Pike aren't picky eaters, which is exactly why so many anglers overthink them. Walk into any tackle shop and you'll see a wall of pike lures. Most of them work. Only a handful work everywhere, all season, from a Lake Erie bay in May to a northern shield lake in October.
The best pike lures are big, flashy, and built to take a beating: casting spoons, a dressed inline spinner, a bucktail, a jointed minnow bait, a suspending jerkbait, a topwater, a lipless crankbait and a jointed swimbait. Run every one of them on a wire or heavy fluorocarbon leader, because pike teeth cut through braid and mono.
Here's how to pick the right one for the water in front of you.
How to Choose a Pike Lure
Pike are ambush predators. Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources describes them holding in vegetated bays, creek mouths and shoals where they can jump prey. Your lure choice depends on the cover they're using, the depth, how clear the water is and the time of year.
Weed Cover
Treble-hooked spoons and minnow baits foul in thick weeds, so work them along the edges and over the tops instead of through the middle. A spinner, bucktail or swimbait retrieved just above the weeds draws pike up out of cover, and a topwater stays clear of it altogether.
Depth
When pike slide deeper in summer, you need a lure that gets down and stays there: a heavy spoon you can count down or troll, a lipless crankbait, or a spoon jigged vertically. Once the lakes freeze, the same jigging spoons do double duty through the ice, and our ice fishing baits and lures cover the rest.
Water Clarity
In clear water, natural finishes like perch, shiner and silver get more looks. In stained or muddy water, go bright: firetiger, chartreuse and orange stand out when visibility drops. Glow finishes earn their place in low light and deep water. Sound helps too: the clacker spoon and rattling baits on this list keep calling when pike can't see far.
Size and Season
A 4-inch bait is a reasonable starting point for average pike, and 5 inches and up for bigger fish. Right after the spring opener, fish are shallow and the water is cold, so slow it down. In fall, pike feed hard before freeze-up, and bigger baits worked faster come into their own.
The 10 Best Pike Lures
These ten mix best sellers from our pike fishing gear collection with baits we trust on Ontario pike. Three are Canadian: Williams, Lucky Strike and St Clair Hound.
1. Mepps Aglia Dressed Inline Spinner
The Mepps Aglia Dressed is our best-selling pike lure. Each one is tied with a real bucktail or squirrel tail, and the spinning blade throws flash and thump that pike track from a distance. Mepps itself names the #5 as the size for northern pike. Keep the retrieve just fast enough to spin the blade, and run it over weed tops and along drop-offs. Browse the full range of in-line spinners.
2. Compac Platinum Clacker Spoon
The Compac Platinum Clacker Spoon has a small pivoting metal piece that clicks against the body on the retrieve, adding sound to the flash. It's built for trout, pike, walleye and bass, and the 3/8 oz size can be cast, trolled or jigged. The clicking mimics the sound of feeding fish, which gives pike one more reason to strike.
3. Rapala Jointed Floating
The Rapala Jointed Floating has a broken-back body with an exaggerated "baitfish in distress" swimming action that wakes up lazy pike. In-Fisherman calls it ideal for bass, pike and walleyes. The 5-1/4 inch J13 is the size for pike. Retrieve it slowly over weed tops, or twitch it on the surface on calm mornings.
4. Mepps Syclops
The Mepps Syclops is one of the most versatile spoons you can buy. It casts easily, trolls at almost any speed and can be jigged vertically through the ice or over deep water. Mepps names pike first in its list of target species. The 5/8 oz and 1 oz sizes are the ones to throw at pike.
5. Berkley Choppo 120
The Berkley Choppo is a plopper-style topwater with a cupped propeller tail that throws noise and spray across the surface. Berkley weights it so the tail starts spinning the moment it lands. Go with the 120 mm size for pike, cast it over weed beds and along shorelines on calm mornings and evenings, and keep it coming on a steady retrieve.
6. Williams Wabler
The Williams Wabler is the lure that started Williams' tackle division more than 100 years ago, and Williams calls it a northern pike favourite. It started out as a lake trout spoon and has since proven itself on pike, musky, walleye and salmon. The 3/4 oz and 1 oz sizes suit pike.
7. Lucky Strike Live Series Swimbait
Lucky Strike is a Canadian brand, and the Live Series Swimbait is seven jointed sections built around a central fabric core, with a weighted head that gets it down. The result is a lifelike swimming action. Go with the 6-inch size for pike and fish it on a slow, steady retrieve along weed lines and drop-offs. For more options, check out our full range of swimbaits.
8. Rapala Husky Jerk
The Rapala Husky Jerk is a suspending jerkbait with loud rattles, and it runs true whether you cast it or troll it. For pike, go with the HJ-14, the largest size. Give it two or three sharp twitches, then pause. A suspending bait hangs right in front of a following pike instead of floating away, which is often when the strike comes.
