Pike topwater lures/ color.

[Bushleague]

I havent fished topwaters for pike since I was a kid, but over the years I've had plenty of pike hit my float while fishing bait, especially when the water is very dirty. In my area the fishing can get pretty slow when the water gets dirty so I think I'll pick up a couple topwaters to try in those conditions.

I'm thinking some type of good sized prop bait, it seems like giving the pike a fair-sized target moving at a steady pace would be the best strategy. Back when I did fish topwaters I remember black being my favorite color, but maybe in dirty water it wouldnt be the best option? Any advice would be welcome.

[jungleboy]

I’ve had a bit of luck with top water frogs namely the Rebel buzzin frog. I have also had some luck with home made popper type lures 2 to 3 inch long . I think if you are creating a disturbance on the surface it’s more important than the size of the lure. Also seems more effective on calm or still water .

[Bushleague]

Yeah, lots of times when I'm fishing a float rig, I periodically work the float like a popper to get some attention. Usually they hit the bait, but in real dirty water the float seems to be a more obvious target for them. Not really a huge fan of topwaters, but perhaps they might be my best option sometimes.

I've tried working F18 Rapalas like a popper with limited success, and buzzing spinnerbaits with a little more success. The main issue seems to be getting them to actually hit the lure rather than just strike at it.

[EZM]

Color is not the most important factor - it's usually the action, size of lure and where you fish the lure (to where the fish are triggering strikes).

Having said that, the dirtier and darker the water is, equals dirty or darker lures (black, purple, dark greens) whereas the brighter sunnier days with clearer water the flashy chrome, and bright fire-tiger, chartreuse etc... work better (supposedly).

Myself, I figure out what I want to try (like bottom bouncing, trolling, top water, etc...) then find the right lure, the right action and speed, then look at lure size and, finally choose a color to try. In that order.

Pike are not picky. But it sure is more fun to get more action putting the right lure to where the fish are being triggered. Top water is awesome.

Zara Spook or top water buzz baits are lots of fun. There is nothing cooler than twitching or walking a top water floater only to have the water erupt with a strike on calm water.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by EZM

Color is not the most important factor - it's usually the action, size of lure and where you fish the lure (to where the fish are triggering strikes).

Having said that, the dirtier and darker the water is, equals dirty or darker lures (black, purple, dark greens) whereas the brighter sunnier days with clearer water the flashy chrome, and bright fire-tiger, chartreuse etc... work better (supposedly).

Myself, I figure out what I want to try (like bottom bouncing, trolling, top water, etc...) then find the right lure, the right action and speed, then look at lure size and, finally choose a color to try. In that order.

Pike are not picky. But it sure is more fun to get more action putting the right lure to where the fish are being triggered. Top water is awesome.

Zara Spook or top water buzz baits are lots of fun. There is nothing cooler than twitching or walking a top water floater only to have the water erupt with a strike on calm water.

Lol, so true on the color... Last June I had two great days in the same week, one evening I caught a half dozen big pike out of water that was pretty clear, and they would hit anything so long as it was bright yellow. Tried other stuff but couldnt get a bite. Two days later the water was much dirtier but I caught another dozen or so big pike, and all they would hit was plain chrome spoon.

That said, I dont see topwaters becoming a big part of my fishing, so I just want to get a couple colors specifically to use in dirty water. Thinking one will be black.

[stob]

Jitterbug ... i fool around with it on the mighty sturgeon in STA ... always top water action

[Smoky buck]

Jitterbug/crawlers and prop baits seem to work fine for me. I have not tried a frog even though I know others who do well on them and I have one still in the package lol. Whopper plopper is a good one I recommend

As for color they only really see the belly and slashing so do over think it. Black and white work but I think it’s less important with top water than any other lure. Basically go bright or go dark

[58thecat]

I got a few poppers in the tackle box, black back/silver bottom.
All orange with black dots and a yellow one.

Seem to do the trick.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Jitterbug/crawlers and prop baits seem to work fine for me. I have not tried a frog even though I know others who do well on them and I have one still in the package lol. Whopper plopper is a good one I recommend

As for color they only really see the belly and slashing so do over think it. Black and white work but I think it’s less important with top water than any other lure. Basically go bright or go dark

Back when I did fish topwaters more, my best producer was a black Jitterbug. With that slow, steady crawl and beefy profile I got alot less missed strikes on that lure than I did with poppers or Buzz baits. Only thing I didnt like about them, its a pretty inconvenient lure to fit into a tackle tray, just an awkward bulky shape that hardly fits anywhere.

