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Posts: 8
| Fellas,
First post for me. I’ve been doing some planning for the last couple months, intending to begin fishing exclusively for big pike, and perhaps musky, in the spring from my canoe. By “big pike” I mean going to lakes that, according to the local fisheries biologist, are known to contain fish of 40” or more. I just ordered a bunch of lures to use for this, in an attempt to keep things simple but versatile. Here’s the list of what I’ll be working with:
- Super Shad Raps
- Bucher Slopmasters
- Llungen Rattling Shads
- Phantom standard/solid 6” gliders
- Rapala X-Rap Subwalk 15s
- Fishlab Rattle Toads (3.5” 1.2oz. size)
- Smity Scuttle Bugs
- Bucher Topraiders
The Super Shads and Slopmasters will be the two primary tools so I’ve ordered each of them in 4 colors to cover all water and weather conditions, while the other 6 lures were ordered in two colors each, one for dirty water and one for clear water.
Of course I could potentially use dozens or more other lures, there’s no shortage of options, but I think I’ll be pretty well set with this lineup.
The Super Shad is a highly-versatile lure, being an excellent option for erratic twitching and even a dive/rise jerkbait style retrieve when fish are a bit sluggish, or just a straight crank in deeper water or for working weed edges.
The Slopmaster, in this case the original bucktail single blade model, should be excellent in and around heavy vegetation or wood and the single Colorado blade produces a strong thump to get the attention of their lateral line in poor visibility.
The rattle baits from Llungen should be very effective, these I plan to use almost like a searchbait, simple straight retrieves to cover lots of water and find active fish.
The Phantoms will be used for deep cover, probably mostly in spring or fall.
The X-Rap Subwalks will be for shallower cover, like shallow flats or shorelines or working over the top of weedbeds. Again most likely in spring or fall.
And for the topwaters, I’ve got the frogs for extremely heavy weeds, the Topraiders for a faster/louder presentation, and the Scuttle Bugs for a much slower and more subtle presentation.
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I think I’m pretty much covered here, if I can’t catch fish with something in this arsenal under almost any conditions then I don’t think it’s the lures’ fault, it’s probably my own.
What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Ryan | |
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Posts: 343
| I'd get a Whopper Plopper 130 or a couple as pike respond well to their sound. The Super Shad Rap is a great pike lure especially the firetiger color. A European pike fishing friend catches a lot of big pike on 8 inch or longer swimbaits. The Roland Martin big bass/pike spinnerbait has produced a few decent pike for me as well. Your lure choices seem excellent, best of luck. | |
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | Where I live, big pike are pretty deep in the summer. Like 20' or more. Back when I was a kid my grandpa used to take me pike fishing a lot. We trolled a northland bucktail hair jig with a dead smelt. he kept up on deep weedlines and we did really well. I don't catch a lot of pike on my muskie baits because i am probably fishing to shallow, except in October when the big ones slide up on the rocks. Then pounder bulldawgs get hammered quiet a bit. I've caught a few over 40 doing that. | |
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Posts: 31
| you are speaking my language as ive done just that for the past 15+ years in canada. most all my fishing was from a canoe until the last few years.
a few questions for you thay will help get better answers from others and ill follow up also.
are you fishing solo or with someone?
what length canoe and how big is the keel?
rod holder equipped?
heres what ive experienced and ill pass along and hopefully it helps...
bigger baits will pull you around, especially blades. those slops(i like themas baits, just not canoe baits) will pull you all over the place. 500 buchertails are about max for blades in a canoe when solo if you dont want to contantly be repositioning.
glides are a PITA. youre not high enough to work with a downward rod, so youre either messing up the action or using a special shorter rod...
release tools and accessability of everything is your friend. my canoe has been tweaked a few times over the years for ease of use, but its all about function. i have velcro on my tackle trays so they stick. i have rod holders mounded on the twart in front of me. i have my tools on carabiners out front hanging on screw eyes. you want your hands free when handling fish.
