Effective pike fishing is in direct correlation with effective pike lures. What is an effective pike lure? We all have our opinion about it, but there is no exact answer that can apply to everyone. Pike seem to prefer different type of lures but there is no doubt that slow moving lures combined with lively movement are especially good for pike fishing. Why is that? I think the answer to that lies within the nature of most predators.
Every predator has inherited special patterns which decide their behavior and those patterns are built on effective energy consumption. A predator is just another living creature but its nutrition resources consist of other living creatures. If this balance is disturbed (for example ,the intake of food is less than its energy consumption) the predator will at first stop growing and eventually weaken and die. This must be avoided at any cause, so predators have more advantages than animals who only eat vegetation. If a predator’s energy level is lower than normal, it becomes weakened and the predator will have problems catching its prey and will die very quickly if things don’t change in a hurry.
The point is, a predator will get food in many different ways in order to maintain a high energy level. A predator will watch its prey very closely and analyze its every movement or behavior with care. Any unusual behavior or pattern will lead to immediate action if those patterns are interpreted as a weakness.
Healthy prey is hard to catch and require a lot of effort end energy to get. These fish will only be attacked by a pike if they are in close range or if the pike is really hungry.
A pike is able to sense if a weakened or injured fish is within range and will attack as it knows that these fish are much easier to catch than healthy ones. These behaviors are common for any predator no matter what it is. For example, a hawk will attack a pigeon with minor damages such as lacking a few feathers on a wing. This will mean that the hawk has a much greater chance to out maneuver the pigeon and catch it.
The relationship between predator and prey balances on a very thin line between success or failure, so every element that is in the predators favour is exploited. Remember, predator s are much more affected by weaknesses than a primary consumer.
As stated before, predators will attempt to get food in many different ways and will even eat carcasses to maintain its strength. This is also a fact with pikes since a relatively fresh dead fish is the easiest prey to get and every pike with enough room in its stomach will fill it up with dead fish. This is why fishing with dead bait is a very effective way to catch a pike.
With all this in mind we must, as pike fishermen, seek after lures that resemble the movement patterns of a weak fish as this will spark a reaction from a pike when the “prey” is spotted. A pike is not able to think like human beings so every move it makes is a result of inherited behavior patterns. By stimulating those patterns, it leads to a reaction toward our pike lures and is what we as fishermen most desire.
I don’t think we know for certain what exact movements attract pike, but unstable swimming with wobbly and lively movements seems to appeal to pike.
These movements are very much similar to dieing fish and just as a suggestion ; rapala lures are very close to this.Many other fishing spoons and fish-like soft lures are also very close. But we know that many other musky lures and i.e. limberneck spinnerbaits which for us does not look like injured prey fish so the pike and musky mind are more complex than we think and know. So, pick your pike lures with care when going pike fishing.