9. St Clair Hound Piker Series
The St Clair Hound Piker Series is a bucktail hand-made in Canada, originally built for Lake St. Clair muskies. Its smaller profile makes it a natural fit for big pike: 2 oz, with a #7 Mag Willow fluted blade and a 5/0 Eagle Claw hook. It's at its best from early summer through fall. Burn it over weed tops and along weed edges so the blade thumps just under the surface.
10. Strike King Red Eye Shad
The Strike King Red Eye Shad is a lipless crankbait with free-floating rattles and 3D eyes, built to vibrate on the retrieve and flutter on the fall. Lipless baits cover water fast, and Wired2Fish includes large Rat-L-Trap-shaped baits among its pike picks. Use the 1/2 oz size and burn it over weed flats, or let it fall and rip it up off the bottom.
Fishing Weeds, Shorelines and Deep Water
Most pike in Ontario live within casting distance of weeds. Work the outside edge of a weed bed first, then the pockets inside it, and spend extra time where weeds meet deeper water. Points and creek mouths hold pike too, especially with the wind blowing in. Fan-cast a spoon or spinner to cover water, then switch to a slower bait once you get a follow.
When surface water warms in summer, the biggest pike drop to cooler water along deep weed lines, rocky shoals and main-lake points. That's when the heavier spoons and the lipless crankbait on this list earn their keep. Many of the same baits cross over to musky, so our musky lures are worth a look when you want to go bigger.
Ontario Pike Fishing: Timing and Where to Go
In southern Ontario, pike season closes for the spring spawn. In Fisheries Management Zone 16, which covers much of southwestern Ontario, the season runs January 1 to March 31 and the second Saturday in May to December 31. Lake Ontario's FMZ 20 opens a week earlier, on the first Saturday in May. Always check your zone's rules before you go.
At opener, pike are still near the shallow, weedy bays where they spawned. Veteran angler and writer Gord Pyzer notes that pike spawn in the low to mid-40s F (about 5°C) and that the biggest fish move to water around 15°C by midsummer, often 15 to 25 feet down. Fall pulls them back shallow as the water cools, and it's a favourite time to target big fish. We cover that bite in pike fishing strategies for Canadian anglers this fall.
Close to home in London, Lake Erie's Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair are both well-known pike waters. Head north and the shield lakes of Northern Ontario offer quieter water and plenty of pike. Ontario's record pike weighed 19.1 kg (42.1 lb), so there's always a reason to throw one more cast.
Gear Up Before You Go
You'll find these lures at our store at 681 Highbury Ave N in London, or you can shop online with free shipping over $150 anywhere in Canada. Don't forget the leaders: a 12-inch wire or heavy fluorocarbon leader costs a few dollars and saves the lure you just paid for. Stop in and we'll help you put together a pike box that fits the water you fish.
Fishing walleye on the same trip? Read our guide to the best walleye lures for Ontario lakes and rivers.
FAQ
What is the best lure for pike in Canada?
A dressed inline spinner or a heavy casting spoon. The Mepps Aglia Dressed in size #5 is our best-selling pike lure, and casting spoons like the Mepps Syclops and the Williams Wabler, which Williams calls a northern pike favourite, cover deeper water. Carry both styles and you're set for most situations.
What colour lure is best for pike?
Match colour to water clarity. In clear water, natural finishes like perch, shiner, silver and gold look most like real baitfish. In stained or muddy water, or on dark days, bright colours like firetiger, chartreuse and orange are easier for pike to see. Red-and-white and five of diamonds spoons are classics for good reason.
What size lure should I use for pike?
Start around 4 inches for average pike and go to 5 inches and up when you're targeting bigger fish. For spoons, 3/4 oz to 1 oz is the standard range. Pike are built to eat large meals, so a bigger lure rarely scares them off.
What lure has caught the most pike?
Nobody keeps an official count, but spoons have the longest track record. The Williams Wabler founded the Williams company's tackle division more than 100 years ago, and it's still catching pike today.
Do I need a wire leader for pike?
Yes. Pike have sharp teeth that cut through braid and monofilament, so always use a wire, titanium or heavy fluorocarbon leader between your main line and lure. A 12-inch leader is a good standard length and protects both the fish and your lure.
When is pike season in Ontario?
It depends on your fisheries management zone. In FMZ 16, which covers much of southwestern Ontario, pike season runs January 1 to March 31 and the second Saturday in May to December 31. FMZ 20 (Lake Ontario) reopens on the first Saturday in May. Check the current Ontario fishing regulations for your zone before you go.
