Creature baits...

[manitoubass2]

Although walleye and smallies have my heart (and sometimes crappies), last year I started fishing northern pike from shore quite abit.

I mean, after all, when your fishing these gems, your almost always gonna hit some pike too, so I figured why not???

So, Last spring I got ready for the ice out pre spawn/spawn period. My mind set on actually learning how to target these fish and hopefully get some bigger ones in doing so.

So after almost two full years of experimenting on Rainy river (fishing pike at least twice a week), I have some baits that really really produced.

I was kinda shocked, because I never seen/heard of many people actually targeting pike with creature baits??? Which seemed odd, because everyone knows pike will hit almost anything, especially with a good presentation.

So, what worked best??? Well, my favorite has to be the Berkley crazy legs chigger craw in black/red fleck. Texas rigged on a 3/0 wide gap hook with a 1/8 oz weight in the belly. You can fish this rig in any slop, at different depths etc. The belly weight in the hook keeps the bait from flipping over too, so it's pretty smooth to fish. Only downfall is you can't cast it very far, but for the most part, I'm targeting shallow water pike anyhow. And this bait is amazing for searching the shoreline.

Another bait that worked great was the chigger toad. It displaces alot of water, and can fish the water column well. But my favorite way to fish it was top water as a frog. It was similar to the hollow body frogs in action, but the hook ups are way better, especially if your using a rod in the 6'6" to 7" range. It's also meaty, and stays in place great, and it won't get water logged after a few big bites. Pike will hammer this bait hard!

After two years, I'm set on a 6'6" med. heavy rod, an Okuma Avenger spinning reel with 15lb braid(I prefer Suffix 832 so far). The line holds up great, easy to get outta thick veg, and will handle big pike safely to shore where you can land them. The rod, most would tell you is way too short, I disagree. It allows multi presentations, and handle the hook set awesome. No problem getting big fish in.

Sometimes I'll use snap swivels, sometimes tying direct.

Anyone else using these style baits to fish pike???

I had alot of fun learning to fish these aggressive fish. I'm looking forward to this spring and learning even more... Searching for a new PB should be alot of fun!!!