Bass rods for pike fishing ?

[dan94]

How would a 7'6" heavy power extra fast action casting rod equiped with a 8.3:1 reel with 14lbs max drag spooled up with 50lb braid hold up against fishing for moderate to trophy sized northerns ?

[Scott F]

No problem. It's probably over kill. I fished for trophy northerns all over Canada and never used anything that stout. Match the rod to the baits you intend to throw. Even though pike will eat big suckers, our best success never came on huge baits. 

[Jelvas]

Absolutely! I´ve caught many big pikes while bass fishing with medium and medium heavy rods...  just make sure that the rod can handle the weight of the lures that you are planing to use.

[dan94]

7 minutes ago, Jelvas said:

Absolutely! I´ve caught many big pikes while bass fishing with medium and medium heavy rods...  just make sure that the rod can handle the weight of the lures that you are planing to use.

what about the extra fast action? How do you think it would work with pike?

[Dtrombly]

2 minutes ago, dan94 said:

what about the extra fast action? How do you think it would work with pike?

Slower action would probably be more ideal but you can definitely use your setup 

[Jelvas]

3 minutes ago, dan94 said:

what about the extra fast action? How do you think it would work with pike?

It´s not my favorite action for pikes, my designated pike rods are all moderate and moderate fast action but again... you should be fine, just use your drag to compensate if necessary. For example, i caught this one earlier this year on my Loomis E6X 812C SBR wich is a 6.9" Medium Extra fast action, paired with an Aldebaran 51 HG:

 

 

But again, with a Heavy rod you´re fine, just use your drag and work the fish right if necessary.

 

 

[WRB]

I wouldn't like a stiff casting rod to cast big inline cow bell spinners, spinnerbaits or spoons with. Sounds like you are trying to find a use for the flipping rod....use it for flipping!

Tom

[A-Jay]

As mentioned above ~

A rod, reel, line, leader & terminal tackle that matched the depth, bait & cover your fishing is a decent formula for success.

On a side note related to tackle size, trophy pike are routinely taken successfully with fly fishing gear every year.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[WRB]

27 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

As mentioned above ~

A rod, reel, line, leader & terminal tackle that matched the depth, bait & cover your fishing is a decent formula for success.

On a side note related to tackle size, trophy pike are routinely taken successfully with fly fishing gear every year.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

Now that is a Pike!

[Dwight Hottle]

I have done a lot of pike fishing and I always used bass tackle. A 7'MHF handling baits up to 1 ounce will cover you for almost everything. My PB pike was caught on a St Croix legend MHF throwing a pointer 100 jerkbait. 

 

 

 

[WRB]

16 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I have done a lot of pike fishing and I always used bass tackle. A 7'MHF handling baits up to 1 ounce will cover you for almost everything. My PB pike was caught on a St Croix legend MHF throwing a pointer 100 jerkbait. 

 

 

 

and that is a bigger Pike!

[dan94]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

I wouldn't like a stiff casting rod to cast big inline cow bell spinners, spinnerbaits or spoons with. Sounds like you are trying to find a use for the flipping rod....use it for flipping!

Tom

I agree that this set up would be optimal for flipping but reason i think it would double as a good pike setup is because most of my pike has been caught in very weedy areas and they usually tend to bullet down into them moments after the hookset. I think a h xf flipping setup would work to my favour to help pull up those aggressive pike up from those thick weedbeds. If you think otherwise or if im wrong let me know as im debating on purchasing a setup like this 

[gim]

Make sure to use a leader otherwise your lures are a gonner!

[XpressJeff]

Would hold up just fine with appropriate baits in a given scenario.

 

I would use either one since I am not so rig specific.

 

I will run a crankshaft on the same rig I just fished a spinnerbait!

[EvanT123]

I caught my pb pike on a st croix medium light spinning rod. I don't use wire leaders as pike are normally a by catch when smallmouth fishing. I have gotten pretty good at telling when I have a pike on the line (bigger ones anyways) and found that when I try and horse or power them in the line breaks. Like what you may do with a bass with an xtra heavy rod. Pike also cut braid like a knife through butter    

 

 

[Further North]

Great advice here...but it's worth reinforcing the idea that you don't need big baits.

 

I'm one of those guys that targets them with fly gear...and while we up-size from what most folks think of as typical, I don't throw huge flies anywhere near all the time.

 

 

Top fly is about 11" long, but the smaller purple one works just as good...better on a lot of days.