How to target the 40"+ Pike?

[solbes]

So I fish a lake that is deep and clear, has a good cisco and perch population. It puts out some large pike and walleyes because of the abundant food supply. No muskies in this lake. I've caught numerous 30-37 inch pike, but none that have eclipsed 40". We had one boated last year for a family memmber that clearly was 42"+, but the Netman Blew It (me). BTW, I'm strictly catch and release with pike over 25" or so. Just want a photo and replica someday.

I'm starting to get kinda bored with chasing walleyes and want to mix it up a little this year. If I wanted to target the 40"+ pike this early summer before they go deep, how would I do go about it?

Casting big lures shallow with a stealthy approach? Any particular lures to try? Contour trolling hasn't done it, although maybe I need to try bigger lures? Gasp, slip bobber and live bait? What say you chasers of Big Mama ESOX?

[OnAFly]

I seem to hook into them while jigging walleyes in the spring/early summer. I would just try these same places with larger swimbaits or cranks. I would try to match the forage if I were doing this, since they are probably either chasing the walleyes or what the walleyes are chasing.

[wahoo]

First you want to make sure the water has NP over 40". With Ciscos it should have decent soft fin forage. Several years ago there were some excellent articles in "In fisherman" about catching NP in deep water in summer. (This, of course, depends on the overall lake depth and water temps.) However, they caught some very large NP in 35 plus feet. Also check out the "In fisherman" book on catching Pike. (No, I don't work for IF.)

Fall is a great time trolling over sunken weedbeds at a fairly high speed. If you can find an edge with weeds that reach up 6-10 ft or so from the bottom in 12-20 ft of water you might hit some nice fish.

My biggest have always come in early Spring (just after opener) or in Sept/Oct.

In hot summer the launches on Mille Lacs for example will at times drag suckers on bobbers near the reeds and usually get the 35" or so fish.

my son does well with incidental NP (some large)on a metro lake while fishing bass with plastics in mid summer.

off to Lake of the Woods next week to see if I actually know anything!

good luck,

Wahoo

[cbrooks]

If I was fishing a lake with the main forage being cisco for casting I would look for something with bulrushes or weeds and then a steep drop off into the deep water. I would start a couple of cast length into the deeper water and work my way in using a weighted soft plastic that can be counted down. The big fish don't want to travel far when going from deep to shallow.

On some of the more shallow lakes with weeds I had luck using suicks(6 to 9 inches long) Sledge jerk bait lures for big pike. I think soft plastics can work for you with ciscos present.

[RumRiverRat]

If I was fishing a lake with the main forage being cisco for casting I would look for something with bulrushes or weeds and then a steep drop off into the deep water. I would start a couple of cast length into the deeper water and work my way in using a weighted soft plastic that can be counted down. The big fish don't want to travel far when going from deep to shallow.

I agree with this.

Soft plastic swimbaits on bullet or shad style jigheads are perfect for this.

I am a big fan of the Berkley Flatback Shad and Big Hammer Swim Tails. I use the Big Hammer Jigheads and Kalins Perfect Swimbait Jigheads.

Do not be afraid to use 1.5 up to even 3oz jigs to get the baits deep.

[solbes]

Good suggestions gents, keep 'em coming. Added to shopping list: large swimbaits (Doug Stange anyone?), Suicks (heard that suggested before, thanks for the reco Brooks), maybe some sucker/bobber fishing.

[TRZ II]

I fish a small bullhead/pike lake in Central MN that has 40+in. pike and I just use musky baits on classic structure. Big baits usually = big fish. I may only get a few fish per trip but 90% of them are over 10lbs. If i use regular cranks like shad raps I get about 1 out of 8 or 10 that are 10 lbs. Go big or go home!

[Gordie]

I like the mornings that the dew is heavy and the fog is slowly lifting off the lake and cast top water baits of of points that the big girls are cruzin.

[cbrooks]

I like the mornings that the dew is heavy and the fog is slowly lifting off the lake and cast top water baits of of points that the big girls are cruzin.

You got me thinking now. What kind of topwater Elwood, buzzbaits, Zara spook(walk the dog type), prop baits?

I would add Johnson silver minnow(add a white twisty tail on it) and Raddogs spinner baits. Best spinner bait for going through reeds and weeds.

[OnAFly]

Elwood - I'll be on Rainy in 3 days...you just made the rest of my week he11 I will be trying that for sure.

Last trip the big fish was 40" 18.2lb. We'll see this trip.

[fishuhalik]

I'll second the suick. Hands down my favorite. Also a big ol' decoy-sized sucker on a bobber fished over a deep cabbage bed in late September. Or a crappie minnow with 4lb test, seems to catch more big pike than everything else combined!

[Slabasaurus]

Or a crappie minnow with 4lb test, seems to catch more big pike than everything else combined!

Ha. Yep. And even if you play them right they'll still wrap you around the weeds near your boat and laugh as they swim away... leaving you with a tangled mess and a broken heart.

[wahoo]

Yep, anything on 4 lb test will get big Pike to bite--good luck. Suicks, as said, are very good. do not overlook dead bait in early Spring. My biggest, 37 lbs, was on dead bait--a 1 1/2 lb whitefish.

[solbes]

Deadbait, got it. I'll try that too. 37 lbs is a beast!! You must have caught the whitefish yourself? If I could get my hands on some real Cisco, that would probably be the top pick on our lake. I don't really want to fish for them though.

Any particular model/size Suick, or color pattern? Heard from a guy that his favorite is yellow bottom, brown top, with gold speckled sides. I'm getting into Musky territory here with lures like this; I don't see this ending well! At a minimum I will have to buy some 30 or 40 lb Power Pro to spool onto my MH baitcaster rod (hasn't been used much).

