Reader Comments August 12, 2025 "Steel Leader Spinners Northern pike"

Throughout time, anglers have sought to figure out the best way to keep northern pike from biting off their favorite fishing lures. The question is whether steel leaders, likely the best way to prevent attacks by pesky “scissor bills” can still be effective for finesse presentations, and for catching sight feeding fish like walleye, smallmouth bass and sunfish.

The debate is settled for one reader, Richard Rush, who on August 11, 2025, wrote; “Hello Jeff, Just returned from our weeklong trip in Longville area. Although the walleye bite was tough (we don't care about walleye anyhow) there were still some neat developments on the northern pike front.

Rush reported catching a lot of northern pike, some of them in the low 20+ inch keeper size range, as well as some pike that fell within the protected slot size range. The problem, Rush’s fishing party got bit off several times by northern pike, including a larger one that snapped off a Little Joe Spinner at boatside.

Rush, “In conversations with our elder statesman, my 76-year-old dad, he recommended wire leaders.  We deliberated and found a few Little Joe Heart of Steel spinner rigs that I had in my tackle box, still unwrapped. My son decided to be the guinea pig, and once he began getting fish to bite, we all switched over. From then on, we never lost another fish, including the 2 walleyes that came to our boat on the Heart of Steel Little Joes.  We were kind of shocked the walleyes would bite those lures.”

The fishing party was curious whether using the steel line spinner rigs decreased the total number of strikes, but in the end believed the trade off, if any, was worth it. Even if there were fewer strikes overall, their improved success at landing fish was a worthwhile trade-off, especially for bass and northern pike.

Rush concluded his comments with, “Thanks for writing the many articles you have on this presentation in the past. If you have any thoughts about the Heart of Steel spinners, let me know because next year I think we would do the same thing. All in all, the Little Joe Spinner is the best presentation for multi-species action we've used. We caught pike, perch, bass, crappie, bluegill and walleye on them.”

For me, the steel leaders used in the little Joe lineup are the absolute best way to prevent getting sawed off by northern pike. In the past, I’ve used the Heart of Steel rigs may times and enjoyed great results. For trolling presentations like spinners or crankbaits, I don’t think steel is that much of a disadvantage in getting fish to strike. The Heart of Steel spinners are one of the very few commercially available options, making them the first choice for midwestern anglers.

The problem, at least for me, is that Little Joe discontinued using plated spinner blades a few years ago. The alternative painted blades lack the brightness of plated blades and resulted in a certain loss of attracting power. So, at the time, I began tying my own spinners, experimenting with alternative higher end blades, and several fishing line options for tying the leaders.

First off, it made the most sense to look into, and experiment with steel leader materials. I’ve tried several of the so-called tie able steel lines offered by some manufacturers. When I’m at home, with plenty of time and great tying conditions, these steel lines have worked fine. For me though, tying snelled knots in the boat, while I’m taking care of customers, is a lengthy and cumbersome process.

Recently, Roy Girtz, a popular fishing guide in the Grand Rapids region, turned me on to another alternative. Girtz uses heavy, 65-pound test Power Pro braided line. Girtz, who has used the spectra formulated braided line for a long time, claims that northern pike do not saw through it. Admittedly, I am much less experienced with it, but so far, I have not had one of these spinners cut off by a pike either.

In recent reports, I’ve written about catching a mix of sunfish, crappies, bass, walleye, perch and northern pike. The Power Pro has been in use for all of them. It’s too soon for me to claim perfection, but I’m excited to be experimenting with it. Especially because losing my expensive gold, copper and silver-plated blades is expensive, and not much fun.

No discussion about trolling spinners can be complete without tossing in another lure recommendation from Joe Billiar. Like trolling tied spinners, Billiar uses an Eerie Dearie style clone to troll the weed-lines in Brainerd area lakes. In-line spinners, like the Eerie Dearie, or other offerings from companies like Mepps, Blue Fox and Mission Tackle are highly effective for multi-species trolling too. A benefit of using the in-line style spinners is that they can be snapped directly on to manufactured steel leaders, making them very handy to use.

Folks seldom cite trolling the in-line style spinners for walleyes, but when properly regulating the trolling depth, these lures are very productive for walleyes as well as the other popular weedline species. These days, clones of the Eerie Dearie are popping everywhere, marketed as so-called “search baits”. Search the archives and learn that these lures have been around for 50 years, maybe more. I guess you could say that they’re so old that they’re new.

Okay, so there are some thoughts about trolling “spinners” for a mixed bag of fish. I’m curious, what am I missing? Share some of your favorite trolling presentations with fellow anglers too. — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Office Cell Call or Text 218-245-9858 or Email on Facebook on X