Best Lures for Northern Pike

[sammiedogs]

I'm new to fishing Pike and wondering if anyone can make any recommendations for lures. I will be at a lake in Northern Minnesota in about 3 weeks and would like to give it a try. Any suggestions??

[Matt Johnson]

I like to toss a lot of spinnerbaits for pike. Tip them with a twister tail too. You can rip them through the weeds and right now is a good time for deep weedline pike.

Spoons are also great for pike. I like spoons with a lot of wobble and flash.

Crankbaits are good too. I've done really well with jointed cranks for pike. Large huskie jerks too.

And then there are those big plastics for pike. Large minnow-like suspending plastics work well. They are another option for deep weedline pike.

A lot of options out there for pike. In most cases, pike usually hit anything that moves, provides flash, or has a little vibration and noise.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Spinner1]

What lake are you fishing? That might help refine the advice some.

I'm just a tourist, about 20 years worth or so to a clear N. MN lake with lots of bullrushes (reeds). I'll offer the following advice. You don't need $500 worth of lures to get pike. Make sure you have the top 5 and fish them with confidence. If I could only take 5, each of these have yielded hundreds of pike over the years.

3/8-1/2 oz Spinnerbait, I like yellow, orange or chartreus. Many say white is a big producer on most water. You can cast a spinner right into the trash without snagging too often.

Inline Spinner Bait- Mepps #5, same colors as above.

Spoons- Large Johnson Silver Minnow, silver or gold. 1 1/8 oz is my favorite. 3/4 oz is about as small as I go. Even tiny pike will hit large baits. Red Eye Wiggler, 1 oz. I like the metallic over the painted versions. The Daredevil is another standby, but it's not a confidence bait for me.

Crankbaits- I've never developed a consistent crank pattern. Seems I have a new favorite crank every year. Long and skinny seems to outproduce the short and fat bass style baits.

Hopefully others will add there specific favorite baits.

Your new at this, so head for the shallows for some rod action while your getting your feet wet. Cast the weed edges, pockets etc. Casting over the tops of cabbage beds can also be productive. Late June is getting to be a little late for large Pike in the shallows, but the rod action will be there to keep the enthusiasm up while you're learning. And who knows, occasionally that decent pike will cruise the shallows.

If your lake is clear, probably the most important tip is don't miss out on bad weather. If it's a crappy day for a picnic, you better be fishing. Cloudy skies and a little chop on the water will turn them on more often than not. Turn a few decent ones back when they get in the suicide mode. The little ones taste just as good. My lake has a new slot limit this year, and I'm thrilled about that. Good luck!

[sammiedogs]

Spinner

thanks for the help. I'll be at Birch Lake near Babbitt.

[Bobby Bass]

I would go with a big spinner bait with a willow blade, I have always had good luck by adding a big 4" plastic grub or twin tail body to it and a touch of red in the skirt. Sharpen your hook go with some heavy line and make sure you cross her eyes when you set the hook!!

[Spinner1]

That's about 50 miles east of where I always fish. I looked it up on the MN DNR site and it appears to be a pretty good sized lake, with a max depth of 25ft. Buy some of your lures at a local bait shop. I'm sure they can give you some productive bay locations. I'd start with the bass style spinner baits the guys are suggesting. Good luck, and let us know how you do.

[soldoncass]

Spinner baits are great, you can fish them s-l-o-w or fast, give them what they want. If they are less aggressive that day put on a trailer hook, it catches a lot of skirt nippers.

Johnsons silver spoons can be hot at times. I like a porkrind spinning strip on there for great action and color. Again use trailer hooks.

When going after them make sure you use a steel leader(9inches or longer is safest), or a lot of frustrating biteoffs are in your future. You will enjoy the strikes, not a lot of question if "it's a bite".

[Quackaddict9]

Muskie Harasser is the way to go for me.

[tulikow]

I strongly recommend 6" black Slug-gos on 15 lb strength tyger leader , other wise you will lose a lot of lures to sharp teeth, and jointed rapalas in blue and yellow also on a leader. You also should buy some 3-4" power grubs in white and orange/green and 1/4-3/8 oz northland fireball jigs.

[FishingwithJake]

X-RAP all the way!! Over the past two weekends I have never caught so many Pike. I've already had to replace one of them after a Muskie destroyed the hooks and tail on one of them. These X-rap's have great action in the water and you can work them in multiple ways.

[guideman]

Pike are suckers for anything that spins,

Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are my favorite Pike lures for most conditions. They will go anywhere without hanging up and as you know, Pike live in very tough places to fish, much of the time.

If they won't chase a spinnerbait, then I throw a soft plastic bait like a sluggo, or a reaper, to get their attention. Don't overlook topwaters for Pike, they will readily attack a variety of them just about anytime of the season.

"Ace"

[Liquidsmoke]

I've cuaght Pike on everything from wax worms to Super Top Raiders. But if I had to choose just one type of lure it would be, without question, the Mepp's Syclops spoons. I particularily favor the day-glo orange w/gold back in a size 2 or 3. If there's just one Northern in the vicinity with even the slightest urge for a snack, you can bet you'll know about it. My second color choice would be green w/silver back, but Pike don't seem to be too picky on the color. They just seem to love the action of these spoons. Don't be too surprised to catch the occasional walleye or bass on these things either. In fact, I caught my first muskie on a #2 organge/gold syclops.