Northern pike in near-optimum clear water (18 °C): which lure gets eaten
The northern pike model is shown 11 generic lure archetypes, each tried in all eight colours, under one fixed set of conditions. 3 of 11 get eaten. The pike bait ranks first, eaten in 7 of 8 colours. The lipless rattle is outside what the Tank models and is listed unranked.
- Species
- Northern pike
- Water temp
- 18 °C · near optimum
- Water
- Clear water
- Mood
- Neutral fish
- Depth · light
- 2 m · noon
- Retrieve
- 1.0 m/s
- Metabolism
- 100%
- Eaten
- 3 / 11
The ranking
Ordered by how far through detect → approach → track → commit each lure got, then by how strongly. Each lure is shown in its best-scoring colour. The verdict, reason and fix are the model's own words; the same text you get in The Fish.
- 01Pike bait150 mm · wobble 6.2
Eaten.
EatenTracked it, closed, and ate it. 47% commitment at 18°C on a 150mm profile.
It worked, but the size match is loose — closer to the forage base would raise the odds.
- 02Wakebait120 mm · wobble 8.7
Eaten.
EatenTracked it, closed, and ate it. 42% commitment at 18°C on a 120mm profile.
It worked, but the size match is loose — closer to the forage base would raise the odds.
- 03Deep diver110 mm · wobble 9.0
Eaten.
EatenTracked it, closed, and ate it. 40% commitment at 18°C on a 110mm profile.
It worked, but the size match is loose — closer to the forage base would raise the odds.
- 04Square-bill80 mm · wobble 5.4
Followed, then refused.
FollowedToo little action. At 5.4 it barely moves, and a bait that does not move reads as dead.
Loosen it: more lip area, or take out some low ballast.
- 05Jerkbait120 mm · wobble 0.8
Followed, then refused.
FollowedToo little action. At 0.8 it barely moves, and a bait that does not move reads as dead.
Loosen it: more lip area, or take out some low ballast.
- 06Medium diver80 mm · wobble 3.8
Followed, then refused.
FollowedToo little action. At 3.8 it barely moves, and a bait that does not move reads as dead.
Loosen it: more lip area, or take out some low ballast.
- 07Flat-side80 mm · wobble 1.0
Followed, then refused.
FollowedToo little action. At 1.0 it barely moves, and a bait that does not move reads as dead.
Loosen it: more lip area, or take out some low ballast.
- 08Trout minnow60 mm · wobble 1.0
Saw it. Did not care.
IgnoredAt 60mm this is smaller than anything a northern pike is built to eat (100–350mm).
Go bigger — this reads as not worth the swim.
- 09Micro crank30 mm · wobble 0.1
Saw it. Did not care.
IgnoredAt 30mm this is smaller than anything a northern pike is built to eat (100–350mm).
Go bigger — this reads as not worth the swim.
- 10Top-heavy fail80 mm · wobble 0.0
It never got a look.
Rolled overThe bait is lying on its side and skating. Fish ignore it because nothing in the water moves like that.
Move ballast below the centreline until the Tank says it swims.
- 11No-lip control80 mm · wobble 0.0
No driven action.
—This lure has no working lip and line tie pair to make it swim on a steady retrieve.
Add a lip below the line tie, then check the swim test in the Tank.
- —Lipless rattle100 mm
Not ranked
Outside the modelIts action comes from body shape, which the Tank does not model: it only scores wobble from lip drag, so it reads this bait as having no action. The fish model is never shown a fair version of it, so it is listed here and not ranked.
Why it came out this way
At 18 °C the model runs a northern pike at 100% of peak metabolism (optimum 18 °C, feeds between 1 and 26 °C), which caps its chase at 1.5 m/s. Every lure here is retrieved at 1.0 m/s, or just under the fish's top chase speed if that is lower: 1.0 m/s in this scenario. The page tests the lure rather than the reel.
- 4 of 11 were followed and refused on action: outside the 5–10 wobble range the model gives this species, or too stiff to read as alive.
What decides a lure’s action → - 2 of 11 were seen and ignored because they sit outside the 100–350 mm prey window the model gives a northern pike.
The approach stage and prey size → - 1 of 11 never swam properly, so the fish model never got a look at them. That is a Tank verdict, the same in every scenario.
How the Tank decides a bait swims →
Change one thing
The same northern pike, with a single condition changed.
This page is model output, not field data. The species values behind it, including temperatures, prey sizes, preferred action and reaction distance, are working assumptions that have not been calibrated against observations. The lures are generic archetypes, not products. Read where this model is wrong before trusting a ranking, and treat it as a hypothesis to test on the water.