which lure?????????????????

can anybody give me a difinitive choice of lure or lures that consistently catch pike in various waters?so much choice out there and am a bit bamboozled.fish for pike mainly in scottish waters,highlands but am going for a week on loch awe and need to break my 20 pound mark.had pike up to 17 on lures and dead baits but have a passion to break the 20.any decent online stores for these lures?could be a fishing trip and accommodation for the lucky person who can supply me with the imformation.(spare room,drink,food and some pike ,salmon and trout fishing) help !!!!!!!!

WOODY........ your needed

ive never fished a loch but i would be fishing large baits bulldawgs replicants jerkbaits and dont forget spinner baits

Tricky question this mate, for the main reason that every water will fish differently each time you fish that given venue.
But I was to give you the name of a lure that has developed perhaps a cult following on large open bodies of water,then it would probably be the bulldawg. It can be fished at any depth,which is solely limited by the speed of which your reel will retreive.
And for the shallower waters,I'd personally choose a salmo slider,the roach pattern has always worked exceptionally well for me.
This post will be elaborated on once woody gets on

Hi Boopinter and welcome to the forum Here is an article I wrote for a forum that may help a little however the lure choice is at the very end

As a lure angler I have been lucky enough to catch predatory fish from canals, ponds, rivers, stillwaters, large glacial lakes.... The one thing that every lure angler has in his advantage is mobility, If the fish are not there you cannot catch them, so you reel in and move to the next area, this gives you a distinct advantage over most other anglers. For the readers who have never caught on a lure, I will give you a little insight into what generally happens.

Cast out your lure.
Retrieve the lure.
Bang Crash Wallop
Fish on

I would be lying if I said this happened to me every time I went out, however it only takes one good take from a pike to hook you forever as it has me and most people that I take out.

Equipment

Rods

Not as important as you would think, however the style of lure fishing that you do and the time of year that you do it does really pick the rod for you. I am known for jerkbait fishing which generally weigh between 2-8oz, trying to chuck these with a 13ft flimsy rod will end in tears and an early lesson. The rod I use for this type of fishing is a 6'6" baitcasting rod with a trigger grip to take a multiplier (reels will be covered next) These rods have a stiffish action which helps you impart action into your jerkbaits and large plugs (ie shad raps and depth raider) I also use mine for trolling lures while on boats (One of my favorite ways of lure fishing)
If your wanting to lure fish your local canal these rods are a little bit overkill so I have a lighter outfit for these sessions which doubles up for trout, perch, chub and zander.
If you would prefer to use a fixed spool reel, then you will need a spinning rod which generally have a lighter and more through action as the stiffness of your rod is not needed for imparting action into your lures (spinner baits and smaller plugs) depending on the casting weight of your rod you can also use larger plugs as above however if you like to enjoy the fight from your fish I would recommend you keep the casting weight down to 2oz max.

Reels

Multipliers

There are so many good reels on the market these days that its hard to say which to go for, I use a Shimano Cardiff 401A loaded with 80lb braid for my jerkbait fishing, The multiplier is the finest tool in a lure anglers armory because you can fish so accurately with them, the clutches are silky smooth and the fish when hooked are attached directly to the spool unlike fixed spool reels. If you are taking the sport up seriously I suggest you buy one and dont be put off with what your mates say, I could teach you in 15mins.

Fixed Spool Reels

I do use these reels on my small spinning rods but generally because its easier to cast small spinners and plugs with fixed spool reels. Again I use Shimano reels but this is a personal choice only. As long as they can take 150 yards of 30lb braid and they have a good clutch, then they will do the job.

Line

I stopped using nylon the second I used braid it really is as simple as that, the non stretch, instant contact of braid makes it far superior to nylon for using lures, pike really do hammer into lures sometimes, however zander and perch are really subtle and would not be felt as easy on nylon if at all.

A word of warning, when using braid

Buy the best that you can afford, in the long run it will save you a fortune in lures, trust me.... when I started fishing, the local trees looked like xmas trees with the spinners and plugs hanging from them, now I just pull the tree down only joking
Its also worth mentioning that your clutch must be set on the light side because you can easily pull the hooks from a fish due to the lack in stretch.

I use 15lb braid on my ultralight spinning and baitcasting outfit

I use 30lb on my deadbaiting outfits

I use 80lb on my jerkbait outfits

I know 80lb seems strong line to catch pike on, that will at there max grow to 50lb but the reason we use braid of this strength is simple, when you get a snarl up on your reel while casting a 7oz lure, the lure will remain on the end of your trace and not sale into the distance (£30 lures sailing into the distance is not a nice sight, trust me and anybody who uses nylon on that one)

Traces

An absolute must have item, I use solid 90lb traces for jerkbaits, 25lb on my small spinning outfits.

