Types of Northern Pike Fishing Lures

Northern Pike fishing is one of the preeminent freshwater angling experiences. How can you know what are the correct Northern Pike lures to use? Well, understanding a little about the life cycle and habits of the Northern Pike is important. You also need to know what lures people are using when fishing for this ferocious fish. Experimentation is always good to discover things on your own, but when you first start out it is a good idea to use the best Northern Pike lures that those that have come before you tie on.

The types of lures for Northern Pike can be broken down into these groups:

Spoons - Popular for many years, spoons are one of the top lures for Northern Pike. A spoon is made up of an oval shaped piece of metal that is curved inwards with a single treble hook on the end. The metal body is similar to the eating utensil hence the name of the lure. This fishing lure was invented in 1848 by Julio T. Buel.

Spoons wiggle and vibrate in the water with the metal body giving off a flash that looks like a dying minnow. Large spoons three inches in length or larger are used for Northern Pike fishing. The three most popular colors of spoons that Northern Pike bite on are red and white, chartreuse, orange and green with tiger stripes, and finally yellow with red diamond patterns.

Crankbaits - These are lures designed to look like bait fish. Most crankbaits today are made of plastic but in the past they were made of wood. Crankbaits are painted in numerous different shades to match any sort of fish imaginable and even crawdads or other marine species that fish would feed on.

Northern Pike fishing with crankbaits is typified by large baits, three or four inches or greater, that are painted to resemble shad or yellow perch. The crankbaits are either casted or trolled at the desired depth.

Spinners - Large spinnerbaits are becoming more popular as Northern Pike lures recently. These spinners are essentially the same lures one would use when Largemouth Bass fishing but they are a larger size. Spinners are great lures for Northern Pike fishing because they are so easy to use, give off lots of flash and vibration to attract aggressive pike, and are mostly weedless.

Fly Fishing - Fly fishing for Northern Pike is a new modern trend. The flies used are much bigger than if you were trout fishing, and many are brightly colored resembling saltwater or bass flies. Just like with spinners, the flies one would use when fly fishing for bass will work on Northern Pike. Flies that resemble large, sluggish baitfish swimming lazily underneath the surface of the water are good or top water poppers will entice Northern Pike into biting. Remember to use a strong leader to prevent the pike’s razor sharp teeth from biting off your fly line.

Live bait - Northern Pike fishing with live bait will net you many large fish because they are such aggressive hunters. Hooking chubs, suckers, shad, or perch on a slip bobber and fishing them in the deep cool water where pike like to hang out will work well. Another effective method of bait fishing for Northern Pike is to use large dead minnows and fish them right off the bottom in deep water. Pike are scavengers and will not turn down such an easy meal.

This has laid out the best Northern Pike lures used when fishing for this aggressive lunker. They are one of the most fun fish to catch because of their energy when leaping out of the water and aggressiveness when ferociously striking a lure. Northern Pike fishing will hook any first-time angler to the sport of fishing.