Canada spinnerbait help

[RedDevil]

I'm headed to Canada for some walleye and pike fishing in August for the first time. Being a midwest bass guy I have no idea about walleye or pike.   The buddy I'm going with goes every year and all he uses is spinnerbaits so I figure I'll make some up for the trip.   I'm thinking of using what's in the pic has anyone used this stuff or have a better idea on what to use?  any info would be great on colors, wire size,  blade size what else I might want to make up to take.  Basically anything at all because this is all out of my territory. 

 

Thanks in advance for any help

[21xdc]

1/2oz Red and Yellow spinnerbaits with .041+ wire.  A single #5 nickel Colorado blade works great.  Don't forget to add the trailer hook. 

[canuck]

August  bait fish should be fairly full grown.  Ask your buddy what kind of natural forage is in the area you intend to fish. How big are your target species.. Water depth and clarity? Going for trophies or eating fish?   Match the bait weight and Finnish accordingly.  If you spinner bait for bass down south  you know that variations of blade combos make a difference under different water and weather  conditions. I like using double blade combos in 1/2- 5/8-3/4oz head size on .031 to .040 wire frames. I like hook sizes from 4/0 to 6/0 and blades up to #7s. Silver,nickel, gold or polished brass  anything with a big flash for pike.  Pickeral can be more picky and may require    smaller presentations  using coloured blades if flash dosen't produce.   Colors to start with   black, white,chartreuse,red, yellow, orange. I like to dress my spinner baits with a  trailer grub usually a 5" single tail   color matching head and skirt or contrasting or give a three color total presentation. You can also try to match color to baitfish in area eg blue gill, shad, shinner etc.  Stinger hooks are  optional for late biters.  But can be more trouble than there worth at times.  Don't forget to take some jigs and grubs for bottom fishing walleyes. Trolling bottom bouncer rigs  with thin fin / rapala type minnow baits are deadly in some areas around rocky shoals etc.  To get more specific local info I would try an internet search on local game and fish sites and see if anyone can put you on to what is working in that area.   As Canada is as huge an area as is USA a lot changes as you go north , east and west. Hope this helps you out. Cheers

[RedDevil]

Thanks for the input so far.  Lac de Mille Lacs  is the Lake.   It's my buddy's family vacation and the only time of year he fishes so he isn't much help as far as what is really needed.    My big thing is the skirt material because I'm thinking my skirt tabs for bass jigs isn t big enough from the sample of the spinnerbait he gave me that he uses.   Not sure what to order or where to find it that's why I was asking about that lumaflex stuff in the pic.

[Apdriver]

LPO also has some 7” skirtmaterial you may want to take a look at.

http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Silicone-Material/Magnum-7-Silicone-Material.html

[JLS]

You'll want to use a closed eye wire (or tie all of your R bend wires closed) on all of the baits you make so you can use a leader. 

For 1 trip, I wouldn't invest too much in skirts. I build a lot of Musky/Pike baits and sell as many silicone skirted as I do in flashabou skirted. I use the same silicone tabs as I do on my bass baits but do use 3 tabs and load them a little longer to the outside. I do zip tie them in place and they hold up extremely well.

The custom flashabou skirts that I use are 8 1/4" long so if you purchase a 12" hank, plan on having a lot of drop. LPO sells some custom blended flashabou skirts if you  want something more durable. They are built by Gene (same guy that builds my skirts) at Leaders and Lures and he might have more color options on his site http://www.leadersandlures.com/

[DaBehr]

I live in Minnesota and go on a Canada trip every year and catch a lot of Northern Pike with a 46" as my personal best and I catch them all on "standard" bass baits. The 46" came on a 3/8 oz swim jig. My 2nd best came on a tiny crappie jig with a Do-it Nano plastic! She was 42".

My point is that Northern Pike eat anything ...and everything!

Big spinnerbaits do catch big Pike, but if they are larger than the forage they are feeding on they sometimes will ignore them.

I seldom use trailer hooks because Pike often really eat the bait and one hook is hard enough to get out! The other thing is that Pike often bite down on a bait really hard and you never really get the hook set. So set the hook hard  a few times! If you keep losing them beside the boat it is because they were not hooked and the open their mouths and let go of the bait.