I picked up a black Whopper Plopper just to see if it will work, if I get lots of missed strikes I'll paint the belly orange or something.

[lakerman]

Peavey mart North Edm. has buzz baites single blades for .94cents and its 15 percent off that this weekend. load up boys, let the games begin.

[JD848]

I find that casting a 10 inch suick large top water bait or double spinner buck tails to get there attention,then I huck a smaller spoon right back into that area ,silver Johnson or any other spoon at a slower retrieve in a jerk motion .

Many times If I'm fishing for musky or large pike I just see a biol or swirl in the water then I just cast right back into that area ,even some Rapala shallow runners . Rubber or plastic baits even on a jig can get that angry pike to hit.

That first attack has there attention so if there is 2 guys one casts the suick and the other the smaller bait right after it .One two punch ,lights out.

Color can vary from lake to lake ,whites ,silver greens, gold and don't be afraid to bend the eye on the lure a bit to just give it that off running look.

[SamSteele]

Peterborough Pro Tackle had the Choppo 120 at a really good price earlier in the year, so I picked up a few to try this spring.

SS

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by JD848

I find that casting a 10 inch suick large top water bait or double spinner buck tails to get there attention,then I huck a smaller spoon right back into that area ,silver Johnson or any other spoon at a slower retrieve in a jerk motion .

Many times If I'm fishing for musky or large pike I just see a biol or swirl in the water then I just cast right back into that area ,even some Rapala shallow runners . Rubber or plastic baits even on a jig can get that angry pike to hit.

That first attack has there attention so if there is 2 guys one casts the suick and the other the smaller bait right after it .One two punch ,lights out.

Color can vary from lake to lake ,whites ,silver greens, gold and don't be afraid to bend the eye on the lure a bit to just give it that off running look.

Yeah, I agree. I think lures that can be fished as topwaters, but are not strictly topwaters, in general are more effective. My favorite is a double bladed spinnerbait, I think it works better if they have Colorodo blades rather than Willow Leaf.

I run them on the top like a buzzbait, and if I get a missed strike I just slow down the retrieve and let it go under... usually they get hit again, and usually its not a miss. Another thing I do if the pike are following bad is start out slow, then speed up so it breaks the surface as it gets near the boat. That often seems to trigger a strike much better than doing the figure 8 thing.

Long ago I sort of came to the conclusion that actual topwaters are more of a novelty thing rather than a productive method of fishing for pike, but like I said, I've come to think theres a chance that something obnoxious and splashy might be a good bet when the water is dirty.

[Smoky buck]

If it’s just a matter of improving catch rate in dirty water top water won’t make a big difference. Anything that creates a lot of thump, vibrations, or has rattles that is under the water will likely get you better results. Dirty water top water fishing I find leads to more missed strikes

Big double bucktails with #9 or better blades with flash rather than hair or big double Colorado spinner baits or big tail spin baits I have been experimenting with have given me the best results in dirty water or low light

Pike are very visual predators so at least moderate water clarity is always better I find

But I am talking really poor visibility water not just a good stain

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

If it’s just a matter of improving catch rate in dirty water top water won’t make a big difference. Anything that creates a lot of thump, vibrations, or has rattles that is under the water will likely get you better results. Dirty water top water fishing I find leads to more missed strikes

Big double bucktails with #9 or better blades with flash rather than hair or big double Colorado spinner baits or big tail spin baits I have been experimenting with have given me the best results in dirty water or low light

Pike are very visual predators so at least moderate water clarity is always better I find

But I am talking really poor visibility water not just a good stain

Yeah, its just about dirty water, and its not an idea I would normaly gravitate to. I've tried all the normal suggestions with some success... big spinners, noisy rattle plugs, and dead baits... just as I said, all of my Pike floats have some pretty nasty bite marks on them, and it almost aways happens in dirty conditions.

So my conclusion is that in dirty enough water, the float on the surface can be a more obvious target than the big stinky herring that is bobbing around 3-5' under it. Following that logic I'm going to give topwaters another try.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Yeah, its just about dirty water, and its not an idea I would normaly gravitate to. I've tried all the normal suggestions with some success... big spinners, noisy rattle plugs, and dead baits... just as I said, all of my Pike floats have some pretty nasty bite marks on them, and it almost aways happens in dirty conditions.

So my conclusion is that in dirty enough water, the float on the surface can be a more obvious target than the big stinky herring that is bobbing around 3-5' under it. Following that logic I'm going to give topwaters another try.