The traces bought at your local tackle shops on the cards are not good enough, again trust me on that one, the amount of lures I find in rivers with a trace still attached and the trace has failed of this type should tell you everything, either make your own or look at the specialist shops for them. 12-18" are fine, nothing shorter.

Nets

I use a QED Huntsman net which has large gauge lureweave mesh, this is almost impossible to become tangled with a flying treble, standard carp nets are not suitable for this type of fishing as a the first a fish roles in one, you will find out. If this is the only net you have then take a pair of scissors and a set of bolt cutters, as this maybe the only way you will free the fish.

Tools

Another MUST have, You will need Long nosed pliers, the fox ones are great, bolt cutters to cut the hooks on lure, long forceps as a back up only, sharp scissors, a file to sharpen hooks, set of good scales, weigh sling/unhooking mat, camera , plasters and you then have everything to go wondering around the waters with confidence

Personal Options

I always take Polaroid sunglasses as they allow you to see following fish and fish that are sat in the margins

Food and Drink is a must on 12hr lure fishing sessions.

Waterproofs are another item that I usually take with me.

I know you think that I am going to now tell you which lures to fish with, but I am not, what I will say is that you will get what you pay for with lures ie Lidl specials will not be as good as Rapala lures ect.....

I would recommend that you buy a small selection of spinners, a small selection of plugs that run at different depths, color I find not to be that important but a selection will help when to going gets tough.

I hope I have covered everything but please ask any questions that you would like answering and I will see what I can do.

I hope that you enjoy my branch of the sport and I hope to see you on the bank soon.

Tight Lines

Woodchucker

Loch Awe is a vast water and has large areas of shallow water so my advice would be to look at jerkbaits and spinner baits, dawgs and replicants should always be in a lure anglers bag but there not great in water of 5ft or less, now there is one bulldawg that can bring good results and thats the shallowdawg, these sing very, very slowly and can be counted down and reeled in with the odd twitch to get takes. Jerkbaits for me are a great bait as you can work them in 2ft-40ft of water and they tend to wind pike up even in the coldest of water, if you dont any jerkbaits then buy a few and give the a go before your trip because you need to know what works in what way at what speed. There are loads on the market but a few stand out for me.

Cobbs Crazy Shad

River Run Manta

Salmo Sliders

Musky Magic Makers

Zalts

Weighted Squirrley Burts

All of the above will stir pike if you work them correctly and thats the key

Now spinner baits are great as tehy can also be worked at any depth depending on the amount of lead which is on the jighead I would reccomend 2oz max for shallow water (3-10ft) and buy the ones with colarado blades rather than willow blades as colarado blades keep the lure up in the water, keep them worked on a steady retreive for the best results and it can sometimes help to spped the retrieve up from time to time to trigger a take.

Another couple of baits worth buying are spoons and Rapala Super Shad Raps.

Spoons can be worked at almost any depth however work them SLOW and deep for the best results, if there spinning then there going too fast, if that helps, and dont be scared about letting them sink to the bottom from time to time.

Shad Raps are great for a couple of reasons, firstly they can be cast a good distance from the bank, and secondly they float, now the good thing about floating lures is that they can be cranked down to the depth and when you come closer to the bank then slow the retreive and let them slowly come back upto the surface.

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions, just ask

And that is simply the reason why I called out your name....


Quality work Woody...

how are you fishing this loch boat bank can you troll if you have access to a boat all give differing answers to the lures to take with you

generic things like big spoon 00 professers etc work accross the board as do most jerkbaits (well the depth thing still applies) some cranks may not be suitable depending on the depth of water eg its no use taking depthraiders ploughs deep invaders if your only fishing in six foot and likewise bombers shallow raiders grandmas etc are out if you want a lure at 30 foot.

try castaics and replicants an awfull lot of anglers swear by them personally though i like swearing at them

come on its cheating it really is

the amount of people who can catch on those things is ridiculous, then give em a shaft bait or a pig and tell em to go and use that and they ask what does it do as they have never had to actually do anything other than cast out and reel in with these soft plastic things

noodle wrote:try castaics and replicants an awfull lot of anglers swear by them personally though i like swearing at them

come on its cheating it really is

the amount of people who can catch on those things is ridiculous, then give em a shaft bait or a pig and tell em to go and use that and they ask what does it do as they have never had to actually do anything other than cast out and reel in with these soft plastic things

I must admit that used with a twitch every few feet thay are daedly in 8ft+

Woodchucker wrote:

noodle wrote:try castaics and replicants an awfull lot of anglers swear by them personally though i like swearing at them

come on its cheating it really is

the amount of people who can catch on those things is ridiculous, then give em a shaft bait or a pig and tell em to go and use that and they ask what does it do as they have never had to actually do anything other than cast out and reel in with these soft plastic things

I must admit that used with a twitch every few feet thay are daedly in 8ft+

but which gives ou more pleasure catching on the loverleeee musky snax stuff or the fox replicant?

