Pike Baits Lures
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
first pike trip of the year. ice out was last weekend. what lure to start with?
slow rolling a spinner? pig&jig? shallow jerk bait? 4" swimbait?
1. Don't waste your time fishing in super shallow water, (unless, of course, you see activity!). O2 is at a minimum in the super-shallows right after Ice-out, so fish will try to hang-out near emerging weeds for respiration purposes.
Expect most of your strikes to come near emerging weed-beds in 8-14FT of water. If you KNOW where the first emerging weed-bed generally occurs on your local lake- start fishing there.
(The N-NW shoreline of any given lake will be the first place weeds begin growing due to longer sunlight penetration, which warms the water. AND, the N-NW tree-line, along the shore, will "buffer" any cold-fronts allowing for quicker photosynthesis. So, a good idea is to bring a decent compass if you don't know the lake very well...)
#2. I'd start with 2 different lures. A 1/4 OZ BEETLE SPIN in Black OR a 1/4 OZ Black/Chrome Bleeding Shiner Rattle-Trap. Both of these lures are subtle (due to size), which is usually important right after Ice-out. (I've also had EXCELLENT results directly after Ice-out (with Pike) on a Float & Fly technique- 1/8 OZ black Hair-Jig. Why? I'm usually fishing for Crappie and the Pike are almost always sitting on "top" of them right after Ice-out!)
- Rattle Trap- http://www.cabelas.com/product/Rat-L-Trap-Bleeding-Traps-and-Craws/738910.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Drattle%2Btrap%2Bbleeding%26x%3D24%26y%3D11%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=rattle+trap+bleeding&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products
Suspending, Rapala Husky Jerks in the HJ-8 and HJ-10 size can be very productive as well.
Realize, most forage in a lake right after Ice-out isn't very large, (2-3" at most). You CAN do well with normal sized Pike lures- but I'd suggest bringing smaller "finesse" lures- just in case! Esp if you have NO idea how cold the water temp is.....
"It's better to have a 1/8 OZ black Hair-jig and not need it, than to need a 1/8 OZ Hair-jig and not have it."
(lol)
Hope this helps ya?
You know what a Float & Fly, (in this case it would be a "Float & Hair-Jig" rig) is?
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
