water depth

[tah1982]

Just wondering what water depth everyone is finding pike in right now. I have caught two in the last three days and have fished close to 15 hours. So you could have its been slow. It could be the places I'm going but just wanting to know what everyones opinion is. Thanks in advance

[20lbSloughShark]

Pike are rarely at a "depth", they go where they can hide and ambush fish. That said, I have caught 6 pike so far. 5 in 1-3' of water and 1 in 15'. They don't seem very agressive yet, so I suggest large suckers next to reeds. I caught the deep pike trolling a 6" jake on a drop-off far from shore.

[tah1982]

Thanks for the reply. I fly fish and have had a hard time so far. Caught one about 25" on the wisconsin opener and one about 20" on the minnesota opener. Have been everyday since its opened on lakes in woodbury in a float tube. Have fished all the way around the lakes. Caught a few bass here and there. Hopefully it will pick up soon. Thanks again.

[20lbSloughShark]

I have never fly fished, but it seems with anything northern pike, the bigger the better.

[OnAFly]

I had one that was pushing mid 30's on tonight. I thought was a big bass when I saw it hit, then saw the rest of the body. Had it on for only a few seconds before it spit the fly. The fish caught me by surprise, so I got a pretty terrible hook set on it. Good to know she's in there though.

[tah1982]

Had that happen on Monday but not quite as big as that fish. Missed it twice.

[JPenny]

It is a common misconception that bigger is better for pike. Many times a bass sized lure will far outproduce a bigger one. For instance, cold fronts. You'll catch a lot more by downsizing after a cold front. Early spring is another peroid I use smaller offerings. My second world record pike was caught on spoon less than 3" long.

[20lbSloughShark]

It is a common misconception that bigger is better for pike. Many times a bass sized lure will far outproduce a bigger one. For instance, cold fronts. You'll catch a lot more by downsizing after a cold front. Early spring is another peroid I use smaller offerings. My second world record pike was caught on spoon less than 3" long.

I completely respect you (and love your articles) but I have never in my whole life saw someone catch more pike with a smaller lures. I'm sure you argee though that 9/10 times bigger is better. There have been plenty of days where I have had freinds that think my 8-10" suckers wont get taken, and choose "pike" suckers (4-5"), and my large catches multiple fish and the others never get a single strike. I have never had it the other way around. With your comment of "world record pike was caught on a spoon less than 3" long." Maybe we have different ideas of big. A 3" long spoon is very big, even for me; I get made fun of for using such large lures and baits, at least until I out catch everyone.

BTW why isn't there a pike article in infisherman this month, or did I miss it?

[JPenny]

Respect is a good thing and I thank you. And I offer the following with the same respect. When someone is thinking about fish and all the conditions that prompt them to bite whatever, he must keep an open mind. The only absolute in fishing is that they are in the water. To state that bigger is always better, or 9/10 times bigger is better, is too absolute. And simply not true. Sorry. Sometimes bigger is better, and sometimes smaller is better. Same goes for retrieval speed. Sometimes faster is better and sometimes they want it slower.

That being stated, I must explain that I was once under the same impression that you are. Back when I was in my 20's, I used big lures exclusively for pike, figuring that bigger was better if I wanted to catch big pike. It took awhile but I found out that things were just not that simple.

I'm happy you mentioned the In-Fisherman magazine. Doug Stange contacted me and wants me to write a sidebar for an article on this very subject. Smaller lures for big pike. Of course I can't say much about it at this time, but keep your eyes peeled and you'll see it sometime in the future.

And as far as IF not having a pike article in the latest issue, I'd suggest you contact them and request more pike coverage. I'd like to see more too!

[goblueM]

I completely respect you (and love your articles) but I have never in my whole life saw someone catch more pike with a smaller lures.

