When choosing the right lures for Northern Pike, it’s always important to pay attention to what the locals, guides and anglers are using to produce the biggest trophies and biggest numbers. Listening to your guides about what’s getting the most action is essential to a successful experience. Every lure varies depending on the time of season and the weather. Be sure to discuss the best technique for any lures that you may be new to using. How it is presented is just as important as what you have on the line. It’s all in the details.
Here are some of the best picks for successful pike lures, as suggested by our professional guides and experienced anglers.
Syclops by Mepps, which comes in many colours but show the greatest success in Firetiger, Blue Silver, and Electric Blue, is a very popular spoon lure among anglers. With its brilliant displays of colours, and unique shape that gives ten reflective surfaces on the spoon, this lure is one of the top lures for Northern Pike. Make sure to pick up the #3, 1oz.
Spoon lures were invented to reflect light and move randomly through the water with their bowl shaped metal frame. It’s a great cast and retrieve lure that attracts a pike with its shiny finish and sunken movements.
The Len Thompson Five of Diamonds is a classic on Reindeer Lake. This red and yellow lure is suggested by most camps in Northern Canada, and for good reason. If this lure isn’t catching anything, you should move to another bay. With a wide wobble, this lure is ideal for trolling, casting, and jigging. The best size for this spoon is the 1 1/8 oz.
All spoons work well in most areas, but avoid the weeds. They are weighted to sink and rise, so they easily get caught on sticks and weeds throughout the bays and inlets.
The #5 Blue Fox spinner by Vibrax is among the list of best spinners in the fishing world. It comes in a ton of different sizes, but the #5 in silver and blue is one of the greats. Its two part system creates a sonic vibration that catches the attention of any pike.
You should always have at least one Blue Fox in your tackle box for a great option of lures for northern pike.
Soft Baits are made from plastisol, and can be manipulated to be as soft or as hard as you want with the amount of resin added into them. This gives a large variety of different textures, weights, and sizes for fish to find attraction to.
The most triumphant soft baits on Reindeer Lake have been the Slug-Go Bubblegum 6” and Albino Shad 6”. There have also been a lot of bites with the Berkley Power Bait Smelt, and the Ripple Shad 4” in Firetiger. All of these baits have a great weight ratio to easily glide across the water as well as a great weedless option.
Spinners are a great option because they attract the natural predatory instinct in a Northern Pike. With incredible visual hunting skills and insanely sensitive inner ears, spinners are almost irresistible with both their colours and their vibrations.
The #5 Black Fury has a place in all anglers hearts with its narrow stature, allowing it to be used in very shallow water. Its dark black body with hints of gold, orange, and chartreuse make it a threat in murky, weedy waters.
There are tons of spinner options that have proven successful in the past, but the go to spinners for anglers are Mepps Spinners. Mepps has an abundance of colour choices for their spinners, but the most popular among the fishing community are black fury, musky killer, red/white, firetiger, gold, silver, pink, and chartreuse.
There have been great successes with these baits in a variety of habitats, from clear bays, shallows, and the deep edges of weed beds. This bait has a life-like exterior, along with being internally weighted for ideal swimming action. This easily tricks pike into believing it’s a smaller, weaker pike.
The only problem with this product is it gets chewed up quickly. Be sure to bring a handful of extras.
Great for weed beds, this lure is great for shore or deep water. There are some great tricks to float over a weed bed and jig with this off the bottom. This lure is the perfect colour for both sunny and overcast days with its silver and gold shine. Best size is 1 1/8 oz.
The Rebel Buzzn Frog works great on the shoreline and takes abuse well from the most aggressive pike. They are easy to walk whether you’re a beginner or avid angler, and trick any fish into thinking it’s a real frog gliding on the surface. This frog comes in one size and is only effective in spring when the pike are in the shallows of the bays.
The unique colour patterns and movement in the water proves this to be an effective shallow water lure, attracting even pike from deeper waters. It comes in multiple sizes, but the larger sized lures are the best option for big pike, K15 5″.
The Shad Rap by Rapala comes in many different colours, and represents multiple types of baitfish. It has so many different actions which makes it a great option for catching a lot of different species. It is the perfect crank bait for pike, with its tail motions and slow rolling movements. They come in various sizes and it’s best to opt for the largest option 3 – 3 1/2 inches.
For more information on how to catch northern pike in Canadian lakes check out this article on pike fishing tips and techniques.