Quick Links
| Blade Baits | Spinners |
| Crankbaits | Spoons |
| Jerkbaits | Swimbaits |
| Jigs | Topwater Lures |
| Soft Plastics | |
Blade Baits
Blade baits will work well for northern pike. You can cast them out and retrieve them slowly, hop them along the bottom or vertical jig with them. These lures can be very effective when pike are located in deeper water near schools of bait fish.
Learn more on our Blade Baits for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits work great for very well for northern pike. There are many different crankbaits to choose from whether you are fishing shallow or deep.
Lipless crankbaits are great lures for targeting northern pike in shallow to medium depths from 2 to 12 feet of water. Find active northern pike around rocks, weeds and wood and work lipless crankbaits at various depths by counting them down before retrieving them.
Shallow-diving crankbaits work well for northern pike when these fish are in the shallows feeding on bait fish. During the spring, you can catch some very nice-sized pike on these shallow-diving crankbaits, but once the summer and fall roll around, you will usually catch smaller pike by fishing with these lures in the shallows. Target shallow water cover such as weeds, rocks and wood and you should be able to catch plenty of pike.
Crankbaits that cover the medium depth ranges (6-10 feet) are some of the best crankbaits to use for northern pike. Whether you are fishing from spring through fall, you can usually find some northern pike in the bays, alongside weed edges or around the points in these depths.
Deep-diving crankbaits are great lures for targeting northern pike in deeper water. In the summer and fall, northern pike can often be found in deeper water near weeds, rocks and over open water around schools of bait fish. These lures allow anglers to get down to the correct depths, which help catch more fish.
Learn more on our Crankbaits for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Jerkbaits
Jerkbaits are one of the best baits for northern pike fishing. These baits are great in colder water temperatures as well as warmer summer water temperatures too. Take a look below to learn about the different types of jerkbaits.
Hard Jerkbaits
Hard jerkbaits work well in shallow and deep water. There are so many good jerkbaits on the market that work well for pike fishing. A jerk and stop retrieve makes these lures look like a wounded bait fish. Just make sure that you pause these baits in between jerks. These hard jerkbaits will suspend in the water column when you stop them and it drives pike crazy.
Soft Jerkbaits
Soft minnows and soft jerkbaits both work great for northern pike. The 4 inch minnows that most anglers would use to jig for walleye will also catch plenty of pike. Try rigging a 5 to 6 inch jerkbait minnow weedless and work it along a nice deeper weed edge. It’s a great way to catch northern pike.
Learn more on our Jerkbaits for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Jigs
Jigs work well for northern pike. There are many different types of jigs to choose from. Take a look below to learn more about the different jigs that work well for pike.
Bladed Swim Jigs work great for northern pike. These lures are a hybrid between a bass jig and a spinnerbait. Just cast them out and wind them in with a slow and steady retrieve. You can count them down to various depths to work different parts of the water column. Many anglers will add a trailer to their bladed swim jigs. Try using something with a tail to give your jig some better action while swimming it. Large curly tail grubs, soft plastic worms, swimming worms and even smaller swimbaits work great as trailers.
Learn more on our Bladed Swim Jigs for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Bass Jigs work great for northern pike, however, most pike anglers don’t use bass jigs. Many bass anglers that fish up in the northern part of the country will often catch northern pike with bass jigs. These lures work great especially when used with a trailer that resembles a bait fish.
Learn more on our Bass Jigs for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Hair Jigs work great for northern pike. The smaller hair jigs that are often used for crappie and perch will catch northern pike, but if you’re looking to get some action and have a shot at catching some larger fish, you will want to buy hair jigs that are a little larger.
If you are shopping in a retail store, they may not have the larger hair jigs, so we recommend searching online to find some hair jigs that are perfect for the type of fishing you will be doing. You can fish these jigs shallow, deep and anywhere in between. Some anglers do very well by tipping these jigs with a lively minnow as well.
Learn more on our Hair Jigs for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Soft Plastics
Soft plastics work very well for northern pike, however, you may go through many soft plastics when fishing for pike because of their teeth and aggressiveness. The soft plastics that are soft and not very durable will easily tear when fishing for pike. Make sure to use soft plastics that are more durable and you will go through less baits.
Pike will eat a variety of soft plastic baits, but we’re going to cover some of the best soft plastics when targeting pike.
Learn more on our Soft Plastics for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Spinners
Spinners work great for catching northern pike. There are many different spinners to choose from. Click on the links below to learn more about the different spinners.
