Best and Worst Pike lures

Let's talk pike lures. What do you do well on? What do you feel is over-rated?

8" bluegill on a circle hook.

The Bucher tail 500 mini in clown color is my favorite for N.Pike in Canada.

my go to lures are mepps 4 or 5 with hair or the mepps giant killer. also 5 of diamonds dare devil. (yellow with orange diamonds)

Iv'e found the dressed #5 mepps spinners good for pike & bass also....even perch will go after them. Some musky articles Ive read reccomend them for finesse presentations; cold water ect. The northers in N. Mn. also like standard bass spinnerbaits. (the safety pin style)

Years back we were fishing on Rainy Lake in Canada. Having a great time with the Smallies. Out of the corner of my eye I was watching a Chipmunk, he was eyeing an acorn at the end of a log that jutted out into the water. Eventually he made a dash for the acorn, as he picked up his prize a Northern of about 36 inches burst from the water and took the little chippy down. A few minutes later the Northern very carefully arose and placed the acorn back on the end of the log.

I'd have to say Mepps cyclops has been my go to lure for some time. Fire tiger pattern or orange and green preferably with a silver back versus gold. Also tough to beat is soaking a golden with a big red and white bobber. Nice to sit back after throwing a lure for hours on end.

#5 Mepps dressed Aglia spinners have caught a lot of pike for me this season. Really big lures seem to be overrated for pike, they seem to like lures that are sized more for bass... When I used the Mepps Musky Killer spinner, even though it had the #5 Aglia blade, most pike would ignore it, but not the more aggressive largemouths! I had to switch to #5 Mepps dressed Aglia spinners with smaller tails to start catching pike again...

I use the same setup for Pike I use for Walleye, a twisty tail grub on a 1/4oz. jighead with a 4in. grub instead of the 3in. used for Walleyes.

Fall time, Phantom soft tails Summer time, any large crank to get you down to the thermocline spring, X raps, spinnerbaits, #5 mepps.

1/4oz zip

tandem bass spinner in bluegill color they eat them up like candy

Red and white Daredevil

Best Pike Lure......White Spinnerbait worked over weeds. Worst Pike Lure.....Rubber Eel lure tipped with the end of a hotdog.

Best for me... anything I'm not using to target pike! Worst is anything I am using to target the green meanys! Side note. I was using a clown x rap Saturday for bass and hooked into a BIG pike after I floated a sucker for 3 hours targeting pike! Oh yea lost that big pike too!

Anything that flashes, darts, bubbles, cries for momma, or is in some sort of distress.