The jig-and-softbait options I’ve been tinkering with for almost a decade have proven irresistibly attractive to pike. They cast well, hook fish well, and it’s easy to handle fish once you catch them because the lures have just one hook—so it’s easy on fish, too. I fish them from mid-spring until freeze-up, typically alongside an array of crankbaits—another story.

As a backdrop to everything said here about lure presentation, remember that getting lures to the appropriate depth is the first priority in fishing. Then they must be moving at the right speed. The right profile and working action are almost as important as speed. The lure’s visual appearance as it moves through the water is vital. Vibration also plays an important role, not only in appearance but also in ”the feeling” that surrounds a lure. Color can be the final factor in putting it all together.

J-mac Combos

The J-mac jig remains a fundamental part of my system for pike. The jig is available in 5/8-, 11⁄4-, and 11⁄2-ounce sizes. The lightest jig works best unless pike are in heavy weedgrowth, which can be the case once they move from the shallows to spots at the mouths of bays, or into weedgrowth on deeper flats in those bays.

When I target muskies and pike, I usually couple the jig with a 6-inch shad-bodied plastic, rigged flat on the jig. The body wasn’t designed to be flat yet it works best that way. The plastic is much more pliable like that and provides more action. It also helps the jig to run shallower on a straight retrieve and to glide more slowly and smoothly on the fall. Rigged correctly, this combo swims in subtle crankbait fashion. Until last year the best shad body that I’ve found is the Lunker City Shaker. I’ve now added the Big Hammer to my list of favorites.

On waters where I’m after only pike, I add a curlytail to the J-mac instead of a shad body. A 4-inch curlytail is too small and an 8-inch curlytail too large. The Berkley Gulp! Saltwater 6-inch Grub is a good one. I also use 6-inch plastic grubs from Fisherman’s Factory. Trim these back to about 5 inches before slipping them on the hook.

Working the J-mac Combos

J-mac and Shaker—Think of this combo as a crankbait or a bucktail spinner. Cast it out and retrieve it slow and steady to get started. Rigged as I’ve suggested, it swims like a shallow-running stickbait or a light bucktail spinner. Pike love it fished like this. The bulk added by the skirt helps to keep the combo running shallower and allows it to be fished more slowly. Hesitating the jig at times during the retrieve sometimes triggers following fish.

If I see a fish, I try to bring the bait on a straight, slow swim at an angle that makes the jig easily visible to the fish. Sneaking something up on pike usually spooks them, so don’t bring a combo directly past a pike from behind. A quartering angle from behind and just off to the side can work.

Trying to tempt lethargic fish that won’t respond to a straight retrieve by tipping this combo along the bottom past their faces usually doesn’t work. The combo’s too big fished like that—better to go with one of the smaller options.

J-mac and Curlytail—This rigging fishes more compactly than the J-mac and Shaker, so it can be fished in lift-fall fashion like a traditional jig-and-plastic, although you should begin by making straight, slow retrieves.

This option fishes well tipped along the bottom when pike aren’t aggressive. Move it past a fish’s face, but at least on the initial retrieve, make sure your retrieve doesn’t approach them aggressively. Don’t sneak it up on the fish. Move it past several feet away.

If you can get the fish to respond enough to move to the bait, you usually catch them. Sometimes they just slowly overtake it from behind. Other times they move toward the bait but won’t take it. Try killing the bait. Often these fish approach the bait as it rests on bottom. When the fish is right on the bait, use the rod tip and a wrist snap to lift the bait up 6 inches before letting it drop again. Many times a fish darts forward and slurps the bait in.

This combo is the best I’ve found for fishing over weedgrowth so thick that it’s matted. In many Canadian lakes, pike move into and under weedgrowth that’s in one or two feet of water along shore. They just lie there. At times you can see them, other times not at all.

In this instance, fish the jig-and-curly combo like you’d fish a plastic frog. Make a modest cast—you have to get a fish out once you hook it, or get to it with the boat if you can’t move it—then just steadily drag the lure over the heavy cover. Pike explode right up through cover in which they can’t possibly see the bait but can apparently feel or hear it.

