Big pike, in the shallow weeds in mid-summer??

[traveler]

So help me figure ths out...we've been hitting a spot on the canadian side of LOTW for 3 years running, always in late july. Classic structure, muskies on the rocky points, but theres this bay thats always full of nice pike, and I mean full. We can spend literally all day catching fish in the 8-16 lb range, (seldom anything smaller) with a couple muskies in there as well. Most of what I read says these big pike should be out in cooler water (which is readily available) but they remain in this bay, 4 to 12 ft of water, nearly weed choked in areas, a little more open in others. It's actually the best consistent big pike spot I've ever seen, I'm just waiting to hit a fish over 20 in there...So why do the pike hang there? Could it have to do with competition from the muskies for the choicer spots? The couple muskies we've caught in with the pike have been smaller fish, about the same size as the larger pike, but we have had follows in there from bigger muskie as well. I've always just been puzzled about this spot...but very pleased:) Going again end of July... One side note; had I found this spot 20 years ago, asking this question would have never occured to me. It looks like a classic great pike spot, and it is. I guess I read too much, and "they" say the pike shouldn't be there... Which begs the question, who are "they" and what do they know??? I don't mean to be arbitrary, I'm sure the big pike-cooler water thing is for real, but this seems a great example of why you have to question things, which is just what I'm doin here.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

is there any kind of inlet in that bay...river, stream, etc? any kind of inlet will keep the water cooler and keep the bigger pike in there.

I suppose it is also possible there is an underwater spring?

besides that I would just consider yourself lucky.

I find it hard to believe that you will ever catch a truly big (20+ lb) in a spot like that at the end of July though.

but, what do I know...

[Fish&Fowl]

My thoughts exactly. If your little spot is in an area of current, or has a natural spring feeding into it, it would be the best of both worlds for a big pike. Cool water and lots of food. If it's some stagnant water that stays hot, I couldn't tell ya. Ever get a water temp. reading from in there on the graph?? I know it only reads surface temp, but in that shallow the temp. from surface to bottom shouldn't be much different.

Don't know what else to say except it sounds like you got a nice little honey hole up there! I'll be checking to see what others have to say on this one, now you've got me wondering.

[traveler]

Heres more info guys, but it doesn't help much...it's a pretty long weedy bay, maybe a 1/2 mile. It gets too shallow and weed choked the further in you get, I can't say as we've been right to the end. All the fish are toward the front, fairly close to the main lake basin. No temp on my boat, but the water feels about the same temp (warm) as other areas we're fishing. The area we catch fish in is maybe 2 hundred yards wide by 400 yards long, so maybe too big too be a spring feed. Could be a stream flowing from the far end of the bay I guess, but with the lack of water movement and seemingly warm temps..I don't know. So far we've weighed (still haven't gotten into length for pike) a 17 pounder, several 16's, and lots at 13 to 15 lbs, all released. A 20 should be a good possibility (I hope!). The spot is fairly remote, but there are always a few other boats around, so it's not like it's a pristine area. Heck my little 25 hp takes a lot longer to get around up there then most of the rigs.