When it comes to open water I am not big on bait fishing pike so can’t speak on much there

Worst case you should experience some good top water strikes from the ones that cooperate

For myself I have not found anything lure wise that has had amazing results in really dirty water and I have likely tried everything you can buy plus some crazy creations I have made.

Slow rolling big blades like I mentioned is my go to but usually I just fish different bodies of water with better condition if I know the water is going to be like chocolate milk

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

When it comes to open water I am not big on bait fishing pike so can’t speak on much there

Worst case you should experience some good top water strikes from the ones that cooperate

For myself I have not found anything lure wise that has had amazing results in really dirty water and I have likely tried everything you can buy plus some crazy creations I have made.

Slow rolling big blades like I mentioned is my go to but usually I just fish different bodies of water with better condition if I know the water is going to be like chocolate milk

Yeah, the last part there pretty much sums up my own strategy. Big spinners or different locations. I'll let you know if the topwaters are of any value.

One thing I've found is that if I have to fish extremely dirty water, I am more likely to find fish extremely shallow, some years I'm catching them right out of the flooded willows along the bank when its dirty. I think cornering bait against the shore is probably one of the easyer ways for them to feed in such conditions, the eagles would have a hard time getting them and maybe they know that. Either way a topwater will be easyer to fish in knee deep water than anything else.

[Pikebreath]

For top water pike, I fish mostly with fly so take that FWIW.... But to be consistently successful on topwater, you need several "stars" to align properly.

1) Shallow water, preferably clear.

2) Calm conditions.

3) Low light whether from shadows, cloud cover, evenings etc.

4) Water temps in the 60 F plus range and air temps warmer than the water.

5) Flies / Lures that fish in the surface film and "walk the dog" or dip slightly on the retrieve work better for me than noisy "top of water" that make a lot of splash.

6) Color doesn't seem to make much difference, usually I like very bright flies for pike, but if the the light is quite low I will switch to black becuz it is supposed to be the most visible .

6) When I do fish topwater with lures my favorite lure by far is the Zara Spook.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Pikebreath

For top water pike, I fish mostly with fly so take that FWIW.... But to be consistently successful on topwater, you need several "stars" to align properly.

1) Shallow water, preferably clear.

2) Calm conditions.

3) Low light whether from shadows, cloud cover, evenings etc.

4) Water temps in the 60 F plus range and air temps warmer than the water.

5) Flies / Lures that fish in the surface film and "walk the dog" or dip slightly on the retrieve work better for me than noisy "top of water" that make a lot of splash.

6) Color doesn't seem to make much difference, usually I like very bright flies for pike, but if the the light is quite low I will switch to black becuz it is supposed to be the most visible .

6) When I do fish topwater with lures my favorite lure by far is the Zara Spook.

This got me thinking and found something I just might buy and try.

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/90302...riantId=259214

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Yeah, the last part there pretty much sums up my own strategy. Big spinners or different locations. I'll let you know if the topwaters are of any value.

One thing I've found is that if I have to fish extremely dirty water, I am more likely to find fish extremely shallow, some years I'm catching them right out of the flooded willows along the bank when its dirty. I think cornering bait against the shore is probably one of the easyer ways for them to feed in such conditions, the eagles would have a hard time getting them and maybe they know that. Either way a topwater will be easyer to fish in knee deep water than anything else.

Thinking about your condition made me think of another option

Something I have not tried but might do the trick is a subsurface couple of the musky lures that are made by some of the smaller lure makers. They are basically a subsurface spinnerbaits and bucktails. Lee lures(boiler maker is the lure) and big guy baits(hotdog) are two builder’s I can think of off of the top off my head. Big guy baits is going to be a better option cost wise as Lee lures is more of a high end lure

I can find other builders of this style of lure too. None of the big commercial companies sell anything like theses lures

Lee lures also runs a YouTube channel called today’s angler and you will be able to see their version of the subsurface spinnerbaits and bucktails

Maybe over the winter I will see what I can come up with for this style of bait

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

This got me thinking and found something I just might buy and try.

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/90302...riantId=259214

Works OK

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Works OK

Yeah I was thinking also about salt water fishing too down south....the poppers I tossed in DR, Cuba, Mexico etc they got crushed by a variety of fish.

Poppers seem to work well early season for pike once the water starts to warm up but I guess that depends on the lake too.

Athapap last year in Manitoba late July they really worked well.

[Passthru]

Love tossing a Suicide Duck lure when the ducklings start hatching for top water pike.

