do top waters work for pike?

[weeds]

Can anyone suggest a buzzbait model. All I have seen (for big ones) so far have been Blue Fox.

[bassNspear]

check out any double bladed buzzy, you should have good luck with them

[b1gf1sh1]

Headhunter has a couple, bucher's slopmaster buzzbait, cj's , boogerman's, TNT, to name a few. and of course about 100 or so of my custom home made ones in my basement

[weeds]

I picked up a slopmaster today in black and a big blue fox double in firetiger type colors. I was looking at buying material to build floro leaders and got talked into knotable stainless wire(is that appropriate?). I also picked up a few of those X-rap sub-walks(anyone tried those?)

[b1gf1sh1]

 Quote:

got talked into knotable stainless wire(is that appropriate?).

YUCK.

if i'm going topwater, the type of leader is unimportant to me as long as it's gonna last and not break. IMO knotable wire is not a good option. i know guys who swear by it, then i see them retie five in one day. go figure, it's cheap. make your own stuff you won't be sorry. you can make cable leaders too then reuse the terminal to make another one or a fluorocarbon. easy as 123,abc . 12'' solid titanium is good too. little tip... change the snap or retire any leader after no more than 100( i do it at about 50 ) lure changes. the stress of opening and recloseing weakens them and makes them brittle. also don't force them to open more if you can avoid it. gl

[Fred_Bear]

I'll second that on how important a good snap is. I lost a huge laker through the ice a couple weeks ago due to my snap swivel breaking open after having the fish up below the ice a couple times. I know this is the pike forum but just giving you some first hand experience with snaps failing.

[irishwalleye]

Next time you have the kids in the boat, or just out for a ride in the middle of the afternoon, try this out. Toss a buzzbait out behind you, go fast enough to let it run true but keep up the speed. If the kids keep watching soon enough they will see pike coming completly out of the water trying to hit it and miss completly. It's almost like the south african great whites on the discovery channel. Give it a try this summer. Hours of endless fun!!

[lotsofish]

 Originally Posted By: irishwalleye

keep watching soon enough they will see pike coming completly out of the water trying to hit it and miss completly

But if they do hit it, hang on! I don't really think there is a "too fast" speed for pike. In the right conditions and with the right gear, I bet you could catch them trolling 10-15 mph.