Heavy fluoro leaders, or can I get by with the titanium silver ones that I currently have? I think I'm set with large net, all of the release tools, etc.

[RK]

Hiya -

If it were me...

- Suicks would be high on the list. Pike love them things. Only thing I hate about them is they just maul fish sometimes. My old friend Jack Burns used to call it "suick-cide."

- Troll or cast a big spinnerbait. Northland's Magnum Reed Runner is an awesome pike spinnerbait. The black and orange color will outfish all the other colors put together, in my experience. Slow troll it along breaks and over weed edges, or cast it and slow roll it in.

- I'd also definitely fish jigs a lot. The swimbaits are a great suggestion, or a swimming jig like a Bait Rigs Esox Cobra jig. Hands down the best swimming jighead around for pike or muskies. A stand-up head with a plastic lizard of all things is good too. Seen lots of big pike caught in the US, Canada and Alaska on either a black or yellow lizard. Finally, a bass-style jig tipped with a sucker or redtail can be great. Trim the skirt so it's about even with the bottom of the hook bend, and swim/hop it along a break or weedline.

- jerk/twitch baits like Husky Jerks or Bomber Magnum Long-As can be awesome. In clear water you can fish them over pretty deep water even though they only run 3-4 feet down. Fish will come up a long ways to smoke one...

Good luck. Sounds like a fun lake to fish. A shot at a 40" pike is pretty rare in most of MN these days.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[solbes]

Appreciate all of the suggestions and help. I just headed to Gander and picked up some 50# Power Pro, an 18" 100# flouro leader, and a 9" Suick (white bottom w/ red gills, gold/black sides w/ gold glitter). Even though I dropped $50 in 5 minutes, this type of heavy line & leader added to my MH rod will give me a lot more confidence to cast out some of my heavier lures. I do have quite a few large spinnerbaits, HJ14's, large jointed X-raps, Gapen's, etc. Normally I run a 6'6" M spinning rod with 10# Fireline so pretty light.

I've always targeted the pike and walleye fairly deep (20-30 feet), but rarely shallow with large tackle. So it should be quite a change.

Next question, since I've used baitcasters for maybe 3-4 hours in my whole life, is the 50# Power Pro going to be better or worse than 12 lb mono for backlashes? I had a few with the mono and did better with the brake better engaged and more agressive thumb deceleration.

[goblueM]

the power pro will be far superior to 12 pound mono

[Dkoy]

6" phantom softail will try to make them rip the rod from your hands.

[kyleharty]

I use almost exclusively "muskie" lures and have seen my average size increase quite a bit with very little decrease in numbers. My waters are different than yours but no doubt big baits=big fish! Low 30's pike will still go after a Mag Dawg without hesitation and muskie baits will draw the attention of the big girls that will often ignore smaller baits.

If you choose that route, welcome to the slippery slope of buying muskie equipment!

My go-to's are a double cowgirl, Suick, and a big WTD topwater during low light. Mag Dawgs, Rapala Glidin' Rap, and big cranks like a Jake are very good as well.

[dan z]

the biggest I have caught 36" (2) have both came on very large baits a 8.5" DINGO (3oz) and a large single bladed bucktail measuring in at just over 10" good luck...

[cbrooks]

Appreciate all of the suggestions and help. I just headed to Gander and picked up some 50# Power Pro, an 18" 100# flouro leader, and a 9" Suick (white bottom w/ red gills, gold/black sides w/ gold glitter).

Next question, since I've used baitcasters for maybe 3-4 hours in my whole life, is the 50# Power Pro going to be better or worse than 12 lb mono for backlashes? I had a few with the mono and did better with the brake better engaged and more agressive thumb deceleration.

The Suick pattern sounds like a good choice. Tough to go wrong with black& gold. Orange is a nice color to. I think your definately rig up right for catching a 40 plus.

As for your next question. I can't answer if mono is better or worse than braided. I never used mono in a baitcaster but I think you will be surprise how easy a person can get the hang of using those baitcasters. One tip I can give you so your thumb won't get worn out decelerating your spool is to turn your reel to the side when casting out instead of in the upright position. You use your wraist more than your thumb. I know it might not make sense when reading this but give it a try...it works.

[RumRiverRat]

Added to shopping list: large swimbaits (Doug Stange anyone?),

Having read a lot of his articles and watch him use swimbaits over the years I have finally bought into what he is talking about.

I will be throwing lots of big plastic swimbaits for pike this season.

My Dad lives on a lake that the weedline sets up in about 20 to 25 foot of water come August. Will be searching those weedlines for the big Pike that I know are in the lake.

Have caught some nice fish but not consistently. This is the year I hope to change that. Will be starting Friday Morning, the Pike should be fairly shallow and I hope throwing a bigger bait will put more quality fish in the boat.

[chasin_walter20]

casting into the shallow bays with spoons still does the trick

[OnAFly]

It didn't for us this weekend in Canada. Everything was 20+FOW. The only big fish we caught were caught while walleye fishing. Nothing in the bays at all.

[solbes]

I'm gonna have to be patient. I did get the ol' baitcaster dusted off. Spooled up the Power Pro and leader and least got in some practice casting. The 50# Power Pro worked great, only got a couple of backlashes when I changed to lures that were too light. I see Fleet Farm has 9" Bulldawgs for $8, so I might go buy a couple of those. I didn't see any big pike this weekend, one that was maybe 30-32" that followed my Dad's lure but didn't bite. Lots of small pike on bass type lures though.