I catch tons of pike (and muskies) on small crankbaits. Bomber Model A and DT-10 and DT-16 are some of my best pike baits. Sometimes I catch more on them bass fishing than when pike/musky fishing with larger lures. Heck just an example from this week - went musky fishing with musky gear last week, didn't raise a fish all day. Bass fished the same stretch today, had a bite-off on a lizard and a low 40s ski to the boat on a Bomber Model A

[20lbSloughShark]

You make a very good point Jpenny, I have a strong preference for cirtain methods. I use the methods I grew up with, that my dad taught me, and some I learned that work. I just read in a special infisherman (2012 pike and muskie) that there is no best lure, they all work good in cirtain situations. I think this might be why I catch fish on big baits. I fish areas where agressive pike hide to ambush one big meal. The problem is this is only a small amount of the total fish population. Bassically I use 3 methods for pike, maybe you can suggest some things for me to improve on. First is casting, which is pretty simple, go to the nearest weeds, and cast lures. I usually start with a spoon, or bucktail, after about 50 casts or one hour of nothing, I move down my mental list of lures. My next tactic is how I get the biggest fish, sucker fishing. I find weedy bays if I can, or just pull up the the reeds, hook up a 8-10" sucker on my custom quickstrike rig, about 3' under a bobber, and let the sucker find the fish. I have tried deadbait, but had no luck, I just see no reason or evidence that pike would ever choose a dead fish over a wounded one that covers more water. The thing my dad always likes, but I can't figure out is trolling. I like big crankbaits, my favorite being a 6" jake in firetiger. As far as speed or depth goes I usually just find the weedline. I have caught them going 2 mph all the way up to 8 mph.

Sorry for hyjacking the thread, I am taking this opportunity to learn

[goblueM]

I use the methods I grew up with, that my dad taught me, and some I learned that work. I think this might be why I catch fish on big baits.

I think perhaps the biggest reason is that it sounds like you always use big baits. Just like the musky guy that says "all I catch them on is double cowgirls and mag bulldawgs" .... well, if you throw those baits 95% of the time, of course you're only gonna catch fish on those baits

[bullett]

I was fishing in one of our area lakes and caught 4 pike and lost 1. Their were a bunch of minnows in about 4 feet of water and thepike were in there feeding along with the striped bass. I was using a smaller rattlin rap and the pike were inhaling it.

[TyGuy02]

I haven't tried it yet this year, but the shallow water pike bite may be on pretty soon. There is nothing better than casting cranks shallow with little weeds. Believe it or not, but 1/4 oz jigs can have just as much action as a crankbait at times. My PB pike came on a 3/8 jig and chub if that says anything about size

[JPenny]

As far as pike go, there are what we call regional favorites. For example, in one lake pike might have a preferance for say spinnerbaits, while in another lake spoons may produce much better. In my travels I see this a lot. Using what your Dad taught you is good, it shows you're listening. And if it works, great! But, as you age, if you expand your range of fishing waters, you'll find that you'll also have to expand your thinking on what to use. No doubt you're learning and that is a major key. Keep an open mind Sloughshark and you'll do well in the future.

[solbes]

Trolling bite is "on" at the lake I fished on Saturday. They weren't hitting the lure, they were smashing it. I kept thinking I'd reel in a big girl only to find out it was another "overachieving 22 incher". Must have hit 12 or 13 pike in the span of an hour or so. Fishing 12-14 FOW going 2.5-3 mph.

Had one on for maybe 10 seconds that yanked my rod back as I was fiddling with my sonar. I suppose it could have been a dog fish as well, but this thing ran and ran until it reached the end of my line...snap. Dang. Had to buy another Hot Steel SR8 today. Not exactly a "Large" lure BTW, I trolled for another hour with various large pike lures in the area on heavy artillery gear and didn't get a sniff.

[paceman]

I have been fishing shallow for eyes and crappies and the northerns have been chasing me away from my spots. They are on a rampage up here. Mostly small ones but I did get one that was 37". That was fun on crappie gear. Put her back. 3-12' of water.

[20lbSloughShark]

This is the other strange thing. Everyone keeps saying the pike are biting right now. I can hardly get a thing. Back in february, everyone was packing up because pike were so hard to come by. I went out, got a few, and got my biggest ever a 12 lb. Thoughts?

