Pike Softbaits

Pike softbaits at Charlie's Fishing: shads, V-tails, curl tails and line-thru soft lures for pike

Pike softbaits are the most adaptable lures in a pike box: the same body can run just under the surface on a stinger, swim through the weed on a weedless hook or bump along a deep drop-off on a jig head. This page is about exactly that. It brings together our soft lures for pike, from 15 cm shads to 30 cm curl tails, and explains which type and size to pick and how to rig it with stingers, screw-in heads, jig heads or a weedless hook. It is for anyone fishing for pike with soft lures from the bank, a boat or a float tube. Looking for every lure type for pike, including hardbaits, bucktails and surface lures? Start on our Pike page.

Shads and paddle tails: the all-round pike softbait

A paddle tail shad is where most anglers start, because it works at any speed: slow-rolled over weed, steadily retrieved through open water or lifted and dropped along a drop-off. The U-bait U-Shad from Sweden is handpoured and handpainted, with a wide, round body and a paddle that rolls heavily; it comes in 14 cm (35 g), 17 cm (50 g) and 22 cm (110 g) and goes on a jig head, a bait screw or a Pike Chain. The Illex Dexter Shad 200 has a strong rolling action and is flavoured with Nitro Booster shellfish attractant; rig it on the matching Illex screw-in head or a jig head, or take the Illex Dexter Shad 175 Tip Up Rigged, which comes ready to fish on a 10 g Tip Up jig head. The Nays PRDTR 65 2.0 (16.5 cm, about 34 g) is the pike size of the redesigned Nays PRDTR 2.0: a broad shad with a restrained roll and garlic scent that often triggers pike on pressured water, where fish have seen plenty of hard kicking shads; its product page pairs it with the BKK Titan Rider in 8/0 for weedless fishing. The Savage Gear 3D Herring Shad 21,5 cm (65 g) has a belly slot for easy rigging and a glass rattle in the tail. The Rapala Soft Peto 16 cm (36 g) has a wide tail kick with body roll and also fits the VMC Mustache Shallow; the Rapala Soft Peto Prerigged (16 cm, 36 g and 18 cm, 51 g) is ready to fish, with a magnet that holds the belly hook against the body and a 3.5 g Screw Diver System weight to set the depth. The Rapala Soft Otus 18 cm (55 g) keeps its side-to-side roll on a slow retrieve and swims down slowly on the pause. Read our Rapala Soft Peto and Rapala Pre-Rigged Guide. For a floating soft swimbait, the handmade Hispano Lures Polaris 147 (147 mm, 37 g) has a leader-through system with a detachable hook and an eye in front to add weight; see our Hispano Lures Polaris guide. More in Paddle Tails.

Big shads of 20 cm and more

In autumn, and on waters with big pike, a heavier shad that moves a lot of water often picks out the better fish. The ULM Lures Gigabite V2 25 cm weighs 175 g, casts a long way and is made for deeper water and big, solitary pike; the product page recommends a 2/0 stinger. The Nays HNTR 90 (about 23 cm, about 80 g) has a bulky body and an oversized paddle and is built to be fished slowly on a shallow rig. The PXS Raijin 220 (22 cm, 78 g) is hand-sprayed and is meant to be fished weightless on a VMC Refill Screw with a VMC Pike Chain Rig. Fish these on a rod and reel made for big baits.

V-tails and slim softbaits for pelagic pike

When pike hang suspended over deep water, a slim softbait with a subtle tail is often the better choice than a heavy paddle. The Frapp Placoid 8" (20 cm) (30 g, two per pack) has a plate-style body with movable fins and an asymmetrical V-tail that sways from side to side, and its solid front sits firmly on a jig head or on a corkscrew rig with stingers. The Frapp Dotty Dart 6" (15 cm, three per pack) wobbles on a smooth retrieve and darts from side to side when you fish it weightless on a large offset hook with sharp jerks; it also suits Pelagic Sharpshooting. Read Frapp Dotty Dart: four rigs for the V-tail softbait. Developed with Andrey Pitertsov for fishing with live sonar, the Frapp GekoSlug 7" (18 cm, two per pack, noise capsules included) has a rounded front, a scaly Geko-style surface and a flexible V-tail: a passive presentation for pike and zander that you can cast accurately at a single fish. The Frapp GekoSlug 8" (20 cm, 30 g) adds body and weight for bigger pike, rolls on a twitch or a steady retrieve and sinks almost vertically on the pause. The Illex Dexter Eel 210 (21 cm, 64 g) is a long eel profile with a curled tail and a tight rolling action; fish it with a screw and stinger or on the Illex Tip Up head. More in V-Tails & Pintails and Pelagic.

