pike fishing

[vato]

20lb mono or steel with a blade and beads.

how far of the bottom. suckers or shinners.

thanks

[psegriz]

vato

Your ? might be a little vague. Are you using tip ups or rods? 20 lb isn't necesary IMO 10 lb is fine in most cases. Line is a matter of preference and I've not used the steel but do use a leader when after pike. I think size and presentation is more important factor in minnows than what kind of minnow. Generally a couple feet off the bottom is where I'll fish but not always. I've caught them on the bottom especially when using a dead bait and have also caught them just below the ice.

Welcome to FM

[Maximum12]

Vato, I use 20lb. mono on the tipup & a similar leader if I'm jigging. Someone was talking about the fine wire leaders used in ocean fishing & I'd like to get my hands on some of that but I've been too lazy to search it out yet.

I usually start on/near the bottom, which is where I've caught most of my fish (caveat: I fish mostly stained lakes that are fairly shallow, your mileage may vary in nice, clear lakes). If there's nothing there, I'll move up. I don't know if it's just me or not, but I've generally caught most of my jigging spoon pike within a foot or two of the bottom, & most of my pike on whole minnows (jigs or tipup) about halfway up.

And I often use fatheads because I'm an (Contact US Regarding This Word), but they seem to work just fine. I well might be missing out on bigger guys (biggest this year was a 32") because of the smaller minnows, but I can't prove that!

[vato]

psegriz & max12 thanks for your help. i use tipups most of the time here in manistee lk mich. last year caught two nice pike one 30" and one 35 inches on shiners. good luck

on the ice and be safe.