[terrible_fisherman]

I have not seen many active pike either. Lots of bass hitting when I am pike fishing but not seeing many northerns no matter what I try. It might be somewhat lake specific for what they are hitting and when.

[Slabasaurus]

Thanks for the reply. I fly fish and have had a hard time so far. Caught one about 25" on the wisconsin opener and one about 20" on the minnesota opener. Have been everyday since its opened on lakes in woodbury in a float tube. Have fished all the way around the lakes. Caught a few bass here and there. Hopefully it will pick up soon. Thanks again.

On WI Opener I too had some luck on the pike.

I haven't caught a pike in water deeper than 8 feet yet this year. I've been using flies varying from #12 - #6 buggers and clousers, although the most successful pattern has been a #10 bead headed bugger with a pink chenille body and white marabou tail and white hackle wrap. Silver rib and silver bead head. Sometimes I add some pearl krystal flash in the tail. I first tied it as a crappie pattern but it's landed more pike than anything.

Retrieve has been the big variable from what I've noticed so far. One day they'll want a slow and steady retrive, others they won't hit unless the fly is really dancing and that tail is flicking like crazy.

[mainbutter]

I have never in my whole life saw someone catch more pike with a smaller lures

It was not until one particular Canada trip that my thoughts began to differ from yours.

What started as trying out senkos for the first time for SMB turned into catching huge numbers of pike. My boat companions couldn't keep up with standard big jerkbait, big spinner, big spoon, and big topwater lures. They did better when they stopped "fishing for pike" and whipped out the SMB lures. Heck, my brother's best producing lure was his smallest silver dardevle.

I LOVE fishing with big lures, but I catch the most numbers of 24-36'' pike with lures that are roughly 4'' to 6'' long. When it comes to trolling in particular, it's #9 shad raps all day long except in fall, when I get my slightly longer than 6'' magnum x-rap in some blue saltwater color.

I've been catching pike regularly and often on a 5'' long white fly with lots of flash. My 8'' flies are fish-less so far.

The one caveat I have is that I'm not all that great at fishing for big pike, and I tend to not fish big water. Still, that Canada trip was pretty big water.

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

From what I have experienced Pike fishing in Minnesota is that you need to change up your tactics throughout the year. Early in the season the Pike are mostly shallow and a certain set of lures work better than others, and these lures really depend on what lake you are on. During the first month of Pike season I have noticed that the Rapala bite is very slow compared to other times of the year, so you have to choose different baits. One lure that I have used and have had success in many different lakes and conditions is a Size 5 Mepps Bucktail, prefferably in the color pink for the lakes I usually fish, but green and black also seems to be pretty successful. Other spring lures that I have had success with are smaller spoons and mid-sized spinnerbaits, usually chartreuse or green being the go to colors. As the season wears on some of the fish start to head deeper to cooler waters and different forage options. This is when I have had success with rapalas in my area. The best colors that I have had luck with are the Perch patterns and the blue and silver. Size 11 or 13 original Rapalas trolled along deep weed edges have been good. Also Shad Raps that dive to your desired depth in silver and black, sliver and chartreuse, silver and blue, or perch pattern have been good. The bucktails and spinnerbaits still work under certain conditions but more natural baits have worked better. Also you can give swimbaits a chance, It has been a while since I have used them consistently for pike, but when I did a 4" swimbait in a natural color worked pretty good for mid-depth pike. Then comes fall when the Pike start to eat and eat a lot. They can be found at most depth but are easiest to target in under 7 feet of water. By far the best lure that I have found has been a size 11 original Rapala in blue and silver color, with the success I have had with this lure you won't see me throwing much else in the fall. I suggest trying out some river with this lure. On small rivers like the one I like to fish in the fall, look for a deep hole and pepper the area with casts. This is what I have to say from my experiences, listen to others as I am sure they also have some very good input.

[Gordie]

I have been getting them from as shallow as 2 fow to 6 fow

The lake I am on is only a total of 11 fow at its deepest.

Weed lines are my favorite sturcture right now.