Lure fishing for musky and pike can be an intricate matter. I have seen many fishermen do this without thinking at all of what they are doing. The most common mistake is they do it with not enough variation. They keep slamming the pike lures to the same spots over and over again and with the same retrieving speed. This is a very ineffective way to catch fish and will give you little or no fish to land.

These fishermen quickly gives up and complains about bad musky lures or no fish in the waters, while this often is completely wrong. What these guys should have done is fishing with much more variation and patience with the pike or musky.

Firstly, find a pike lure in your box that you know will trigger a bite in most cases and stick with it for a long time. Secondly, take a quick overview of the entire fishing spot and determine depths, rocks and other things to consider. Start throwing the lure just outside weed lines, logs or other object. Retrieve with moderate speed and with your rod tip pointing high to make sure the lure will go high in the water.

If a pike is there and is hungry enough it will grab the lure, if not it will maybe sniff on it or turn just before it take it. Either way, you will notice it visually or feel it. Now we know there is a pike on the spot, but we will not do the huge mistake and throw the lure right back because this mostly will scare the pike back permanently to its hiding place.

We have to leave it, let it go back and “digest” the whole situation. It was not hungry enough or missed the target, but it needs a rest. The pike need a few minutes to settle down. In this period it becomes more focused and the instincts are sharpened. If we now had slammed the lure back after a few seconds the pike would surely had been scared, skeptical or both and certainly not taken the lure.

What we will do next is throwing the lure to another place to check out if there is a fish there. Keep the lure high and make a “map” of the spot (depths etc.). If nothing happens when you have been everywhere, go back to the spot where the pike responded and throw the lure a bit farther away, retrieving a bit slower and with the rod tip lower too. Now the bait will pass by the pike with slightly different movement, deeper and with lower speed. The pike has had its rest and very often the pike is more interested this time or more focused and will take your lure properly.

Always start fishing high and go deeper when nothing happens. Retrieve with slow, moderate and fast speed and most important ; don`t fish on the same spot several again and again. When a cast is finished, throw the lure in a completely different spot next time. Showing the fish your bait many times in a short period just make them fed up with it and shows no interest.

Remember, the fish needs time to consider most of the time, even if it is a pike, salmon, perch or any other fish specie.

Just follow these simple and effective rules and I can guarantee success when many others will not notice anything in the same fishing area.

Harald Hoel, expert of pike fishing.

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