Oahe Pike

[walleye69]

Haven't been ouy myself as of yet, but the pike bite has begun on Lower Oahe. A couple of buddies of mine were out yesterday afternoon and caught 12 & 15 pounders. Heard of a few being caught over the weekend also. I plan on giving it a whirl this weekend to see if I can land one of those trophy monsters.

[N_Foster]

I have always wanted to go out to Oahe and give that a go. I've been meaning to the past two years but haven't been able to. Where do you find these little back bays on Oahe and could I reach them without a boat?? Also, how long does this bite usually last?? Thanks for any replies in advance.

[Guest]

Could you fill me in on Lower Oahe? I don't know my way around there at all. A little info on this and I'm there. Thanks a bunch, my boats ready to go.

[walleye69]

There are a lot of areas that can be fished w/o a boat. Some of the more popular spots the past few years have been Peoria Flats, Cow & Spring Creeks, Corp Bay, and Chantier Creek areas. All of these are accessible by vehicle and a little walking. From what I understand the shorelines are pretty muddy yet from the snow melt the last week so access may be a little difficult until it dries out a bit. There is still quite a bit of ice on the lake, but most of the smaller shallower bays are either totally open or there is a good 30-40 yards of open water out from shore in most areas the boat fishing should get going in the next week or so.

[walleye69]

The bite usually lasts until late April-Mid May depending on the weather.

[fishing4fun]

What baits are best? smelts or chubs? I'm thinking about giving it a try this weekend if we can't get out with a boat. Also will the cold weather shut the pike down?

[walleye69]

I generally use quick strike rigs or double dropper rigs with frozen smelt or herring. Find the dirtiest, shallowest, warmest water in a bay you can and set up. Action is generally pretty slow, but chances of tangling with a 15+ pounder are pretty good. Generally warm sunny calm days are the best, but not always. The weather doesn't seen to affect pike as much as it does other species of fish. They will bite right through a cold front usually. I am planning on going out tomorrow afternoon and I will post a report tomorrow evening.

Good Luck.

[walleye69]

Fished Fri afternoon and this morning and had 4 hookups with 3 of them landed. Not the giants I was looking for, but nice quality fish. Landed 6 & 7 pounders on Fri and a 14 pounder this morning. Saw a guy fishing down from me yesterday that landed one that was probably pushing 20 or so. The bite should do nothng, but get better in the next few weeks.

[N_Foster]

I have one more question. How far back in these bays should I fish? Also, how would you float your quick strike rig off the bottom? Would you use a bobber or cork on the hook??

[This message has been edited by N_Foster (edited 03-14-2004).]

[walleye69]

Fish as far back in the bays as you can, or the shallowest water in the bay as its warmer than the deeper water. I usually use a small bobber or a piece of syrofoam with a slit cut in to float my quick strikes. Attatch the bobber or syrofoam just above the second hook and you should be set. This will generally bring your bait 8-14" off of the bottom depending on where you attatch your float.

[fishing4fun]

Well I just got back from fishing CORE bay. Actually it was last Saturday in that hurricane. We never had a bite. We fished from 12 to 5 with out a bite. Another guy there had one bite. I think we were out to far. because we had 6 rods out and not a thing. What size smelt are others useing, ours were about 6-7 inches long. Maybe next time out I'll get a pig.

[jr712]

I have never fished this pattern on Oahe but have on other pike lakes and reserviors. I have had my best luck in 3-6' depths and the backs of bays that have a small flat in that depth verses a more direct drop off from the shoreline, are best.

I usually bottom fish also unless old weedbeds from the past year are present that might foul or hide bait, which wouldn't be the case on Oahe.

The bottom rig anchors your bait at a precise depth and won't drift into shore on a windy day like a float suspended bait.

My favorite bottom rig consists of a (good) 3 way swivel. Attach a 1 ft. steel leader quick strike rig to one end. (I tie my own quick strike rigs and put a quality 20-30lb. snap on the tag end for easy attachment to the 3 way).