Make a few big ones, but a 1/2 oz with a 5/0 hook is plenty big. I like the Do-it Ultra Minnow Spinner Bait the best.

The other reason why bigger is not always better is that they love the weeds and a big heavy bait is hard to fish in the weeds.

Remember that big pike, 36" or better, are 10 year old fish. Treat them like the treasure they are!

 

[Jeff Hahn]

3 hours ago, JLS said:

You'll want to use a closed eye wire (or tie all of your R bend wires closed) on all of the baits you make so you can use a leader. 

For 1 trip, I wouldn't invest too much in skirts. I build a lot of Musky/Pike baits and sell as many silicone skirted as I do in flashabou skirted. I use the same silicone tabs as I do on my bass baits but do use 3 tabs and load them a little longer to the outside. I do zip tie them in place and they hold up extremely well.

The custom flashabou skirts that I use are 8 1/4" long so if you purchase a 12" hank, plan on having a lot of drop. LPO sells some custom blended flashabou skirts if you  want something more durable. They are built by Gene (same guy that builds my skirts) at Leaders and Lures and he might have more color options on his site http://www.leadersandlures.com/

THIS^^^.  If you're going to use a steel leader, which is standard when pike fishing, use the closed/twisted loop type of spinnerbait.  Also, do yourself a favor and take some 1/2, 5/8, and 3/4 ounce vibrating jigs.  The choice of trailer is up to you, as pike are not particularly picky.  When the pike are aggressive, which is a lot of the time, throw the vibrating jig a mile and wind it back as fast as you can.  But, hold on, because a decent pike will try to rip the rod out of your hands!

[JLS]

I have to agree with Jeff, the vibrating jig is my best selling lure. I build mine in an underspin for added flash and lift. Make sure you use the larger blade and build them in 3/4 to 1 1/2oz. The heavier the head, the faster you can burn it and the larger the hook you can use.

[RedDevil]

thanks for the info I hadn't even thought of a chatterbait  and would rather throw that.

[Jeff Hahn]

Just make sure to use a steel leader with the vibrating jig.  I make my own.  But, you can also cut off the snap on a standard steel leader.  Then, take the snap that comes with the vibrating  jig and open the top, slip it on to the loop on the steel leader, and close the top of the snap. 

[aulrich]

Pike, will eat just about anything , but spoons are the most universal,  len thompson  0 or 1's  the Canadian standard would be the 5 of dimonds but I also like white with just about any color strip.  At the lake where I have a cabin in August the meps cyclops spoon (#4 IIRC ) is better since it runs deeper. Even there where on a warm summer surface water temp is 71 or 72f or so the big fish run deeper.

Lipless cranks are also very useful, a #5 rattling rap can work both for walleye and pike, though I like bigger if your just pitching for pike.

My typical colors Sslver/blue, perch, pike, fire tiger,  gold/flow, purple/flow orange

Storm pike swimbaits the only problem they could last 1 fish or 5 it's a matter of luck

For walleye jigs 3" grubs (white flow yellow and flow orange) crawler rigs and bottom bouncers and  4" minnow baits

 Pike don't follow the big bait for big fish rule like muskies do but depending on the day,  having some big baits does not hurt. So something in the 8" bomber class.

Skip the steel leader and use titanium or make florocarbon(60#) steels kinks and interferes wit the lure action , I used 1 titanium leader all of last season. In general pike are not that leader shy but depending on the clarity of the water using a floro leader can help , but check those after every fish regardless they will get chewed.

If the pike are on then just about any sort of retrieve will work but in general never just straight crank a lure in, always be varying it some how. this is especially true if you are getting lots of followers.

Also remember jaw spreaders , long pliers and side cutters for releasing safely

And since you a bass guy don't lip them

Edited February 23, 2018 by aulrich

[Gone Out Fishin]

Hey RedDevil,

I love to use different types of spinnerbaits such as the Terminator T-1 on Canadian shield lakes for smallmouth, and big pike. I've found that perch patterns, fire tiger, or pure silver are the most universally effective.  Carry a couple red and white color patterns (Daredevil Pattern).

As other's have mentioned carry quality leaders.

 

I'd recommend that you look up the stocking reports or lake surveys to figure out to see what the primary forage species are.

 

Most importantly enjoy the trip.