do top waters work for pike?

[Hammer Handle]

Pike are great to catch on topwater, especially early in the year (during bass opener).

My wife made me eat my words as she was reeling in a topwater lure (injured minnow). I told her "play the lure with short [PoorWordUsage] to get it to work" just as a 6 pound northern nailed it.

Her comment "See, I know what I am doing".

[tisosy11]

Yeah, topwater rigs work for pike...especially in the shallow water i've noticed...

[bassNspear]

if you run a spinnerbiat where the blades are busting the top of the water, you will get a ton of blowups on this as well

[dfricke1010]

i second that bass n spear. i do that all the time over the top of shallow weed beds and do very well

[bassNspear]

its great isnt it. I love seeing monster pike blow up on it when you are running it just below water.

[dfricke1010]

yes it is cant wait for opener!

[T-water]

As I've talked about before on this forum I love using walk the dog and poppers for pike in rivers. I've had several days where fishing was absolutely nuts with good to great sized pike. When fishing a mid-small sized river most of the fish are near the surface or certainly relating to what's going on "up there." I can be especially great when your in waders and a 35 inch fish grabs the lure 10 ft from your legs (also a bit dangerous!).

All that being said, I mostly use topwaters when the depth and snags make it the most prudent way to fish. I think that pike miss a topwater lure at least half the time, I think I read the placement of their eyes makes it more difficult to hone in on the lure. Generally in a river if I get a miss and keep working the area they'll come back, not so much in a lake.

How long "til we can start throwing topwaters? Waiting....

Oh yeah thanks for creating the pike forum!

[tisosy11]

OH MAN - SUMMER FISHING IS COMING!!!!

[bassNspear]

just around the corner, and i cant wait as well. Its going to be a great year, i can feel it.

[Nick Kuhn]

Yep, I saw a duck on a small roadside pond breaking ice with it's bill to open up some water. Keep going little duck, I'm ready for the open water.

[T-water]

Ducks make good topwater baits!

[bassNspear]

ducks, hmmmmmm thats intersting. LOL!!!

[weeds]

Nice, I was looking for a spot to post a question about the best conditions (season, depth, time of day, water temp, wind, etc.) to use top-water for pike. I'm goin' after 'em this year. And here I find this new section, and this very thread. Any experts willing to opine.

[bassNspear]

raining, cloudy and have a little rippel on the water. Fish love it.

[T-water]

On lakes I look for tall weeds next to deeper water, especially in the AM. One other thing pike can be tough to hook with topwater. I'd suggest taking off the manufacturers hooks and putting on the Gamagatsku (never can figure how to spell that). I also tend to go slow then fast, I also believe in letting it sit for a long time when you know your on the right spot, and go big!

[b1gf1sh1]

 Originally Posted By: T-water

Ducks make good topwater baits!

and it's a felony

[bassNspear]

well ya, everyone knows that

[Sandmannd]

I didn't, now what am I gonna do with all these dang ducklings I got hatchin?

[bassNspear]

let them go out and have there own fun!!

[Hammer Handle]

There used to be several lure companies that made lures that look like ducklings and many other types of birds.

Some still do, but they were pretty popular in the 1970s.

[T-water]

I stayed at a resort in Wisc. that had a duckling count in the bar. They would cross out a duckling each time one got eaten by a muskie. The odds didn't seem to good for the ducks.

I've seen the duck lures they are really expensive, can't imagine they'd be much fun to throw.

[b1gf1sh1]

brown and two tone yellow marabou with a CLEAR buzzblade and a orange twister tail on a middle keeper hook is a killer lure for about a month or so after you start to see ducklings. i mean KILLER. even big Bass smash it.

[T-water]

Okay! Now I'm listening. You think I coud fashion one out of a rubber ducky?

[b1gf1sh1]

lol... sure. ready for instructions? not easy and probly take a few rubber duckys to get right. but here goes. would not last long but hey, you can make more. cut a quarter size hole in the neck. fashion a through wire set up to run through middle of bait. secure it in middle of lure running out back for hook, if you like put another in front at the bottom of the neck. make sure it has a bend or two so it stays in place after next steps are complete fill 25% of cavity with low expanding foam(for filling doors) then add lead shot into it while still wet.the lead shot is a ballast and this will have to be right or it won't glide right. that's the hard part, figureing the true ballast. i'd start with 2 ozs on standard rubber ducky. make sure its dispersed as evenly on the bottom as you can with none in back of about the middle. this will help give it a side to side swimming action. then fill rest of way. let dry (cure). put in keeper hooks near tail on both side and run yellow or orange twister tails on them. epoxy cut out back on with a water proof epoxy. add hooks, go fishing. easy as pie.

[T-water]

BigFish you have dropped the gauntlet...and I accept I hope others do as well. I intend to go out to the garage and try not to hurt myself in the process. Perhaps I will be able to post my creation hanging out of the mouth of a massive pike and/or bass.