Saturday, February 19, 2011

What lure catches the most big northern pike?

Troy Bechtel
walleye spinner that landed big pike
Bow Narrows angler Troy Bechtel caught and released this mammoth northern pike in Red Lake last July.

If I recall correctly, the lure that attracted this enormous pike was none other than this walleye spinner with either a leech or a worm!

But that is hardly an accident. We catch more big pike on either walleye spinners or tiny leadhead jigs than any other lure!

How can that be? you ask. Why would these biggest of fish, weighing 20-30 pounds, go after a tiny walleye lure? Wouldn't they prefer a bigger meal and therefore a bigger lure?

I'm just telling it like it is. Walleye baits catch the most trophy-size northern pike. And when you consider these rigs aren't ever fished with a steel leader, you wonder how many of the bite-offs people get were fish like this? You just assume it was smaller pike. After all, every pike has a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. It almost takes a miracle to hook one right in the lips with either a walleye spinner or jig and therefore not get the line in the fish's mouth.

Still, miracles or not, we catch more really big pike on walleye rigs than any other lure.

It is understandable really. Humungous pike want a really big school fish for meals. Walleyes fill the bill.

So should a person seeking big northern pike only fish for walleye? I don't know anybody who does this. They fish FOR WALLEYE and accidentally land the big pike.
The real pike fishermen use spoons, Mepps and Blue Fox spinners, stick baits, and jigs but cast them along shorelines, not fish them right where there are walleye. Maybe they should target the walleye areas with their northern pike lures but they do pretty well fishing the way they do. Certainly they catch far more northern pike than do the walleye fishermen. And they catch lunkers too.
Yet, it is while walleye fishing that most people get the super big pike.

It might be worth a try.

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