Attach a 2ft. mono dropper to the other 3 way swivel and attach a 1/4 - 3/8 oz. bell sinker. Dropper line should be half the pound test of your main line so breaks off easy in snags.

I then place a small pencil bobber on the main line, above the 3 way. You want it small enough so that the bell sinker will sink it. If you want to place your bait in water 4 ft. deep, set the bobber at about 4.5 ft above the SINKER (not the 3 way).

Bait up the quick strike with a smelt (I also use frozen creek chubs I catch or siene during fall and freeze 4 to a zip lock bag).

Cast the rig out and let it sink to bottom and reel in slow until the bobber becomes visible which indicates your bait is setting in 4.5 ft. of water. I bring it in another foot or so until the boober is laying flat and then tighten up the line until the bobber is back up right. This puts a little horinzontal angle to the line between the bobber and sinker and ensures your deadbait is not tangled in the sinker dropper line. The bobber serves as a strike indicator and also keeps the line between bobber and rod from laying on the bottom and tangled in debris, etc.

While shore fishing in unfamiliar water you always know what depth your bait is at and get an idea of how much of a flat is present off shore.

Another variation of this rig that I use is to tie a swiviel on the dropper line with an egg sinker above it. I make the dropper a little longer, 2.5 - 3 ft. Attach a 2nd quick strike rig to the swivel. Like walleye 69, on this 2nd quick strike rig I have placed 1 or 2 small walleye type rig bait float between the hooks (when the rig was made) to lift the bait off bottom. For some reason chartruese floats seem to provoke more hits.

I can bait the 2nd quick strike with a deadbait but I often attach a live chub to this one, to offer the fish both. Have sometimes caught walleye and other fish on the live bait. On this set up I set the bobber 1-2 ft above the depth I want the sinker at and bring it in a little closer after spotting the bobber (guesstimate). Then tighten up the line so bobber is partly submerged. the idea is to increase the horizonatal angle on the boober to sinker section and to ensure the two baits are well seperated.

Hope I didn't confuse anybody, lol.

Hope to sometime try them Oahe pike.

On a disturbing side note we have had 12 inches of snow here in west central Iowa today and still snowing hard........ had some successful farm ponding bassing yesterday and scopping snow today.... this stinks!! - Jeff

[N_Foster]

Anybody been out northern fishing lately?? What's the latest??

[walleye69]

Haven't been out this week. Plan on hitting it hard this weekend as the weather is supposed to be pretty nice. Have heard of quite a few nice fish being caught in that 15-25 pound range. Also heard a rumor that someone brought in a 33 pounder late last week. I will post a report after I go out and give it a whirl this weekend.

[sloughshark]

walleye, it sure seems like your buddies always catch fish, and you hear rumors of people catching fish, but you never seem to catch any yourself.

First of all your buddies cant be catching anything because you have no friends, and second, you cant hear rumors either because you are legally deaf in both ears. You have some explaining to do. HAHA!

Gonna bag up on some sharks at bitter tomorrow. On saturday & sunday its the annual pike festival that will take place on either waubay or bitter or even both. Let ya know how it goes!

flags up again!
Get the Gaff!!

[N_Foster]

Thinking about heading out there tomorrow morning. Are they still biting??

[walleye69]

Foster,

The bite seemed to slow down last weekend and the beginning of this week. There were many 20+ pounders taken the middle of and late last week. Then the weather took a turn for the worse. I was out last Fri afternoon and again on Sun morning and was blanked. Probably had something to do with the weather as we had 30 mph winds on Fri & Sat. The bite should pick up again with the water temps warming, and with the nice weather we've been having the last couple of days. I plan on hitting it again this weekend.

[Guest]

Can you take a boat out there yet?

[walleye69]

Iceman,

The lower end of Oahe is ice free. I know there have been a few guys out in boats, but don't know how they are doing.

[Guest]

Thanks 69er, maybe I'll head out there this weekend.