How do you catch the wily Northern Pike in late autumn period when the Northern Pile have set up along weed and reed lines and along shorelines littered with fallen trees and submerged wood?
Be innovative employ slightly larger than normal ( to 1 ounce weight) bass-style willow leaf spinner baits. A worm or a twister tale can be added to further entice the fish out for a strike. In addition this combination works to great effect being quickly retrieved as the lure bulges just below the lake waters surface. You need not hop, pop or play around with the lure in any way. Just keep the lures moving continually through the water.
When the bigger game Pike wont come to the surface though, you can dredge them up with a heavier 1 ounce to2 ounce muskie size spinnerbait. Just let the spinnerbait flutter down and then slowly crank it back to the boat, keeping the lure within a foot of the lake bottom at all times. This will work best in thick grass but also on main rocky lake structures as well.
On the other hand hard crankbaits excel in open water, on deep flats and around main lake rocky structures in the time periods from the mid summer until freeze up at Lake...