Jerks will always do it for me John

Woodchucker wrote:Jerks will always do it for me John

odd this ive just been on about this vaguley on P&P and related the look a friend gave me when i clipped a magnum long a on hednever seen one
i christened him the replicant generation as most of my friends seem to be they have got into lures a bit later and as a result seem to fall into the replicant is the only thing to use ok they may have demons (i say buy the hell tails instead) and ive managed to get one of them into proper glide baits, but he also likes squirrly burts and SSR's there is no hop for him im doomed to be alone in a world of expensive wood

oh ive a new love by the way the bikini turmoil amazing action kind of like a glide bait but with a very erratic rise and fall as well. unfortunatly the new versions are more akin to mantas with a slow steady glide path and are apparently very uniform now being made from plastic

Its a sad state of affairs to be honest John, I remember the first time I fished Windermere and the lad I was with pulled a cobbs crazyshad out and I thought what the hell is that, he cast it out over one of the reefs and he had take after take on it, he gave me one and showed me how to work them, and I have never looked back. Plastic is great for deep diving plugs but its got to be wood for me I gave Mantas a go after everybody on P&P had ranted about the, now dont get me wrong they are a nice searching lure but give me a Cobbs anyday

Woodchucker wrote:Its a sad state of affairs to be honest John, I remember the first time I fished Windermere and the lad I was with pulled a cobbs crazyshad out and I thought what the hell is that, he cast it out over one of the reefs and he had take after take on it, he gave me one and showed me how to work them, and I have never looked back. Plastic is great for deep diving plugs but its got to be wood for me I gave Mantas a go after everybody on P&P had ranted about the, now dont get me wrong they are a nice searching lure but give me a Cobbs anyday

well im not that snobby i like the ace stuff from fishing pool sirens sweetshads flippers hell tails etc

but for snobby value

smutly dog's got four 4 inch versions on the way to me when they have been built that is

noodle wrote:

Woodchucker wrote:Its a sad state of affairs to be honest John, I remember the first time I fished Windermere and the lad I was with pulled a cobbs crazyshad out and I thought what the hell is that, he cast it out over one of the reefs and he had take after take on it, he gave me one and showed me how to work them, and I have never looked back. Plastic is great for deep diving plugs but its got to be wood for me I gave Mantas a go after everybody on P&P had ranted about the, now dont get me wrong they are a nice searching lure but give me a Cobbs anyday

well im not that snobby i like the ace stuff from fishing pool sirens sweetshads flippers hell tails etc

but for snobby value

smutly dog's got four 4 inch versions on the way to me when they have been built that is

Nice

i've got a semi on reading that...well done...If you want a easy to use lure that does catch in deep water,Then use reps,castaics & bull dawgs.If you wanna lure thats better in the shallower water then get an account wi several lure dealers cause we'll all tell you summat different.My forte is surface lures & that does get you

joel wrote: i've got a semi on reading that...well done...If you want a easy to use lure that does catch in deep water,Then use reps,castaics & bull dawgs.If you wanna lure thats better in the shallower water then get an account wi several lure dealers cause we'll all tell you summat different.My forte is surface lures & that does get you

you have a way with words

Its a lure thing

Woodchucker wrote:Its a lure thing

sure is

If that dont help any newcomers to lure fishing then what the hell will, great work Andy, and hopefully you get some results tomorrow when you out.
Top job mate

well done andy.brilliant post...storm roach are a fav lure on my smaller set ups.they work.

Great post Andy, I do like swimbaits but for me the replicants take some beating, 6" or 8" are both great lures and have caught me some serious amounts of pike and perch (Yes Perch). Cast or trolled with a steady retreive with the odd twitch can see pike engulf the whole lure right infront of your very eyes

My pb lure caught pike of 23lb 4oz fell to an 8" perch replicant on Hornsea Mere a few years ago, I had cast out from the boats to the side of Island in 8ft of water, I counted the lure down but was slacklined on the drop and missed the fish, I cat back to the same spot but started the retreive after a couplke of seconds when it was nailed, now unless you use large rubber baits on a regular basis then trust me they are nailed hard or you loose the tail

Leave home without at least one of these and your not lure fishing to your full potensial.