in the spring, the best ive found is shortline trolling and casting. troll a baby depth raider with upside hooks so it hangs real nice behind you and cast the shore with a baby shally raider. the baby raiders are awesome pike baits and the trolling keeps your canoe straight and the baby SR doesnt pull hard at all. you could probably do this with your super shad raps.
my canoe pike tray is....
baby shallow raider (sucker)
baby depth raider (sucker)
rebuilt bucher 500(gold/silver mix)
spring bulldawgs (sucker and walleye)
gold and silver johnson silver minnows with white quad tail trailers | |
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Posts: 1275
| The only thing I think is missing, is rubber swimbaits. Pike love them. Don't have to go too big with them either. I've also had good luck with 2 oz. buzz baits kept below the surface, usually only in cold water. | |
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Posts: 8
| As for the big pike being in deep water during summer, I think that’s almost always true on lakes that are deep enough to develop a thermocline. They’re either hanging out on dropoffs right at the thermocline, or buried under really heavy slop that provides good shade.
In this case though, the two lakes that the fisheries biologist pointed me towards are actually quite shallow, with a maximum depth of 10 feet. I found this surprising until I looked at the contour maps and saw that they’re actually connected to a decent-sized river, they’re like a natural reservoir or backwater slough.
The one lake I’d like to try out that does indeed have a lot of depth as well as very clear water (meaning you can clearly see individual shells, rocks, etc. on the bottom in 10 feet or more) is one that might prove difficult to fish in the heat of summer. I’d almost certainly have to do deep jigging at the thermocline on that one.
All this is in west-central Wisconsin, by the way. In case you guys were curious. My personal record is a few fish of around 36”, but I’ve never deliberately fished for them and for some reason I think big pike of 40” or larger are a bit like catching a 50” musky, you’ve really gotta put in the time, planning, and work to make it happen.
By the way, I fish from a canoe and my rod/reel setup for this is a St. Croix Premier Musky 7’ medium-heavy, with a Shimano Curado K 201. The reel is a tad on the small side so I’ll likely get a 300 size one eventually and put the Curado on my bass rod, but it seems decent so far from my practice casting use. | |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Spoons? No spoons?
Pikes likes bucktails, too. m | |
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Posts: 8
| The soft plastic swimbaits is a great idea I’d forgotten about, the local Fleet Farm has a bunch of the Musky Innovations 8” Swimmin’ Dawgs that I could grab a couple of. One in baby bass and one in walleye would probably be a good pair.
Spoons, I think I might forgo them (like bucktails) because it’ll mean I have to use a leader with a swivel on it, as opposed to my preference for just tying on a length of fluoro or nylon mono with the FG knot.
The canoe is a 14 foot Meyers Sportspal, which is a slow-moving thing but I can actually safely stand up in it. I typically row (Row, not paddle) to a location and then drop a small mushroom anchor to stay there, then stand to fish. | |
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Posts: 31
| ryan, i too have a 14ft canoe. 14.5ft grumman aluminum with a 3/4" keel. i can stand in it, but i dont when im fishing. its not worth the risk, especially in spring with the water temps, im a northern wisconsin guy.
i disliked leaders until i started making my own. titanium 1x7 surfstrand is amazing wire and you can match the hardware to the # test. i use 30# surfstand and 45# components, my line is 40# braid. awesome for pike on a 7'6" MH rod and a 300 lexa.
again, i would highly recommend the baby raider lineup. | |
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Posts: 34
| I agree with the Topraider. My pike PB (47") was caught on a Firetiger Topraider.
I have also caught several 43" - 45" on Xtreme Lures Walking Shad crankbaits, 6" jointed Storm Flatstick and musky sized Chatterbaits (2 oz). I doubt that you will find the 2 oz. size anymore, but Z-Man makes their JackHammer in a 1.25 oz size. Angry Dragons would be another alternative, but their treble hooks are more likely to snag weeds compared to Chatterbaits.