[SamSteele]

I ordered some of the VMC Bladed Musky trebles to add to some surface and sub-surface pike baits. I like vibration on my pike lures, especially in the tannin stained waters of most northern lakes in early spring. I have used the smaller bladed trebles on other lures for walleye so figured I would give these a try. There are a few different blade shapes and treble sizes.

https://www.rapala.ca/ca_en/9650bd-v...50BDINBN#3/0PP

SS

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Thinking about your condition made me think of another option

Something I have not tried but might do the trick is a subsurface couple of the musky lures that are made by some of the smaller lure makers. They are basically a subsurface spinnerbaits and bucktails. Lee lures(boiler maker is the lure) and big guy baits(hotdog) are two builder’s I can think of off of the top off my head. Big guy baits is going to be a better option cost wise as Lee lures is more of a high end lure

I can find other builders of this style of lure too. None of the big commercial companies sell anything like theses lures

Lee lures also runs a YouTube channel called today’s angler and you will be able to see their version of the subsurface spinnerbaits and bucktails

Maybe over the winter I will see what I can come up with for this style of bait

Thanks, sounds interesting, I will be sure to check them out.

Some years I end up fishing dirty water a ton. On high water years, many of the best lakes in my area can turn to chocolate milk in about 20 minuets just when the wind kicks up a good chop, and it can take 2-4 days to clear up. Now think how often my home water, and some other good sized lakes actually go 4 days without kicking up a chop... its something I'm regularly forced to deal with for entire seasons. At this point it doesnt look like it will be an issue this year, but any tricks I can pick up to fish dirty water more effectively can be invaluable some seasons.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

Thanks, sounds interesting, I will be sure to check them out.

Some years I end up fishing dirty water a ton. On high water years, many of the best lakes in my area can turn to chocolate milk in about 20 minuets just when the wind kicks up a good chop, and it can take 2-4 days to clear up. Now think how often my home water, and some other good sized lakes actually go 4 days without kicking up a chop... its something I'm regularly forced to deal with for entire seasons. At this point it doesnt look like it will be an issue this year, but any tricks I can pick up to fish dirty water more effectively can be invaluable some seasons.

Still on my list to travel to your corner for some fishing but do to never being there it’s hard to judge the conditions

What gets kicked up from a chop or a day or 3 of rain I don’t find too bad on places I fish. Algae blooms can be much worse on some of the lakes. One of my fishing spots though is absolutely brutal with spring run off till July. It’s usually 6inch visibility and this is the conditions I was thinking with your post. It’s bad enough I just wait till it clears up

You should find some interesting stuff if you start checking out the smaller musky lure builders in general that might spark your interest. Lots of stuff out there that will never see a tackle shop because the builders just make small batches because they have full time jobs.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Still on my list to travel to your corner for some fishing but do to never being there it’s hard to judge the conditions

What gets kicked up from a chop or a day or 3 of rain I don’t find too bad on places I fish. Algae blooms can be much worse on some of the lakes. One of my fishing spots though is absolutely brutal with spring run off till July. It’s usually 6inch visibility and this is the conditions I was thinking with your post. It’s bad enough I just wait till it clears up

You should find some interesting stuff if you start checking out the smaller musky lure builders in general that might spark your interest. Lots of stuff out there that will never see a tackle shop because the builders just make small batches because they have full time jobs.

In seasons past, a big chop could reduce the visibility on LSL to less than a foot, all the way to the drop off which is over a KM from shore near my house. When the water is high enough that big chop starts washing soil into the water, once enough silt is on the bottom even a modest chop can stir it up pretty good. You can basically watch it go from clear to crap while driving down the highway.

Fishing near beaches, or the windward side can help, inflows/ or outflows usually clear up faster, in some spots it just doesnt seem to affect the bite quite as much as others. Wierd, because in central AB I can remember fishing absolutely filthy water and usually not doing too bad, but up here the fish seem much more sensitive to it. I think in some regions the fish have just gotten used to dealing with dirty water, and in others not so much.

[Coiloil37]

Cal, 58th, smoky, if you guys want some topwater or otherwise specialised gear from the scene over here I can get it to you next week. Some of the easiest shops to look at would be

https://www.ottostackleworld.com.au/

https://fergostackleworld.com.au/

https://www.bcf.com.au/

http://anacondastores.com/

Chances are the barra and estuary lures are likely to be the appropriate size. If it’s worth the effort and your quick enough, I’ll order it and get it to you mid May via the AO pony express. PM me if you want to go down that road.






