Best Pike Lures

If I could only take one lure for pike, it would be a big soft paddle tail like this, because you can fish it almost anywhere just by changing the jig head. Savage Gear scanned a real whitefish to shape it, and the 17.5cm body is a size UK pike will happily take from autumn right through the winter.

The bulky head and front body push plenty of water and keep it stable on a light rig, while the soft fins add extra movement to the rolling, kicking tail. There is a glass rattle mounted in the tail as well, and the soft PVC body is scented.

It comes unrigged, so you will need a jig head or a stinger rig, but that is no bad thing because a light head lets you work it slowly over shallow weed and a heavier one gets it down in deep water or a river with some pace.

It comes in 15cm and 17.5cm, with the 17.5cm weighing 42g and sold as a pair, and there are five photo-printed colours from Clear Albino and Bone Ghost to Hot Whitefish, which makes it very fair value for a lure this size.

A spinner is one of the cheapest ways into lure fishing for pike, and the Rotex is a good one for the money. Savage Gear says the blade starts turning as soon as it hits the water and keeps spinning even at slow speeds, which matters on a river where you are retrieving across the current.

This is the #5 size at 14g in the sinking version, so it gets down a little before you start winding. Each one is tank tested and hand painted with a single Japanese treble, and it comes in Black/Purple or Firetiger.

At 14g it is more of a lure for jacks, rivers and drains than for big stillwater pike, and it will catch perch too, so keep a wire trace on even when you are after the stripes.

This is the soft shad I'd point a mate towards if they don't want to fiddle with jig heads and stingers, because it comes ready to fish with a balanced, belly-weighted harness on strong wire. It is a bigger version of the well-known Slick Shad, and this is the 23cm version.

The action is a subtle body roll with a steady tail beat rather than anything erratic, which suits the days when pike want something easy to catch. Fox Rage says the weighting suits fishing over weed, on shallow venues and higher in the water, and you can add their Strike Point Hitcher tungsten chin weights to fish it deeper.

At 23cm it weighs 97g and carries two 2/0 hooks, so check your rod's casting weight before you buy it. The version listed at the moment is Natural Perch.

If the pike on your water feed on roach, this is about as close as a lure gets to the real thing. Savage Gear built it from a 3D scan of a roach, and at 18cm and 86g it has the deep body and the size that tends to tempt the better fish in autumn and winter.

It has a hard foam body under a soft skin and swims with a wide S-shaped action on a steady wind. Pause it and it glides off to the side, which is often the moment a following pike commits, and you can also work it with jerks or long pulls.

The clever part is the Line Thru rig, because the two trebles sit tight to the body for the cast and then slide away from the lure once a pike grabs it, which gives the fish less leverage to shake the hooks and saves the lure from a beating.

There are slow-sinking and moderate-sinking versions, and the five finishes run from natural Roach and Ss Bream to Black and Clear Rudd. At 86g it needs a proper big-lure rod to cast, so it is not one for a light spinning outfit.

If you are after the biggest pike on a big water, this is the kind of lure to reach for. Savage Gear shaped the 3D Glide Roach from a scan of a real roach, and at 23cm and 170g it is a serious mouthful.

It is a slow-sinking glide bait, so taps and pulls send it gliding from side to side, and on a pause it hangs before falling slowly. Carbon 49 wire runs through the body to the two treble hooks.

There are nine finishes, from Clear Blue Roach and Ghost Roach to Fire Roach and Lemon Roach. At 170g it needs a dedicated big-bait rod and strong braid, so it is one for anglers who are already set up for big lures.

The Salmo Slider has been around since 2002 and is still one of the best-known jerkbaits for pike. This is the 12cm sinking version at 70g, with through-wire construction to cope with a big fish.

A steady retrieve gives it a side-to-side movement, and taps of the rod tip make it turn left and right. When you pause it, it keeps sinking and swaying, so it is still working even when you stop winding, and it runs at roughly one to two metres.

