft paddletail swimbaits too and the pike love them. This year I tried a Shumway Hot Head spinnerbait that utilizes an 8" curlytail grub on it and that bait accounted for some very big pike including 1 at 49" and 2 at 48". I'll be using this lure more in the future!

[TonyKay]

I've had my best results for big fish and numbers with soft plastics.

I've caught more 30+''ers on paddle tail swimbaits and curly tail grubs than any other lures.

couldnt agree more, i caught a ton of 35"+ fish this year with a paddle tail jig with a jig spinner. they absolutely destroy them but ill trade the $3 in tackle for a big pike every time out.

[davidbigreelz]

I totally agree with the paddle tail guys. I have by far had a better "large" fish ratio with the 5" and bigger paddles. Also i like the 6-9" husky jerks. Here is a pic of my cousin dustin, a 15" northern caught on a husky, and a 43" caught on the little guy. The big one never even had a hook in its mouth. Both were released happy and healthy.

[Gordie]

other than spoons I throw

Mepps Spinners

5 inch twister style tails on bucktail jigs

Johnson Silver minnow in various colors and tipped with plastics

Dr.Spoon

Red Eye

Good old fashion Lazy Ike also tipped with plastics

Big Beetle spins

floating raps in variuos sizes