Curl tails and double tails

Curl tails and double tails keep working at a crawl, which is why they are so good on a shallow rig over weed and in coloured water. The U-Bait U-Curl 30 cm (80 g) is handmade in Sweden; fish it very shallow on an unweighted stinger system or clip on a weight to go deeper. The Nays GHST 120 (30.4 cm, 142 g) has a massive curly tail and is made for the shallow rig, fished very slowly; with added weight it also works deeper. Its double tail brother, the Nays TWN 100 (25.4 cm, 142 g), has two big tails and a central pintail. The Rapala Soft Olio 18 cm (55 g) has two curly tails that flutter on the pause; unweighted on a bait screw and a Pike Chain it runs at around half a metre. The Frapp Tricky Tail 10" (25 cm) (101 g) has a long, strongly bent tail that keeps its pulsing vibration at higher speeds; the product page pairs it with a 2/0 BKK Chain Stinger Rig. The Frapp Double Croak 7.9" (19 cm) (53 g) and the BIM Tackle VV Cruiser (18 cm, 52 g, hook-shaped curly tail, made for the BIM Shallow Cruiser Head) work alone or as a trailer, and the CWC Double Tail (17 cm, 49 g) is the original Miuras Mouse tail that fits the VMC Mustache Shallow and the VMC Pike Chain Rig. More in Curl Tails & Twister Tails and Mouse & Bucktail Lures.

Line-thru softbaits and soft swimbaits

On a line-thru softbait the line runs through the body to the hooks, so the lure slides up the line when a pike is hooked and cannot be used as a lever to throw the hooks. The Savage Gear 3D Glide Roach 17 cm (78 g, slow sinking, 0.1 to 0.7 m) glides from side to side on short twitches and hangs on the pause, a good choice for pike that follow but do not take; read our Savage Gear 3D Glide Roach review. The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Trout 20 cm comes rigged on Carbon 49 wire with a Y-treble, as Slow Sink (93 g) for shallow and cold water or Medium Sink (98 g) for deeper water and current. The Savage Gear 3D Line Thru Whitefish 27 cm (217 g, moderate sinking) is a big glidebait with a chin ring to adjust the sink rate. The Jackall Vividus (14.5 cm, 51 g) is a floating soft swimbait that wobbles even at low speed; tungsten inserts let you tune the balance, and the hook can be moved to the side to fish through weed. More in Soft Swimbaits and Glidebaits.

Weedless softbaits, rats and soft crankbaits

Where pike sit in the lily pads, reed beds and thick weed, a softbait with a hidden hook point comes back clean. The Savage Gear Mutant Rat Soft Loose Body 24 cm (42 g, slow sinking) can be rigged weedless on a big EWG hook, on a screw-in head or on the Mutant Rat hard head. The Madotachi Soft Hanitas Crank 3 (7.6 cm, about 8.5 g) is a floating soft crankbait with an offset hook and a supporting treble; remove the treble for a more weedless setup over shallow weed. The Rapala CrushCity Stingman 15 cm has a salt-filled belly that keeps it upright, so it works weightless, weedless or on a jig head; see Rapala CrushCity softbaits: which one to fish and when. For your own weedless rigs, the BKK Titan Rider is a weedless hook for large soft plastics, with a locking spring that holds the bait without tearing it. More in Mouse & Bucktail Lures.

