Roiling, boiling, water-flying, slashing, green-tinted, teeth-flashing strikes. What triggers them in nature? Baitfish in death throes. Baitfish feeding, or being otherwise distracted. Baitfish in panic mode. Baitfish in catatonic mode. All fall into the category of things that trigger predatory responses in big toothy critters. And, in terms of lures and mimicry, all of them come in one package.

Suspending baits are gradually being recognized as one of the primary tackle-box food groups for pike. And, as suspending baits gradually grow larger, muskie fishermen are beginning to recognize them for what they are—great early-season baits and perfect “throw-back” options for followers that turn near the boat.

The newest player on this stage is the Rapala SXR14, largest of the X-Rap family of slashbaits and already a proven muskie catcher and a must-have, big-pike bait. It has the same erratic tendencies of the smaller X-Raps, but its 51⁄2-inch, 11⁄2-ounce frame pushes more water, produces bigger flash, and displays a larger profile, making it a premier early-season option for muskies.

The largest Smithwick Suspending Rattlin’ Rogue (ASRDC1200) is the same length but weighs two-thirds less (1/2 ounce). The big Rogue is less aggressive than the SXR14, and requires more energy input to achieve erratic action, which is fine. Use it when you might use the Rapala HJ14 Husky Jerk— in colder water. Less erratic baits like these are perfect during postspawn, after cold fronts, and any time pike seem lazy.

The Lucky Craft Pointer 128 is the only other slashbait really large enough to qualify with the magnum versions already mentioned. Pointers are high-action baits that swing to the side with the least amount of energy applied. This bait can practically twitch right out of its own paint without moving forward much more than a foot. Large baits are seldom this erratic.

The Pointer 128 is a glider. When it turns to the side on a walk-the-dog retrieve, it continues to glide in that direction, if allowed to. After snapping the rod tip down, feed a foot of slack line to the retrieve by keeping the tip low and extending it toward the bait. With any suspending bait, watch it beside the boat before pitching it out there. See if it glides, see if it walks properly, pull it fast to see if it tracks straight, and generally watch what it does when you snap the rod tip down. If the lure won’t run straight at a fast clip, tune it until it does. Otherwise, it probably won’t walk right. (If a bait runs off to its right at high speed, point the nose of the bait toward you and push the eye slightly to your right, or toward the left side of the lure’s face. If it runs left, do the opposite. A perfectly tuned bait operates much better when asked to walk through a series of fast, hard snaps.)

Slashbaits vary widely in action from company-to-company and lure-to-lure. Lip placement, center of gravity, lip design, body shape, weight, and the composition of the bait combine to determine action. Rapala Husky Jerks and Smithwick Suspending Rogues, for instance, are not high-action baits. Like all suspending baits on the market, you can make these two walk-the-dog, but it requires a little more work on your part. With a Lucky Craft Pointer 128, an XCalibur XC4 or an X-Rap, smaller movements of the rod tip are magnified to a greater degree.

Slash Gear

For all but the largest slashbaits, I use spinning gear. With low-stretch braided line, medium-power spinning rods deliver all the muscle you need to cast far, work the bait aggressively, and set hooks at a distance. Don’t overpower these baits. Thick, dense braids, the kind most muskie and pike fishermen use, are counterproductive. Thick lines rob casting distance, and the graceful ballet of a properly designed, properly tuned, properly presented slashbait is impossible to achieve with line that won’t slip easily through the water. In the United States and on most border waters I use 14-pound Berkley FireLine, tied directly to a Terminator titanium leader. Farther north and around thick cover, I may use 20-pound test, and with the new magnum X-Rap, 30-pound is fine.

A fast, medium-power 7- to 71⁄2-foot spinning rod is right for most slashbait-pike tactics. Long casts cover water quickly. Sensitivity can be important, making this a game for premium graphite blanks. In post-frontal conditions, big pike can take motionless slashbaits in a very lazy manner. Braided lines and fine graphite sticks transmit a barely perceptible tic where monofilaments and cheap rods won’t. For larger slashbaits, your rod needs backbone right into the middle of the stick, but without moderate action in the tip section, the rod won’t load enough to throw suspending baits long distances. Clip on a suspending bait and hold it out there, horizontally. If the rod tip bends down slightly from the weight of the lure, you’re in the ballpark. When using bass-sized suspending baits, like #10 or #12 Husky Jerks, in early spring, a medium-light 7-footer coupled with 10-pound braid works best.

Slash Time

When the weather turns dark and windy, pike often rise from scattered locales across deeper flats. Suspended pike join in, following micro environments of plankton and bait that the wind pushes shoreward. These two groups concentrate to some degree on the outer rim of reefs and rocky points, where the shallows stretch farthest from shore and where the wind is cracking directly in. Deep, heavy bodies maintain stability in the crashing surf, while their prey gets tossed about, losing equilibrium.

