Pumping for pike

[Pikemaster101]

i was just wondering if when you are trolling for pike if it works to pump your lures like when fishing for Muskie. Also when doing this how many times do you do it?

Thanks

[Crankbait_Guy]

I'm under the belief that the more erratic movement you can put on your lure the better, whether your trolling or casting. Especially, with pike.

Or you just experiment unitl you find the magic combo, which will probably change all the time.

[jeffro]

For pike the more erratic the better. Jerk it till your arms fall off.

[Random guy]

I used to have luck crashing crankbaits into the sand fouling the lure then slacking the line and letting float/run true for a while then crashing it again. Trouble is after an hour of that your arms really do feel like there going to fall off.

[Muddog]

The idea is to have it do something diffirent. Pump it a few times. Let it fall to the bottom, if it's a spoon, on the inside of turns or float to the top if it's a crankbait. just get it to do somthing differant. A pike will follow a long ways. Sometimes you have to trigger the strike. Pumping all the time is the same thing over and over.

[Steve Foss]

Don't do much pumping for pike while trolling. Mostly, I run a lot of tight S-curves with the boat, which speeds up and drops off the lure depending on which side of boat it's on during the swing. You can do it fine with two rods if they're in rod holders off either side of the boat, which spreads the lures and avoids tangles. And I don't leave a ton of line out anyway. Pike aren't shy of the motor, and I've had more than a few over the years hit right in the prop wash as I'm zipping the lure back to the boat to change lures or get off weeds, etc.