3 Great Pike Lures (For Any Lake)

The northern pike, sometimes called the “waterwolf,” is a voracious eater and will feast on just about anything that swims in the lake. I’ve seen them take frogs, turtles and baby ducks. Most pike will feed along the shallow shoreline and weed beds of cold northern lakes throughout the year and then will move to deeper water during the long, hot dog days of summer.

Although typically spring and fall is when most people catch a big pike, mid-summer can also be good if you know where to go and what to throw.

We all know that big lures catch big pike. Here are three great ones to get you started. Remember, big lures require medium-heavy to heavy duty rods with 15 pound test line and 12 inch steel leaders to prevent break-offs. A pike is nothing but large, sharp serrated teeth strapped to pure unadulterated muscle. Pike are fighting machines and will test all of your skills.

#1 Mepps Aglia Flashabou

The Mepps Aglia Flashabou combines the vibration and flash of a classic Mepps blade with a highly reflective, hand-tied flashabou tail for attractive, shimmering action in the water. Northern pike will be quick to nail a #5 Aglia Flashabou in either double or single-blade configurations as it produces exceptional flash over weeds and structure. For pike, the smaller size #5 definitely works the best. One tip on using a Mepps Aglia in early season conditions (when the pike are really shallow) is to slow down your retrieve. When the water is very, very cold fish move slower. Day in and day out Mepps spinners get the job done. BUY HERE: Mepps Aglia Flashabou

#2 Storm Wildeye Live Pike

This lure is still hot and catching a lot of big fish. It is no secret that this lure out fishes almost all other pike lures combined. It’s realism is hard to beat. An internally weighted body creates an incredibly life-like swimming action. The realistic color patterns and shape of the bait is backed up with 3-D holographic swimmin’ flash foil. The only real negative to this pike lure is that the soft plastic gets destroyed pretty fast after a few catches and sometimes the tail will get eaten off on a late bite and render it useless. So bring a bunch of these with you. These are great to use wherever you find fish but especially in the shallow pockets around lilypads and weed beds. BUY HERE: Storm Wildeye Live Pike

#3 Rattletrap

Rattletraps are great lures, particularly when fish are not as active in the summer and hanging out in deeper water. The noise and action of this lure compels even the wiliest of pike to investigate. In lakes for big fish use the larger sizes. All color combos seem to work pretty well but a silver and blue pattern seems to work best. They also work well in early season when cold weather pushes the pike into the mouths of the bays, suspending the fish in slightly deeper water. Today the Rat-L-Trap brand is the number 1 selling brand of hard-baits that are Made in the USA. With over 350 size and color combinations, it is the undisputed king of lipless crankbaits. BUY HERE: Rat-L-Trap Naturals

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