Big river pike hunt with lures (Part 2)

At the end of my previous video, big river pike hunt with lures, I asked viewers to recommend the lures they use to help me catch the big pike I’m after. 

I wasn’t disappointed and had loads of suggestions for lures in all shapes and sizes – and some unusual ones too. That’s the power of Social Media.

I love this pioneering approach and trying something new.

I ordered a load of different lures to add to my collection. I was surprised by the range of different colours and shapes that people had suggested. Once they were delivered I carefully unwrapped them including Westin Shadteez, Zander ProShads, Salmo Slider,  Westing Ricky the Roach, Glide Bay and Kofi Shad to name but a few.   

I couldn’t wait to give them a go before the river season closed in March.

I decided to return to the same stretch of river, so I could compare the new lures with my favourites used in the first part of the video. The weather conditions were pretty cold for my first trip to the river, but I was full of hope as I love trying something new.

I decided to continue with a mobile approach covering as much of the river as possible, with a few casts in each swim before moving on. In my first session I decided to use the Kofi Shad and the Salmo Slider. I was really impressed with how far I could cast the Slider and it covers a lot of water. It wasn’t long before I had my first take.

The pike absolutely smacked into my lure on a slow retrieve, within minutes I had a jack pike in the net. Not the monster I was after, but a good start with a new lure.

It wasn’t long before another pike was in the net, this one was a little bigger and absolutely nailed the lure. My new Salmo Slider proved to be a very good lure with two pike in one hour – happy days.

On my second visit to the river the weather was a lot warmer, much warmer than it’s been for weeks. So I decided to try the Strike Pro Miuras Mouse lure. 

These were really expensive, but came highly recommended, so I gave it a go.

They cast very well because they are quite heavy, but I wasn’t sure how to fish these lures. I decided to wait for the lure to sink near to the bottom with a slow retrieve. They’ve got a weird swimming action with the fluff pulsating on the retrieve.

Almost like cheating

On my first cast, a pike followed the mouse lure into the margin which boosted my confidence. After a few more casts I decided to move to a deeper section of the river. After a few seconds a pike hammered into the lure and I was in. It was a really confident take and within a few minutes a near double figure pike was in the net.

It wasn’t long before I was into another pike on the mouse lure. Although it looked weird to me, the lure’s action in the water was superb – it was almost like cheating.

Another evening session before dark and this time I’m fishing a tributary of the river. I’m standing on a footbridge that allows me to cover a lot of water. I decided to use a Westin Shadteez this time as there are loads of roach in this section.

Matching the hatch

I’d found an area that was full of jack pike and I had a couple of takes within minutes on a natural colour shad. These looked like the roach they were hunting. I call this matching the hatch, using an artificial bait that looks natural.

I feel like I’ve levelled up with the recommendations I’d been given and I’m really enjoying using my new set of lures. 
It’s early March now and I’m running out of the river season, so I decided on a final session before the close season. I decided to try the most attractive lure I’d been recommended, the Molix Glide Bait.

It has a brilliant side by side action on the retrieve, just like an injured fish. My confidence with this lure was high and I was having fun. I can feel the lure working from side to side on a simple retrieve, it’s absolutely insane.

I’ve tried most of the lures I was recommended and caught on most of them too. I’m really grateful for the help and advice.

The power of Social Media

Thanks to the power of social media I was given the opportunity to use lures that I’d never heard of. Although I didn’t catch the monster I was after, I’ll be back next year to continue my big river pike hunt on lures.

So whatever you’re fishing for, make sure you enjoy it and be lucky.