Top Pike lures for winter

[Dick Dastardly]

Interesting site Vidar,many thanks for posting it.Not so sure I would want to pay £113.50 for a lure though!

[Elton]

A thread worth resurrecting...

[noodle996]

A thread worth resurrecting...

 

 

Indeed and my tuppence worth is professors in 00 having got into them recently and any of the bigger fox rooters youll need to weight them so they just sink head down and the tail flaps as they sink. smae goes for burts but im not keen on those Oh and if you buy the burts they will need sealing (too much money for a lure that needs modifying out of the box imo) as well as they are notoriously poorly made

Edited February 20, 2010 by noodle996

[JMCLincoln]

Anybody used these, there may be some lures of use .

 

http://www.spro.nl/catalogus/uk/06/uk_06.html

[Dansdad]

I always reconmend an ondex for begginners ... I turn to this lure on a hard day and it ends in a catch or 2

 

 

Agreed. I always found the Ondex 4 or 5 a killer in the shallow lincolnshire drains with silver blade preferred over gold. Had pike out up to over 14lb and there's ayways the chance of a good Perch too.

 

Other favourites include the Swimmerspoon and the Abu Hi-Lo.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[Steve Burke]

Agreed, the Ondex is a very good lure when you need to fish shallow. However, my local waters are mostly deep and then I prefer Mepps Aglias and Abu Reflexes.

 

I too have done well on Helin Swimmerspoons, but found that pike soon destroyed them! The action is similar to the Flatfish, one of my favourite trolling lures when I want to fish at around 15 to 20 feet.

 

In fact I much prefer floating divers when trolling because of the precise depth control. The traditional UK choice of a spoon means that every time you change speed or direction you change the depth as well. Sometimes this is an advantage, but in these circumstances I prefer a different technique altogether.

 

For casting though I usually prefer a spoon to a plug in winter as I can let them sink and keep them deep. However, I let them sink on a tight line with the pick up engaged as some days most of the takes come on the drop. This way you'll miss very few of them. My favourite on local waters is the versatile Abu Atom, although I've also had a lot of pike on Masterline's Mr Muskie.

 

I've also done well with soft plastics then, especially Masterline Head Cases. I've even caught a number of pike when twitching them a fraction after leaving them stationary for some time! This has more than once saved a blank, especially on days when the pike are following but not taking.

 

Really though, rather than choosing what someone has recommended, it's a matter of working out what you want the lure to do in the swim you're fishing, and then working backwards to find an appropriate lure.

 

The two most important factors are the speed of retrieve (usually the lower the temperature, the slower the retrieve), and even more critical the depth you want the lure to fish. Each lure has a range of speeds and depths it fishes best at. Outside of that range you'll almost certainly do better with a different lure.

Edited October 28, 2007 by Steve Burke

[Neil G]

I've found the Big S to be a regular catcher...okay, it's old but it works.

 

TBH I'll try quite a few lures out on a session..even surface poppers seem to work close in at the moment.

[BoozleBear]

Really interesting comments on there. I remember it from the first time around.

 

Nice to see "argyll" in a thread too. Reading what he put reminds me of what a nice and helpful geezer Gerry was. Worth bringing the thread back up for that alone.

 

Cheers Elton.

 

Simon

[benhben]

I find ondex spinners rubbish to cast. Lightweigh and unaerodynamic only go afew feet. Any tips on casting them?

Also what sort of retrieve is best with them? Steady or twitched?

 

So can good numbers of pike actually be caught on lures in winter then?

[benhben]

I find ondex spinners rubbish at casting. Light and alot of air resistance only go afew feet. Any tips on casting them?

 

Also what sort of retrieve for them style lures? Steady or twitched.

 

Finally, what sort of places do pike lie in colder weather? Deeper water, structure the same places as summer?