My rule on color is to stock at least three choices: dark, white, and a bright option like chartreuse.

Owner Bullet Jighead-Shaker/Swim Shad Combos

Bullet heads, or conical designs, roll easily in combination with shad bodies. Jigs constructed with wider bottoms to stabilize them don’t roll well, but suffice so long as the jig weight and shad body length are well matched. The best jigs have long hooks. I use Owner Ultra Saltwater Bullet jigs in 1/2 and 3/4 ounces.

Here again, the best overall shad bodies I’ve found are from Lunker City and Big Hammer. I carry 4.5-, 5-, and 6-inchers. The 6-inch body trims back in any increment to about 5 inches if necessary. Another good design is the Berkley Saltwater PowerBait Swim Shad, measuring 5 inches. This one doesn’t trim well because it’s a little thicker than the Shaker.

Many times fish strike these rigs so hard and swallow them so completely that it’s obvious they’ve been completely fooled. Few things I’ve ever fished over the years at times get fish to commit so totally and recklessly.

Working Jighead and Shad Combos

Everything I’ve said about positioning to bring baits past fish, and working the smaller combos on the bottom in front of fish, applies here. I always have a J-mac option on one rod and one of the Owner jig options on another—sometimes two of these options on two other rods, a bigger Shaker and smaller Shaker on different-sized heads.

The jighead-and-shad combo fishes well through standing weeds, especially stiff weeds like cabbage and coontail. On weed contact, pop them free with a sharp rod-tip snap. This can be a triggering movement for aggressive fish.

It’s hard to generalize about which style of rigging—the J-mac rigs versus the jighead-and-shad rigging—is going to work best. This rigging (with the unprotected hook) doesn’t work dragged over matted weeds. But when fish become tentative, this rigging in a reduced size becomes more productive, especially when you can see fish.

Don’t presume that all the fish are going to respond in simple patternlike fashion to one combination or the other. Especially when fish are tentative, one fish might respond to one combo and not the other, while the next fish does just the opposite. You need to experiment.

Once pike move to deeper water associated with rock flats and drop-offs, it’s these combinations that have proven to be so productive, whereas the J-mac combos don’t produce so well.

Stanley Flat Eye Jig and Shaker or Curly Combos

The general characteristics of a great jig include a near-conical head, and I’d prefer a barbed plastic holder behind it. The Stanley Flat Eye jig doesn’t have such a grub holder but has worked well, typically in either the 3/16- or 5/16-ounce sizes—favorite colors Neon Blue Flash or any in the Hot Flash series (try Watermelon Chartreuse). Another great choice is Northland Tackle’s Jungle Jig.

At this point, we’re looking for a subtle combo to throw at fish you can see aren’t that interested in feeding. Tempt them just enough to nip at the jig when it moves past their heads, near enough for them to respond without moving much. I have, however, also had good luck blind casting—search casting—with this rigging, especially on chilly mornings when, as might be expected, most of the fish aren’t feeding because the water has cooled so much overnight.

The choice here is between coupling the jig with the 3.5- or 4.5-inch Shaker body rigged flat, or with a curly option of some sort. I’m sure you have favorite curly options about 4 inches long to try. My experience has been that dark combos are best.

The various ways of working this jig combo have already been discussed in my suggestion for tempting lethargic fish. In the case of blind casting, though, slow everything down and swim the bait, typically for 10 feet or so—pump your rod tip ever so slightly to give more life to the bait—before letting it drop to the bottom. The straight retrieve is mostly an attracting maneuver, although fish will take it on the straight retrieve. When the jig is on the bottom, assume that a pike might have followed. Before moving the jig along again in a straight retrieve, snap it off the bottom (6 inches) to give a fish that has its nose right on the bait a chance to gulp it down.

As you see, it’s a simple, reliable system. It hooks fish well and they’re rarely damaged. It’s easy to handle fish because you’re only dealing with one hook. Most importantly, it’s an efficient and effective system that works throughout the open-water season on every water type where pike swim.