In-line Spinners work well for northern pike. If you are just looking to catch some pike, the smaller spinners in the 3 to 4 inch range will catch plenty of smaller pike with an occasional big fish, especially during the spring. When you fish with the larger spinners, you won’t catch as many smaller pike, but you will definitely catch some bigger pike. In-line spinners work great in shallower water near weeds, but you can also use them on a Carolina rig to fish these in deeper water.
Learn more on our Inline Spinners for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Bucktail Spinners are one of the best spinners that you can use when fishing for northern pike. Cast them out and wind them in with a steady retrieve and you will do well. The 5 to 6 inch bucktails work great for northern pike, especially, big pike. You will catch small fish on them as well, but you’re going to catch a lot more quality fish by throwing these lures. You can go with some of the smaller bucktails for action and if you want to go very big, you can also do that since there are so many good spinners on the market that are made for muskie.
Learn more on our Bucktail Spinners for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Spinnerbaits are some of the best lures to use for northern pike fishing. The nice thing about spinnerbaits is that they work well around scattered weeds and lily pads where northern pike are often cruising around looking for their next meal.
Northern pike love to see that swimming action from a bait, so you can definitely get more bites by adding a trailer to your spinnerbaits. Curly tail grubs, curly tail worms and smaller swimbaits will add the right amount of kick to your spinnerbait to help draw more strikes.
Learn more on our Spinnerbaits for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Underspins are one of the best ways to rig soft plastic swimming-style baits for northern pike. Whether you use swimbaits, curly tail grubs, ringworms or other baits, just make sure you’re rigging these with baits that have some type of swimming style action on them and you’ll get plenty of bites from northern pike. Use the lighter jigheads for fishing around the shallows and around weeds. Go heavier when fishing deeper water and you can connect with some big pike. Underspins are one of the better action baits for catching northern pike.
Learn more on our Underspins for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Spoons
Spoons work well for catching northern pike. There are many different spoons to choose from. Take a look below to learn more about the different spoons.
Casting Spoons are some of the best lures for targeting northern pike. You can fish them shallow or deep and have a lot of success. Try fishing them around scattered weeds and lily pads when pike in the shallows from 2 to 12 feet of water. When the pike are deep, try casting heavier spoons and let these lures sink to the depth that the fish are holding. A slow and steady retrieve will give the spoon plenty of action, but you can work some spoons in with a faster retrieve.
Learn more on our Casting Spoons for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Trolling Spoons work great for northern pike. Trolling helps anglers cover more water faster and at times to find some of the biggest pike in the lake. Trolling speeds can vary depending on the spoon, depth and water temperature. Typically, anglers will troll spoons anywhere from 2 mph up to 5 mph, however, 5 mph may be be kind of fast. Experiment with different speeds until you find what works best for you.
Learn more on our Trolling Spoons for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Jigging Spoons work well for pike when they are in deeper water. Most anglers will use these spoons to vertical jig near schools of bait fish in deeper water. During the summer and fall, pike can often be found near schools of bait fish, walleye and smallmouth bass in deep water. A jerk and drop motion works well to give this jigging spoon an erratic action, which makes it look like a wounded bait fish. Northern pike love an easy meal and that’s exactly what the jigging spoon will do.
Learn more on our Jigging Spoons for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Weedless Spoons work great for pike. These spoons are very effective around the weeds, especially scattered weeds. Pike love weeds and any time you can fish a good-looking lure close to the weeds without getting hung up, you have a good chance to catch a lot of pike.
Learn more on our Weedless Spoons for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Swimbaits
Swimbaits work very well for northern pike fishing. With all of the swimbaits on the market, there are so many great swimbaits that will get the job done when fishing for pike. You can troll them, cast them, fish them in shallow water or deep water. In the spring, the smaller swimbaits will usually catch more fish, while the larger swimbaits tend to work best from summer through fall. One of the biggest problems with using swimbaits for northern pike is that it is very easy for the pike to rip up the soft plastic because of their super sharp teeth.
Learn more on our Swimbaits for Northern Pike Fishing page.
Topwater Lures
Topwater lures work well for northern pike when these fish are in the shallows. The spring is the best time of year to catch big pike on topwater lures. A variety of topwater lures will work such as buzzbaits, propbaits, stickbaits, poppers and chuggers.
Learn more on our Topwater Lures for Northern Pike Fishing page.