The general rule of thumb in dirty water is to be noisy, visible and smelly. Two of those might not need to be discussed. I haven’t fished lesser slave since the early 90’s so I’ll leave the specifics to the man doing it.

The comment about colour is pretty naive. Fish see much more than the colour spectrum visible to humans. From everything I’ve read and heard… they have colour recognition into ultraviolet, luminescence, gamma and possibly infrared wavelengths. From my personal experience, colour and the type of additives in the lures make a massive difference in strike rates. Most lures I use have UV, lumo and CAT additives and are in the correct/ most successful colour for the fish I’m targeting. If you have a hard time believing my experience look into the studies and consider why the fish who live in 500+ meters of water have eyes… in an environment with no visible light. Some of those fish even evolved with a means of heating their eyes so they can see better in that environment.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Coiloil37

Cal, 58th, smoky, if you guys want some topwater or otherwise specialised gear from the scene over here I can get it to you next week. Some of the easiest shops to look at would be

https://www.ottostackleworld.com.au/

https://fergostackleworld.com.au/

https://www.bcf.com.au/

http://anacondastores.com/

Chances are the barra and estuary lures are likely to be the appropriate size. If it’s worth the effort and your quick enough, I’ll order it and get it to you mid May via the AO pony express. PM me if you want to go down that road.






The general rule of thumb in dirty water is to be noisy, visible and smelly. Two of those might not need to be discussed. I haven’t fished lesser slave since the early 90’s so I’ll leave the specifics to the man doing it.

The comment about colour is pretty naive. Fish see much more than the colour spectrum visible to humans. From everything I’ve read and heard… they have colour recognition into ultraviolet, luminescence, gamma and possibly infrared wavelengths. From my personal experience, colour and the type of additives in the lures make a massive difference in strike rates. Most lures I use have UV, lumo and CAT additives and are in the correct/ most successful colour for the fish I’m targeting. If you have a hard time believing my experience look into the studies and consider why the fish who live in 500+ meters of water have eyes… in an environment with no visible light. Some of those fish even evolved with a means of heating their eyes so they can see better in that environment.

I actually ordered a bunch of different surf fishing stuff this year, probably lots of it is fairly popular in your area. Yo-Zuri Mag Darters and Hydro Minnows, SP Minnows, more classic stuff like Bombers and Redfins.

While most people who fish Slave gravitate towards fishing the deeper water, there is a huge amount of skinny water on that lake that almost nobody even looks at and thats where I like to fish. I kept wishing I had lures that would cast a mile, fish really shallow, and hold up to getting banged around on rock bottoms... finally realized that the lures surf fishermen have been using for decades do all these things. We'll see if it was a colossal waste of money in a couple weeks.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Coiloil37

Cal, 58th, smoky, if you guys want some topwater or otherwise specialised gear from the scene over here I can get it to you next week. Some of the easiest shops to look at would be

https://www.ottostackleworld.com.au/

https://fergostackleworld.com.au/

https://www.bcf.com.au/

http://anacondastores.com/

Chances are the barra and estuary lures are likely to be the appropriate size. If it’s worth the effort and your quick enough, I’ll order it and get it to you mid May via the AO pony express. PM me if you want to go down that road.






The general rule of thumb in dirty water is to be noisy, visible and smelly. Two of those might not need to be discussed. I haven’t fished lesser slave since the early 90’s so I’ll leave the specifics to the man doing it.

The comment about colour is pretty naive. Fish see much more than the colour spectrum visible to humans. From everything I’ve read and heard… they have colour recognition into ultraviolet, luminescence, gamma and possibly infrared wavelengths. From my personal experience, colour and the type of additives in the lures make a massive difference in strike rates. Most lures I use have UV, lumo and CAT additives and are in the correct/ most successful colour for the fish I’m targeting. If you have a hard time believing my experience look into the studies and consider why the fish who live in 500+ meters of water have eyes… in an environment with no visible light. Some of those fish even evolved with a means of heating their eyes so they can see better in that environment.

Awesome and thx for the post, totally agree with seeing in dark, murky water etc.

I will use a UV Len Thompson #2 in 170 for jigging for lakers and it works great.
Have had many say that’s crazy and not going to work u TIL you watch us in action.

With that knowledge we use that on walleye in the back bays which is dark and murky too....walleye and pike one after another, want to stay up higher in the water columns we use a smaller lure or retrieve faster.

Just another option and we all know to never be hard nosed on one or two presentations or you might end up fishing and not catching.