Northern pike Rods

[WalleyeSlayer21]

You can have 2 lines in the water so you have a tip up and its boring just to sit and wait, so What are some good brands ice rods for just targeting pike. What places sell them,? Gander, Scheels, Fleet farm, Cabelas? and what type of line?

[Fowlmouth]

A big one

[monstermoose78]

Any med/heavy or heavy should work. I have been running 12 pound test to a steal leader. I have it set up with a float and I put a sucker minnow on it if I am fishing in my portable for the day.

[20lbSloughShark]

The best bang for your buck I have found is the Berkely lightning rod. Mine is a 32" MH and I put my Abu Garcia ambassadeur 5500C3 on it. I think HT makes a similar rod, as well as a few others. The lightning rod does come in a spinning version. On the higher end are thorne bros. walleye sweetheart and clam mackinaw. If you ever get serious, and like baitcasting reels, I feel the mackinaw is the best simply because it has a spiral wrapped rod. I am a braid guy, I use the same as I do in the open water, 20# power pro. I just take the reel off of my open water casting rod. If you prefer mono, I would go with something around 14#. Leaders can vary. Some lures I like to tie directly to, but a lot of them I don't. Right now I have a 20# steel leader with a snap on it. You can use 20#+ fluorocarbon, or a light steel leader. Its not as important jigging as it is bait fishing. The fish doesn't get as good a look at the bait, and you don't deep hook as many as you do bait fishing. The smaller the jig, the more they inhale it. Some of my favorite jigs are the biggest Swedish pimples, jigging minnows, Airplane jigs, chubby darter, and even casting spoons. I often start with a loud lure like the chubby darter to draw fish into tip ups. I like to leap frog them to cover water, and the jig brings them in from a distance. This method is kind of hit and miss on the jig, but I you get a lot more strikes on the tip ups. The best thing I have found if you want to get strikes while jigging is a Swedish pimple, with a fathead, shiner, small sucker, etc. hooked through the lips. I like them alive. I rip the bait a few times and let it sit still for about 10 seconds and let the minnow struggle. You can get big walleye too if you are deep enough.

[mn86]

imo. nothing beats fighting a big pike that hit a micro jig on my one to one spooler while jigging for pannies!!!! rod folded, spool spinnin 100 mph. while your buddies pullin your ducer waitin to get a hand on that hawg!!!!