In my experience, it's a 3/4 ounce blue-and-chrome rat-l-trap. When I fish with my older brother, who's an expert with a red-and-white spoon, he always switches when I start out-catching him.
You can cast 'em a mile, let 'em sink (on a tight line, sometimes fish hit on the drop) and then reel 'em in as fast as you can. If you hit weeds, you can usually jerk them off.
I was motoring upstream on the English River in Canada at dusk and trolling a rat-l-trap so fast that when a little pike hit, all I reeled in was its jaw. (That mighta been a little TOO fast, but that was trolling, not reeling.)
Call me old fashioned, but I can still catch a lot of pike on the old red and white DareDevil. In fact, it is one of the lures I will not forget when up in the BWCA... for walleye and pike.
My fav is a little cleo spoon it's a little heavier than a daredevil, and you can cast it a mile. I think my most used one is blue and chrome pin stripped with teeth marks.
Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. ~ Patrick F. McManus
