When fishing for Northern Pike in Canada you only need a half dozen or so good lures to get the job done. Remember, pike will go after almost anything you can throw at them. Based on some great trophy fishing (and catching!) experience, here’s our Webber’s Lodges list of the Top 10 Northern Pike Lures.
1. Mepps Black Fury Musky Killer – Available in a wide selection of colours we find the best color combinaions to be silver/white, gold/black and red/black. The Musky Killer also features an extra heavy-duty treble hook, and is great for fishing shallow bays and weed beds.
2. Mepps Syclops – We prefer the number three single hook Syclops. Our choice colors are bright orange, gold, and silver.
3. Johnson Silver Minnow – This weedless lure is extremely versatile. Use it for casting into shallow weed beds or trolling. Our favourite colors are gold and silver.
4. Mepps Aglia Dressed – Use a number five Aglia dressed, and watch those Northerns fight for it! We use colors such as silver/white, gold/black, and gold/grey.
5. 6-inch Slug-Go – Another great weedless pike lure. Our favourite colors are bubble gum, black, and grey
6. Rapala X-Rap – This lure is “designed for the aggressive angler.” Together with its minnow-like looks and the action provided by the angler, it’s a sure winner. Perch or yellow perch colors are our top choice.
7. Rapala Jointed – This lure is excellent when the water is warm and the pike may not be feeding as actively as they usually do. Because this jointed stick bait looks like a bait fish in distress, the pike believe it is easy prey.
8. Single or Double Buzz Baits – Such as the Screamin Stinger. All you’ll hear is the clicking of the aluminium paddle and then… the thrashing of the monster pike that is swallowing it.
9. Gibbs Ruby Eye Wiggler – This lure is becoming more popular each year with Canadian Northern Pike anglers. It creates a constant wiggling and darting motion in the water, and is fitted with two ruby colored beads as “eyes” which imitate the look of a bug or beetle. Available in a variety of colors, it’s tough to beat the standard brass or nickel.
10. Len Thompson Spoons such as the Cyclops – Who doesn’t have the old faithful Five of Diamonds or Red Devil in their tackle bag? These are still a favourite for Northern Pike fishermen, and remain one of our top sellers. Why? Because pike like them too!
Honourable Mention – The White Mouse – This little critter scurries across the top of the water. In a thick weedbed it creates commotion on the surface and the pike just can’t resist that tail. You can spin the two hooks upright over the back of the mouse, making it weedless, or turn them down when you aren’t fishing the cabbage.
Have you ever been on a local or fly-in fishing trip and looked in your tackle box at the end of the adventure – wondering why you have 20 pounds or so of unused pike lures?
