Minnesota Pike?

[Blaine]

Please don't take this the wrong way... Not bragging. I am just curious what you guys consider an average pike out your way? What would you consider to be a trophy?

I've been following a lot of threads, especially the "Biggest through the ice" and I am surprised at the size of the pike people are reporting as their largest. I always thought you guys had it made out there but it sure looks like we have it better here in CT. Is it pressure? or are there so many in your lakes that they have to compete for food and are stunted?

[Bobberboy]

I have 3 pike over 25# to my credit. (Too Small?)

I find keeping quiet is the best way to have continued success Ice Fishing.

I have been followed to the lake by my so called buddies just to see if they can steal a spot from me.

More that once I have fished a spot and the next day there are 3 guys fishing an area that didn't have a track within a 1/2 mile of it the day before.

I will share methods and if the water is big enough even the lake. No one gets my GPS numbers. I have 2 boys that also fish and they only get one spot a year for Christmas.

I hope to get something over 25# this winter. I would love to travel to CT if you can help me do this

"Your bobbers down!"

[EBass]

Well I don't chase pike too much, but I've caught plenty. Average size varies from lake to lake. Some lakes produce monsters every year while other lakes only have wee little pike. So it's hard to say as each lake/river system is different.

A trophy pike like mount or make a replica, I'd think it better be over 40"

What do you think is a trophy in CT and I don't take any offence.

[Blaine]

Quote:

---

I have been followed to the lake by my so called buddies just to see if they can steal a spot from me.

More that once I have fished a spot and the next day there are 3 guys fishing an area that didn't have a track within a 1/2 mile of it the day before

---

As a full time guide, you don't have to explain that one to me I've come to accept it though. I have guys hiring me just to find out where I fish... So far it hasn't helped them though

We get them over 20 lbs every year through the ice. 25 would be pushing it... Our state record is 29 lbs and has stood for 24 years now. It may fall here in the next 5 years, when it does it will right at ice out and the fish will be a female full of eggs.

First ice here is dynamite. My partner and I will usually see 6 or so over 40" every winter, the average fish is in the 34-37" range. We can't\don't spear here in CT, hell we aren't even allowed a permanent shanty on the ice and we can't drive on the ice either. However, we get to use 6 tip ups in CT so we can cover a lot of ground and fish different depths till we see what they want that day. It also sounds like overall, our water might be shallower on average. I'll fish as deep as 15 feet and as shallow as 4. The bigger fish seem to come from within 3 feet of the bottom, no matter how deep it is.

Early in the season I use big bait but clip the fins. We use both golden shiners and suckers. We have no smelt or alweives here. Late in the season as the females are lethargic and full of eggs, I'll use more dead baits. Those are usually fished within a foot of the bottom.

My rigs are made of a 4 foot section of 50 lb fluorocarbon and a 1/0 Gamakatsu treble. Our fish usually don't run far or fast with the bait so we tend to get good hooksets with few gut hooks.

Do you guys do thing totally different or are we close here?

[pikehunter]

Yes, it definitely depends on the area. A few winters ago when I lived in southern MN I pulled three fish over 12 pounds in a winter and my fishing buddies were ready to make me mayor. Up north a 12 pounder is at best nothing to brag about.

Sounds like our tactics are very much the same, despite the lakes being very different as well as the rules. (I don't know if we could keep up with six tip-ups here though!) One other thing is, we can't fish "late ice" pike here, because our season ends before then.

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting the itch to drop a tip-up!

[Blaine]

Our season ends early on a couple of lakes as well, the last day in Feb. These are the lakes that ths state spends a lot of time manging the fishery.

Not sure how you guys feel about the job your state does but with what little CT DEP is given, I think they have done a phenominal job here. Over the last 5 years or so, they have doubled the number of lakes that have pike... Not hard to do in a state the size of CT But nonetheless, the program has really taken off. That's why I think the record will fall within 5 years here. Not only do we have more lakes to choose from but it also distributes the pressure more evenly across the state. A few of the "big fish" lakes would get pounded. Some of the new places are already giving up mid 30" fish.

CT is also attempting the same with walleye. I believe we buy our fingerlings from Minnesota. We don't have but a couple of lakes that they spawn in, so for the most part, walleye is a put and take fishery. The state did very thorough studies and found that there were 3 excellent lakes that would support spawning. The problem is that CT takes it's trout very seriously and it was feared that the wlley would escape from these lakes and resevoirs and find their way into the trout rivers, decimating the trout and salmon fishery.

They just changed the limits from 5 fish @ 15" to 2 @ 18" because of the dramatic increase in people targeting them. The last 3 years I have witnessed fish over 10 lbs comethrough friend's holes. A guy even got a 14 last winter... Not bad for a state that "has no spawning"

[Deitz Dittrich]

I hear what you area saying blaine... I'm not even sure we could put an average fish on our pike.. Its really going to depend on lake to lake depending on food. I can tell you this year alone I caught at least 7 pike over 15 lbs.. and I did not spend a single day targeting them.

My largest caught from Minnesota waters was over 30 lbs...guess in the 33-35 lb range.