Rigging pike softbaits: stingers, screw-in heads, jig heads and weedless hooks

How you rig a softbait decides how deep it runs and how well it hooks. Four setups cover nearly everything.
• Stinger and bait screw (shallow rig): a screw goes into the nose of the softbait and a treble sits in the belly. Unweighted it runs just under the surface over weed; clip on an Illex John Weight (2 to 28 g) to go deeper without changing the action. The VMC Pike Chain Rig has a 2/0 treble and comes in S (7.5 cm, fits the U-Shad 17 cm), M (9 cm, fits the Soft Olio 18 cm and CWC Double Tail) and L (10.5 cm, fits the U-Curl 30 cm). The BKK Chain Stinger Rig uses BKK Spear-21 trebles and Z-shaped pins, and the BKK Stinger Screw (five per pack) is a hardened stainless screw for your own stinger setups.
• Screw-in head: a weighted head screwed into the front of the softbait, with the stinger hanging from the bottom ring. The Illex Dexter Tip Up Head fits the Dexter Shads and Dexter Eels and any other softbait, from 5 to 25 g.
• Jig head: for jigging along the bottom and for pelagic fishing over deep water. Choose the lightest head that still gets the lure to the depth you want, and add a stinger on baits from about 15 cm. See all Jigheads.
• Weedless: an offset or weedless hook such as the Titan Rider, for heavy cover and lily pads.
Whatever you choose, always fish a trace: the VMC Titanium Pike Leader is a 1x7 titanium trace of 30 or 50 cm, rated at 18 kg, and the VMC Fluorocarbon Leader is a thick fluorocarbon leader in 0.80 or 1.00 mm. See Rigs & Stingers and Lines and Leaders.

Which pike softbait for which situation

• Spring and clear water: 14 to 17 cm, such as the U-Shad 14 or 17 cm, PRDTR 65 2.0, Polaris 147 or Dotty Dart 6", fished slowly.
• Summer over shallow weed: unweighted on a stinger and screw, such as the VV Cruiser, Soft Olio 18 cm or GHST 120.
• Lily pads and reed beds: weedless, with the Mutant Rat Soft Loose Body 24 cm or a softbait on a Titan Rider.
• Pike suspended in open water: Placoid 8", Dotty Dart 6", GekoSlug 7" and 8" or Dexter Eel 210 on a light head.
• Following pike that will not commit: Glide Roach 17 cm or Line Thru Trout 20 cm, with long pauses.
• Autumn and big fish: 20 cm and bigger, such as the Gigabite V2 25 cm, HNTR 90, Raijin 220, Tricky Tail 10" or U-Curl 30 cm.
• Deep drop-offs and cold water: a Dexter Shad on a Tip Up head or jig head, slow and close to the bottom.
• Coloured water: big paddles and curl tails that move a lot of water, such as the Gigabite, TWN 100 or 3D Herring Shad with its rattle.
• Ready to fish straight from the pack: Dexter Shad 175 Tip Up Rigged or Soft Peto Prerigged. Looking for hard lures? See Pike Hardbaits. Smaller softbaits are in Zander and Perch Softbaits.

Why buy pike softbaits at Charlie's Fishing

We pick soft lures for pike from brands such as Savage Gear Lures, Rapala, Illex, Frapp, Nays, U-BAiT, ULM Lures, Hispano Lures, PXS Pitch and Strike, Jackall, BIM Tackle, Catch With Care and Madotachi, with the stingers, screws and heads from VMC and BKK Hooks to rig them. Everything ships from our stock in the Netherlands with fast delivery across Europe, and we are happy to help you match the right stinger size and head weight to your softbait.

What size softbait for pike?

Most pike softbaits are between 15 and 25 cm. Go for 14 to 17 cm in spring and in clear, cold water, and 20 cm or more in autumn, when pike feed hard before winter and a big profile often picks out the bigger fish.

How do you rig a softbait for pike?

For shallow water, use a bait screw with a stinger in the belly; for more depth, a screw-in head or a clip-on weight; for jigging and deep water, a jig head with a stinger; and in heavy weed, a weedless hook. Always add a wire or titanium trace, or a thick fluorocarbon leader of about 0.80 to 1.00 mm.

Do I need a stinger on a pike softbait?

On most softbaits of about 15 cm and more, yes. Pike often grab a lure across the middle, and a treble in the belly turns those takes into hooked fish. The exception is weedless fishing, where an offset hook keeps the bait clean in the weed.