
Matt Albert
5:45 - 6:29
"you can twitch it and jerk it along, use some long pauses and let it slowly sink. Pike really like that slow sink with these softer lures."
“you can twitch it and jerk it along, use some long pauses and let it slowly sink. Pike really like that slow sink with these softer lures.”
Typically, if it's not too weedy, you can rig them like that, or you can twitch it and jerk it along, use some long pauses and let it slowly sink. Pike really like that slow sink with these softer lures. Or you can rig it with the hook point covered by the lure body, and this helps keep it more weedless. However, when you're fishing with these soft plastics, it's really important to get a good hook set on the fish because it takes some extra force to get that hook point through the rubber of the lure body before it can hook the fish. Some of the swimbaits also have a slit for the hook to ride in to keep the weeds off of it, but it'll still let the hook bury into the fish's mouth.
Matt Albert, a research biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, walks anglers through gear, lure selection, fish behavior, and release practices for northern pike in a new instructional video. The guide also covers the species' native range north of the Alaska Range and its invasive status south of it.
