Fall fishing Nothern

I haven’t really fished a whole lot for northern before but i would like to start. What should i use this fall to catch them?

minnow imitating lures. are you fishing lakes? in the river the pike are shallow right now crushing big plastics and crankbaits. sucker minnow and bobber can work good also.

After my last trip I’m not sure I should try to dispense any advice but here goes. Given your screen name I’m guessing you’ve got a bunch of bass baits and associated gear. Some of that will work whether it is crankbaits or spinnerbaits.

I second Jake’s suggestion for minnow imitating lures. Some of my favorites are husky jerks(deep or shallow depending), minnow raps, tail dancers, etc. As long as they are not topwater. My favorite for lakes this time of year is running bucktails over the weeds. The old standby spoons have their place on some days. Plastics work too but I’m just getting started with them this year.

Last but not least to take care of them if you have success. Good pliers, long hook out, and jaw spreaders are needed. I switched to a 5″ pliers for pike fishing a couple years back. Now I rarely need to use the long hook outs and seem to bleed less

Good luck!

A week ago I was chasing bass so I had no leaders with me but plastics in the weeds were producing many pike bites and a few bite offs. Frogs were my best bite, working them weedless, slowly…. and with increasing speed as I got to the edge of the weedline. GREEN weeds are still key. If you can find green, your fish will be nearby.

what kind of plastics do the norhterns hit?

I have been catching a ton of northerns this fall on swim baits in the 4-6 inch range.. Those are paddle tails.. Rig them on a jig and slowly reel them back. Other wise regular bulldawgs as well.