I'd also suggest adding a couple of spinnerbaits with willowleaf blades, like the ERC Grinder series. | |
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Posts: 51
| Been targeting pike pretty much all my life until ~ 2 years ago when I started going after Muskies... If I could take one lure to go fishing for pike, it'd be the 8" jointed believer in sucker color... | |
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Posts: 8
| Jaximus, the Sportspal is a somewhat unique canoe due to its kinda ridiculous width and other design elements. In the 14’ model it’s about 40” wide at the waterline. Extremely high primary stability, you’d really have to do something intentionally to turn it over. And I also spend quite a lot of time skateboarding, longboarding actually, so my balance and abilities to not fall over are probably above average.
That being said, you’re absolutely right that when water temperatures are low enough it’s very dangerous to fall in. During summer a spill into the lake is sort of a laughing matter, especially if no gear is lost. But in early spring and late fall, it’s a serious, dangerous situation. No doubt. | |
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Posts: 944
| The Musky Innovations Reg Swimmin Dawgs were good for me for pike 32"-40" but the last 3 years Muskie Train Diesels have put the most pike 40" or better in my boat.
https://teamrhinooutdoors.com/collections/frontpage/products/muskie-...
Bright colors been best especially Ice cold perch, glitter perch and goldfish in dirty water and the olive perch and mother of pearl in clearer water. Have had musky in the boat up to 52" on these this year also.
Good luck.
Jeff Hanson
madisonmuskyguide.com | |
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Posts: 8
| Interesting, thanks Jeff. Is that casting, trolling, or both? I’d noticed those on TRO before but hadn’t given them much thought.
They’d probably run a little too deep for the two lakes I’m likely focusing on most, but they do have a coffin lip to help bump off cover and I could also use them on deeper/clearer lakes for weed edges, points, etc. The video showing the action definitely makes the case that they’re loud as heck and shake pretty hard.
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Have you guys ever used single hooks instead of trebles on lures for the esox species?
Generally I prefer trebles when I’m using nylon monofilament and Light or M/L rods for bass, trout, panfish, etc. but some internet pals who fish saltwater have told me that single hooks tend to stay planted much better when using stiff rods and braided line, they claim it’s harder for the fish to throw the hooks if you make a minor error and give it slack line during the fight. I might try some on the various crankbaits. | |
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Posts: 34
| Ryan Nafe - 10/24/2020 10:44 AM
60503, are you sure that fish was 47”? I’m a bit skeptical since that would be 1/4” short of the current IGFA all-tackle length record.
Yes, I'm sure. It was caught on Great Slave Lake. The current IGFA all tackle length record is 120cm.
(47 inch Pike - Top Raider 7-5-19.jpg)
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 47 inch Pike - Top Raider 7-5-19.jpg (153KB - 476 downloads)
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Posts: 944
| Diesels are good cast or trolled. They are made from cedar so are fairly buoyant casting they run 4'-9' depending on rod angle. If you want to keep them shallow reel with rod tip way up. Trolling they run 3'-20' depending on how much line you have out.
And yes with that coffin lip it really helps to keep it from getting hung up on bottom or cover.
Jeff Hanson
madisonmuskyguide.com
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | If you are fishing slop a Violent Strike Extractor is the best slop lure I have ever used. Excellent hook up and tough.
Either the Musky Shop or www.violentstrikelures.com
If you are fishing deep, a yellow creature and half ounce jig has put more big deep pike in the boat for me than every other technique combined. Form the weed line break to as deep as they are, it catches fish. Violent Strike has my original Creature in stock in yellow. | |
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Posts: 8
| 60503, hey you’ve got me on that one, dude. Awesome fish. No harm intended on my part.
sworall, I’ll have to check those out for sure. Possibly even make my own by combining a Dozer with some of the weighted Owner Beast hooks I’ve got for bass. | |
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Posts: 8
| I stopped by Fleet Farm again this afternoon to pick up some assorted things and I decided to get some big jigs and plastics for fishing either deep water or just on the bottom in general. They didn’t have a giant selection at the moment but I got some Kalin 3/4oz. jigs and some Octogambo grubs to pair with them. Black grubs, white grubs, and both white and chartreuse jigheads. That should suffice for both clear and dirty water. The 6” Mogambo is one I’ve used for bass in the past on a plain jig (only the big ones tend to take them) so I went with the 8” version for pike in order to hopefully weed out some of the smaller fish. | |
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