Lure should mimic prey. In wind and waves, nothing fills the bill better than a slashbait, which can be buffeted by wave action, yet stay down in the tumult on the pause, mimicking the seasick wobble of a lost baitfish. Spoons and deep divers snag more often in the shallow rocks. Suspending baits stay above bottom more and stop dead without rising or sinking, forcing followers to decide: Use the teeth or chicken out.

In big lakes and reservoirs across the North, pike spread out into various summer patterns after postspawn. Patterns we call the Big Three are almost universal. Some pike remain in shallow weeds all summer. Some cruise open water as loosely associated wolf packs, hounding huge schools of baitfish. And some hunt near bottom across mid-depth flats in the 40- to 60-foot range. Each pattern suggests different presentations. A consistent wind, blowing from the same point on the compass for several days, can draw pike from all of these patterns into one area, at which point slashbaits outshine every other option.

Early during prespawn and throughout postspawn, suspending baits become essential tools. Generally, that’s when a long pause triggers best. Presented on the right gear, slashbaits appeal to pike (and muskies) in all summer patterns. More efficient methods can be employed for pike in weeds, however, and downriggers or three-way rigs are required to present slashbaits deep. When baitfish ride high, suspended pike become suckers for slashbaits, which continue to produce results right through fall and into early winter, too.

Tactical Considerations

Rip it through the surface film, creating noise and a bubble trail. Pause only for an instant before beginning a methodical walk-the-dog retrieve. Rod tip pointed down, lift it up a foot, creating slight slack in the line, and snap the tip downward. Repeat the same actions in a rhythmic pattern. The lure turns to one side, then to the other. During summer, a constant walk-the-dog retrieve is the way to start things off. Play with cadence and pause length, but the right retrieve for a slashbait is generally quick and aggressive until water temperatures rise above 78°F, at which point you might try slowing things down again.

In spring and late fall, a much less aggressive approach often works best. From coldwater through postspawn, pike can be a bit reluctant, especially when the weather turns sour. During prespawn on Canadian lakes, when spoons and spinnerbaits fail, suspending baits in standard bass sizes, like the new Rapala SXR in sizes 10 or 12, work wonders when left sitting still through long pauses. Make a couple of sharp, downward snaps of the rod tip, then let it sit. Less active and neutral pike that see the flash from a walk-the-dog retrieve often won’t react at all while it’s moving. When the lure stops, neutral pike approach slowly and may follow the bait through several snap-and-pause sessions. If so, try twitching it slightly at the end of another long pause, or try barely pulling it forward, just fast enough to make the bait begin to wobble.

During postspawn, when pike are beginning to spread out into various patterns, slash-trolling becomes dynamically effective. Work from the trolling motor on the bow, or use a small kicker motor from the back of the boat, or just row slowly in a small boat or canoe. Make a long cast behind the boat, engage the reel, and start moving slowly forward at about 1 mph. This is hands-on trolling at its finest. Rip the lure forward, then allow the rod tip to trail back toward the lure. Leave a small amount of slack line as you let the rod tip drift back, just fast enough to negate boat speed. When the line starts to tighten, snap the rod tip forward 2 or 3 times, let the rod tip drift back, and repeat the process. Work this snap-snap-pause technique over developing weedlines and patches of open bottom, zigzagging between 8- to 20-foot contours. Pike are scattering at this point, but many remain relatively shallow. Slash-trolling covers more water and puts more toothies in the net.

Slash-trolling is predictably successful at tracking down open-water wolf packs during summer, too. By early summer in larger lakes, large groups of big pike slip into the expanse, trailing herds of ciscoes, shad, smelt, alewives, emerald shiners, and other open-water baitfish. Using sonar and GPS, stake out an area around the biggest herd you can find and slash-troll around the edges.

Throughout early summer, most baitfish stay close enough to the surface to allow the use of shallow divers. As summer wears on and baitfish mark deeper, switch to deep-diving slashbaits, like the Smithwick Suspending Spoonbill Super Rogue, or the Rapala DHJ12 Down Deep Husky Jerk. With braided lines, these baits can actually go too deep with too much line out. Most of the time, active pike involved in this pattern feed in the top 25 feet of the water column. And they feed up, at things above them in the water column. Get to know these baits, and fish them with 50 feet of line out or less most of the time.

All summer and well into fall, slashbaits zero in on most working patterns, including open water, weedlines, shallow rock reefs, and windward shorelines and points. Slashbaits encourage followers—the big, ominous, ghostly kinds that track baits to your feet. Trophy pike following baits to the boat carve themselves into your memory. They may not bite, but they definitely steal your breath and tell you where they live.