River Pike

[weeds]

I tried the search feature and didn't come up with anything. Could have done it wrong though. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone targets pike specifically on rivers and if they might be willing to share any insight on patterns. Same as lakes?

[b1gf1sh1]

this was a post i put up awhile ago,this is just a ''few'' places you might try. theres more but like it says, this will keep you busy. i was talking the croix but it's valid pretty much at any river.

Quote:

i have problems giving people specifics because i'm almost exclusively CPR. and i need to know someone first.i might keep a small walleye up to 19-20 inches or a few crappie mabe a few more if loved one's want fish dinner, or breakfast . but i'm willing to give general guidelines to look for. shorelines, inside bays, weeds in 5 - 8 feet of water, sand bars, humps, underwater islands, dropoffs, coldwater springs on hot days, smack dab inside and off the strongest current you can find, dropoffs, troll the main channel, large slow water flats full of baitfish especially with structure and/or bottom transitions, around islands, rock ledges, where you are catching small smallmouth bass. theres more but this will fill your year up. basicly that river is full of pike. i do best with small to medium baits. i mentioned the husky j e r k. thats about as small and skinny as you want, got them on crappie minnows, mainly i stay about as big as a medium sucker minnow, like a 7'' swim whizz, mabe a 6'' believer. that type. or small to medium bucktails, like about the size of a showgirl is as big as i go. spoons produce if you know how to fish them. you know... no spinning all wonderful wobble. well i hope this helps.

[b1gf1sh1]

oops. don't forget to thouroughly fish every eddy you see. no matter how small and insignificant it seems. same goes for rocky points. lol, i could do this all day .. good luck

[roughfish29]

fish the vermillion river in farmington. use medium-heavy gear and for lures use a 9" suick or a 7" jointed shad x-rap. when you first see the river you might laugh a bit..... it's tiny. but don't be discouraged, my personal best came from that river (34 3/4") but i have seen fish well past the 40 inch mark and last fall a 47" was caught by the kemps factory by highway 3.

anyway, DO NOT waste your time in shallow water, look for pools at least 3 feet deep that have good cover. also, bring a lighter rod and worms for carp. i can't promise you that you will catch a pike your first time out. but i can promise carp.

for carp, look for a combination of deep pools, slow water, and cover

good luck,

ben

[goblueM]

hey ben, good advice - just be careful not to spread that out too much. its a small river.

anywhere on the miss or croix where there are cold water streams entering are a great bet as well

[Neighbor_guy]

Rum River Pike, at least the upper part of the river, like the following....

Spinnerbaits, red+white silver minnows, small rapala's, jigs+grubs, and spinnerbaits.

Prime focus seams to be, lumber, under cut banks, and the holes after gravel bars.

If it looks fishy, throw a bait at it. Sometimes over and over.

[Lunker]

I do most of my fishing these days on the river(WI river).

In my experience the largest numbers of fish will be in the backwaters.We were catching pike on topwater in the weeds in 2-3 ft of water last weekend, that was after the long hot spell.

As far as size, I've seen the biggest fish come from the main river from eddys, rip rap, wingdams, etc. My largest this year was a 34" fish off of a rip-rap and woody shoreline.

Spinnerbaits and crankbaits.