I can't really help you with the pike fishing but as for the bass you can ask a thousand people and get a thousand different answers.All ponds,lakes,etc are different.The plastic and color that works for me may not be so hot in your area and vise versa.Also everyone has a different style of fishing different plastics.Experience is the best teacher.I would buy a few bags of different worms/creatures and fish them.You will figure out what works for you and what won't.Not everything will work and you will end up like all of us with a tub of plastics in the garage that you seldom ever use but hey...that's bass fishing.When i started using plastic worms i had no idea what to use either.I would go into my towns little bait shop and look at the worms hanging on the racks to see what people were buying the most of.That's what i bought and it worked.Also i would watch people fishing around me to see what they were catching them with.Just buy something you are comfortable using and go fishing.

I've found that the Charlie Brewers slider worms are the best. I use the 4" worm that's junebug color with chartruese tail. I use it with snag less slider jig heads. I have caught tons of bass on them. Both largemouth and smallmouth. My PB on these is 4.12 pounds.