It can be cast or trolled, and the finishes are Holo Tiger, Chart and Green Pike. At 70g it needs a proper jerkbait or lure rod.

The Deviator Tail is a hybrid, with a hard body built on the same frame as Savage Gear's Deviator Swim and a soft tail on the back, and it comes with two scented tails so you can change the action on the bank. The paddle tail gives a frantic, kicking action and the mini curl tail gives more of a glide.

There are two tie points on the nose, one for super-shallow work and one for medium depth, and the tail locks in with a cross jaw system that lets you fit it tail up or tail down. Between the tie points and the tail position you get several running depths and movements from one lure, which makes it a very good search bait on new water.

At 16.5cm and 48g it is built for long casting, has a rattle inside and carries two size #1 trebles, and it comes in Chrome Perch, Pike, Blue Chrome and Dirty Roach Glitter.

Rapala built the X-Rap Peto with cold water in mind, and that is exactly where I'd use it. It sinks slowly with a level fall, so you can jerk it, pause it and let it hang in front of a pike that does not want to chase.

The body is hard ABS with a colour-matched soft PVC tail, held on by a six-point stainless plate, and on a steady retrieve the tail kicks wide with a bit of body roll. A spare tail comes in the box, which helps once the pike have chewed the first one.

At 14cm and 39g it runs at around half a metre to a metre, carries size 3 VMC Coastal Black trebles and comes in Live Perch, Smelt on the Beach and Twilight Zone. It is also the best-reviewed lure here, at 4.8 out of 5 from 46 buyer reviews across Amazon, Angling Direct and eBay.

Spinnerbaits are the answer to weedy lakes and drains, and this one is built big for pike, with two oversized willow blades, a silicone skirt and a 40g head. The wire arm rides over weed and snags far better than a lure with trebles hanging off it.

Those willow blades put out a lot of flash and a pulsing vibration, which helps a pike find it in coloured water, and the single hook is a strong one. The head has 3D eyes, and the swivel on the main blade keeps it spinning smoothly.

You can add a soft plastic trailer for extra bulk, and it comes in Herring, Firetiger, Perch, Shadow and Ayu.

A spoon is one of the oldest pike lures there is, and Westin have given this one a modern twist by hanging a razor-sharp willow blade on the hook. The blade adds vibration and shimmer on top of the spoon's wide, flashing wobble, which is meant to look like a wounded baitfish.

At 12.5cm and 33g it casts a long way and has the size for bigger pike, and because it sinks you can count it down to fish deep drop-offs as well as working it over weedy shallows. A steady or medium retrieve with the odd pause is all it needs.

The finishes are bright and high-contrast, Bling Perch, Firetiger, Headlight, Lagoon Pike, Golden Perch and Fire, so it is a good choice when the water has some colour in it.

The Mepps Aglia is the original French in-line spinner and it has been in anglers' tackle boxes for generations. The blade starts turning the moment it hits the water and spins fast at a 60 degree angle, which gives off a strong vibration.

For pike, the size 4 at 9g is the one to pick, with a single treble and copper, gold or silver blades. The larger sizes run deeper, so it is easy to keep it at the right depth on a river or a shallow drain.

At 9g it is very much a lure for jacks, perch and rivers rather than big stillwater pike, so use it on a light lure rod with a wire trace, and it holds a solid 4.1 out of 5 from 17 buyer reviews.

If you are new to lure fishing, a kit like this takes the guesswork out of matching shads to jig heads. It holds 30 Cannibal Shads in 10cm and 12.5cm with six jig heads to suit, 36 pieces in all.

There are five colours, from natural Holo Baitfish and Motor Oil to bright Lemon Cracker and Chartreuse Pumpkin, so you are covered whether the water is clear or coloured.

These are smaller shads than the others in this guide, so they suit jacks, perch and zander as much as big pike, but as a cheap way to learn how to fish a soft lure on a jig head it is hard to fault.