Pike effecting Bass location?

[Granny]

While Bass fishing saturday my cousin (Frogs) hooked into a couple nice pike. One went 35" and the other 38.5". These fish were caught off of spinnerbaits in less than 10 feet of water. There is a topic in the Pike Forum discussing the pike moving to shallower water, but what are your thoughts on this? Do the larger pike move up to the shallows as temps cool, and does this push the bass even shallower? Or do Bass move shallower for lack of cover and warmer water? Most of the bass we caught that day were in less than 5ft of water tucked up in the reeds and cabbage.

Thanks,

Granny

[Dan Wood]

Granny,
what size bass are you fishing for ...

Pike can get pretty aggressive at times, so that wouldn't surprise me any that they push bass tight to cover on occassion. I don't feel that pike and bass clash under normal conditions though. If there is a shortage of baitfish or an over abundance of large pike, those bass probably look pretty tasty. I don't think they are on the top of their list though for a food source. I've just caught too many pike mixed in with bass to support that theory... I know that pike clearly effect walleye - many eye guys will leave a spot immediately if they catch a pike. Smaller bass, an over population of big pike, or shortage of baitfish in the area could have the same effect I'm sure..

There are at least a couple of other of reasons why bass will go tight to cover...

• inactive and looking for a place that is protected to "hunker down". Cold fronts and heavy fishing pressure will often put bass in very close to cover.
• temperature - heavy mats of vegatation, docks, and other protective cover offer shade. The shade keeps the water cooler, this can be appealing in late summer.
• they feel safe - bass by nature love to be very close to cover
  

There are a number of reasons why the fish could be tight to cover. I wouldn't rule out that the big pike pushed the bass tight to cover, although there are many possibilities.

[This message has been edited by Dan Wood (edited 08-30-2004).]

[Deitz Dittrich]

Awesome Dan.. couldn't have said it better myself...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Ohh boy... Good question... This is my opinion... granted its just that an opinion.. I am not sure if I have the stats to back this up or not... ANYWHO....

As the weeds start to die in any given lake, the oxygen content in a lake will go down.. expecially in deep water, do to the dieing weeds(plant life when dieing take o2 out of the water rather than a live plant will put o2 into the water. So as fall comes apon us, and the weeds are dieing all game fish species will start to migrate to the shallows. So, back to your question... Do pike effect bass location. I would say that if there were enough pike in an area, then yes they may move the bass out of an area. But I have caught many bass, both small and large on back to back casts after catching a northern.. I look at it this way.. if pike are in an area, they are probably there becuase there is food there.. and so the bass have a good chance of bing there too.. however, if the area is overun with large pike.. I can see the bass maybe getting a little tighter to cover and a little deeper in it as you had stated you found your fish.

Muskies on the other hand... I believe do really force bass out of areas...but that too depends on the population of muskies in a given lake...

[sami0115]

i was fising with a guy on Leech this summer who summed it up perfectly. he says "the bass and the muskies have an agreement.... the bass stay out of the cabbage and they won't get eaten!" all of the bass we caught that day were in shallow weeds. this was a hot summer day where on most northern clear lakes you would expect to find the bass in deeper cabbage with those conditions.

[Granny]

Thanks for the info guys!

We had caught these two pike fairly close to each other in an area where we usually pick up a few nice bass. I assume the bass moved shallower due to the cool temps and for the lack of cover in the deeper water. There are a lot of big pike in this lake but as you guys stated, I don't think they have that much of an effect on Bass location. We did catch a smaller Bass around 12" with some pretty nice teeth marks in it!

Thanks,

Granny

[st.crioxfishin]

About 4 days ago I was out on a metro lake and did pretty well. Me and a buddy of mine caught 5 nice LM in about 2 hours--2 19inchers were the biggest.

Then yesterday we went back to the same lake, same spot and starting catching pike (20-30inches). We ended up not even catching one bass, it was kind of a dissapointment, but that example kind of goes with your theory about the pike affecting the bass.

Just thought I would add that into the thread.

b. downey

[moby1]

My Y.T.D.-
I have fished almost strictly moderate to heavy cover since opener and I thought the bass fishing has been pretty good. Granted there were a few "not so good days" but I havent had any complaints about y.t.d. A couple bad days are acceptable considering I usually get out 3 times a week. I have found the bass in heavy cover when I go out in the early am as well as when I get off work a little after 3, rain or shine. Mabey I would be catching more if I would move deeper but I havent had a reason to try. We did start picking up norts outside weedlines in the last couple of outings. Caught bass and norts trolling the same pattern over the same area 10-14'
I have only fished metro this year so far.

[Ray Esboldt]

I would say little pike are a non-factor, big things with teeth are definitely a factor. Use White Bear Lake as an example, home of the hammer-handle. You pull up on a hump consisting of gravel, some coontail on top and sandgrass on the edges. On the right day, a jigworm might not even sink 2 feet and a bass has it. You can pull a half dozen bass on consecutive casts, but finally one cast hits the bottom, and tick, no more jigworm. Hmmm, wonder what that was?

Same hump, 3 days later. The weather has been consistent, so the fish should still be on the bite. Nothing. Grab a crankbait to probe around a bit, find the problem. It's the 40" lunge (substitute a rare 40" pike) following your crank back to the boat. That explains things, and you move on.

Areas with sparse cover seem to be pretty susceptible to the toothy critter-bass displacement theory. Now, in thick cover, I've flipped an upper single digit toothy, and then flipped a 12" bass 5 feet away. If they can see them, they boogie. If they can't, they'll live feet away from being lunch.

At least, that's my theory. But, I dig Exude's and Dan's. There's sound much more scientific.

------------------
Ray Esboldt

Catch-N Tackle
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[river rat316]

I can only speak for the river (all I have fished in the last 5 years) On the miss its a total different set of rules usually the y dont operate in the same waters but when you start to get into pike in a normal bass hole its my experience that theyve pushed the bass out but then again there is no weed cover for them to hide in most of there structure is either the current itself or boulders ( I have caught a 7 pound pike that inhaled my mepps and when I stuck my pliers down there and pulled out my mepps she spit out the tail of probly a 12" smallie needless to say I scolded the pike and told her to stay away from my smallies and let her go)

[This message has been edited by river rat316 (edited 09-06-2004).]