beginner help

[TBone2983]

i recently caught a 35" pike on an ultralight and a #3 mepps the other day and had such a blast catching him i was wondering what would be some good tactics for this time of year. obviously heavier gear. but what lures. spoons? try floating dead baits in the spring? whats some good rapals? any help would be greatly appreciated! thans guys.

[ThunderLund78]

I see you're from Iowa, I don't know the regs down there but I assume the season is open, right? Not trying to imply any wrong doing on your behalf, but since most of us on here are from MN, your question at first struck me as strange until I saw your location. So first, make sure it's legal to catch them in your area this time of year.

At any rate, northern will hit just about anything big or small when they're hungry or annoyed. I've caught them on anything from a wax worm to a beetle spin to a small crankbait when fishing for other, smaller species. Think shallow after ice-out--emerging weeds, shallow bays, incoming creeks, etc. But as soon the water warms a bit and the big girls recover from spawning, they'll move out to deeper, cooler water. You can still find plenty of smaller ones up in the shallows year round. If you want to target them with light tackle, go with a bass spinner, small spoon or crankbait around the places mentioned above. They're fun on light tackle but do the fish (and your wallet) a favor and make sure you can tie a good knot and/or make a short leader out of some tough micro-braid if using small lures. You stand to lose a lot of lures with light line and while the fish can survive and eventually shake it in a lot of cases; it makes it a lot harder for that fish to feed and survive with a treble in its jaw.

Good luck!

[Driftless]

My medium heavy falcon rod has a shimano stradic 4000 on it with 30 pound power pro.

[tolle141]

Nice fish. 35" isn't a common fish in the lower 48. For another one that big use larger lures (7-10"). For numbers just go with a spinnerbaits on the weed lines

[TBone2983]

thanks for the advice guys.

[mainbutter]

Every artificial lure works great for pike. Seriously, lure selection is the last thing on the list. Finding where the pike are at a given point in the season is the hard part.

If you fish for either largemouth or smallmouth bass, you have equipment to go pike fishing. There is no need to throw down cash on a new rod/reel if you have a medium spinning outfit.

Of course half the fun of pike fishing is GETTING to use special or new lures, so go for it if you want to. My current kick is fly fishing for pike with hand tied flies. I can stick a hunk of fur, some strands of flashy tinsel, and any number of other materials on a hook, rip it through the water, and attract a strike from a hungry pike.

My top PRODUCING pike lures for my lifetime, in no particular order:

1) dardevle, silver or red/white

2) inline spinners (mepps "musky killer" in chartreuse/black is a favorite)

3) Shad rap (not the shallow kind), other rapalas share top spots. Shad raps are a favorite of mine to troll for pike.

4) curly tail grub (bigger the better!) on a jighead

5) paddletail swimbait

6) senko (my favorite if I'm in clear water and can sight-cast to a pike)

Topwaters are a hoot to catch pike on, but I've never had consistent results. Buzzbaits have produced more topwater pike strikes for me than anything else.

If you don't own anything for bass fishing, buy yourself only as much variety for lures as you need to fish different depths. I find crankbaits are often my choice for going deeper, heavy spoons can work some feet down, and inline spinners work for ripping just under the top of the water. Once you get your hands slimy from boating a few, you'll figure out what you enjoy fishing with most and probably expand from there. If you really like crankbaits for example, there is enough out there to keep you in the game all year long.

My best suggestion for trying out lures is to give soft plastics a try, so many soft plastics will make a pike think that dinner is swimming close

[Comit 2]

Quote:

3) Shad rap (not the shallow kind), other rapalas share top spots. Shad raps are a favorite of mine to troll for pike.

I find.

Quote:

(not the shallow kind)

To be strange.

Northern Pike have there eyes on the upper part of there heads. They can't see down and attack from down and behind (the blind spot). They feed up!

I catch most of my Northerns using a shorter line to keep the lure up off the bottom when trolling.

[ted4887]

To be strange.

Northern Pike have there eyes on the upper part of there heads. They can't see down and attack from down and behind (the blind spot). They feed up!

I catch most of my Northerns using a shorter line to keep the lure up off the bottom when trolling.

Ditto to that. I've always had my best luck running lures and flies in the upper part of the water column. Generally I'm looking to run between 1 and 3' below the surface, running along the weed lines.

[mainbutter]

I've never caught a fish on the shallow running shad raps, don't know why.. nary a bass nor a pike, despite the fact I've caught both on the first crummy looking flies out of my vise with no motion and don't look like food. Maybe it's bad luck, but that's why I never recommend them. I catch pike all the time on the non-shallow-lipped shad raps, they are my 1st choice to chuck behind my canoe while I paddle from spot to spot.

[TyGuy02]

When and if you find the right lure combination with (as mentioned before) a strong leader material, you are going to produce. I really love fishing northerns in the spring, mainly until the weeds start growing big time, then they move out deeper and are harder to catch consistently with the shallow swimbaits or crankbaits. I like a heavier crankbait that can give you very precise casting and longer casting distance. Don't get complicated with the line selection though, I just use braided line on that type of rod and never had a problem and casts like a dream!

Don't forget about trying new lakes. I don't know much about your area, but I know around my area there are plenty of lakes that the smaller to medium sized northers are virtually untargeted and thought of as annoying. When you find the right lake it'll be perfect to take children or a significant other to have an absolute blast when you get the presentation down right. Just make sure to not get upset when the lady casts your favorite crankbait into the tall grass. I had that happen to me when I had a silver X-rap that I LOVED for northerns. I think that one dived maybe 5-7 feet, perfect for casting shallow and can vary speed to diving depth. Happy fishing!

[hookncook]

bass frogs in shallow water. I can't tell you how many dollars in frogs I lost last year. Go with a home made leader you can get the light steel leaders from caballas or gander. go with as light as possible.

Lure selection, like mentioned above isn't a big issue. I say this because like you- I've caught big pike on light tackle. Last year, I saw a kid catch a 45 inch pike on a beat up beetle spin he found laying on the ground.

I also have seen a big pike hit a small streamer while panfishing.

Personally, I think the trick to big pike fishing is not fish for them! Seems the least I want them pike, the more likely I'll catch them.