rapala lure for pike?

by admin on August 10, 2009

ewanireland asked:


hey what is the best rapala lure for pike fishing in my local canal please give detail eg type, color, and size

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

p m August 12, 2009 at 1:08 pm

For me it is a 6 inch jointed rapala.I like to call the colour “Green tiger”.It is orange on the belly,Yellowish on the sides and green with black stripes on top.Me and my dad have caught pike from 10 inches to 37 inches and had one following it that was 45+ inches.Good luck!

Flying Pretzel August 12, 2009 at 2:44 pm

I would suggest the new xrap in any color. So far this has produced fairly good pike.

David August 15, 2009 at 3:36 pm

I like Shad Raps (no 5-7) in a char/whi color. Second would be the SubWalker, third is the x-Rap and fourth is the Twitchin’ Rap, fifth is the Husky Jerk, 6th is the Countdown, and 7th is the floater.

Size: Depends on the size of the pike in your canal but I have caught pike on Rapalas as small as 5 and as large as they make them F18 as an example. Some people use Musky gear for larger pike so I would not be afraid to go to bigger lure sizes although I tend to start smaller and work up versus the other way around.

Color: I always fish using a color progression and the specific colors will be somewhat dependant on the time of day and weather conditions. The example below is based on a summer day 70 degree temp, no wind, Barometer steady, clear lake and no clouds.

Firetiger
Char/Wh
Orange/Yellow
Orange/Gold
Yellow Craw
Red Craw
Baby Bass
Natural Perch
Bluegill
Natural Minnow

Tactics: Start with Topwater in the early AM and then move to slashbaits, twitchbaits and under water walk-the-dog after that. Then go to floaters, then countdowns then finally DT’s if you need xtra depth. Good luck.

Brett H August 18, 2009 at 9:55 am

Assuming you are limiting the choices to only Rapala’s (I hope you have other lures) then I would go with a 6 inch straight one. It’s pretty universal and most any size pike will go for it. If targeting bigger fish, say 25+ inches, then go with the 8 inch version. It’s true, big fish are more likely to hit big lures. But you will catch less on big lures.

I’ve fished the jointed versions many many times. They look cool and have great action, yet for some reason the straight ones always performed better….always. No idea why, kind of frustrating actually. The best color of choice for me has been the light blue with white bottom. Again, can’t really explain it, just catches more fish. Second choice is the black top with white bottom.

Also…the straight ones do hold up a little better. Like someone else said, the jointed versions seem to get beat up more and hypothetically could cause more problems…although I never had it happen.

If fishing a canal, especially if it has some deep banks, you may want to pick up one rapala with a bigger front shovel, so it goes deeper. The really big fish will be sitting in the deeper water, usually near a drop-off or some structure (at least during mid day hours). In the evening they’ll get more active and come in shallower.

I don’t think I would go with the flashy yellow and orange ones. If you want flash, get some spoons. The daredevil (yellow w/ red diamonds) and crocodile (plain silver) are my personal favorites (4-5 inch versions). They’re great for bright sunny days. A good old mepps #5 is worth having as well.