Rip-jigging Pike

[Matt Johnson]

Spent a good part of the day rip-jigging for pike in shallow water yesterday. We fished anywhere from 4-7 feet over a shallow flat with scattered weeds. The pike were cruising through like heatseeking missiles

We caught fish on jigging raps, tube jigs, chubby darters... the list goes on. Punched a series of holes about 10 yards apart over about a 75 yard area and hopped from hole to hole. No need to use a flasher and when one hit you knew it!

Easy way to cover a lot of ground and ice a lot of fish. We must have landed close to a dozen pike ranging from 3-7 pounds in about two hours between three of us.

Here's a picture of one of the fish (keep in mind the guy holding the fish is 6'6" and 350lbs )...

This is a great way to target pike and it can be a lot of fun. I watched guys pull fish through the ice on tip-ups, but I would rather fight them with a rod and reel.

Here's a short clip of one of the fish being pulled through the ice... Rip-jig Pike Through the Ice

This sort of tehnique can be applied to just about any lake where pike are present. All you do is literally rip the jig/presentation about 2-3 feet and try and get it as far away from under the hole as possible. Then let it return to the original position and shake it a couple times. Then repeat. Also feel free to add hops and pauses too.

And like mentioned, hard hitting pike in shallow water will max out about any gear!

[Doop]

Good Picture Matt!

What kind of set up would you recommend? We are going up to LOTW in mid-March for the snot rockets and i'd like to try this!

[blackdog1101]

Matt, that sounds really cool. I want to give that a try this weekend. There's a shallow bay on 'Tonka I've been wanting to explore, so this sounds like the ticket.

Can you explain further what you mean by this?

 Originally Posted By: Matt Johnson

...and try and get it as far away from under the hole as possible.

Are you saying to try to work the jig under the ice a few feet away from the hole? How do you do that?

[fishcast]

Nice Pike! Jigging for pike is a a ton of fun! I know what you mean by you don't need a flasher, I sight fish a lot for them and it scares me how fast they fly in and pound lures a lot of times. Alot of times I don't even set the hook cause they do that for me. Jigging pike is definately worth trying out.

[cjac]

Nice article Matt!

blackdog: The quick 2-3 foot lifts are to get the bait moving to the sides, not a passive up 'n' down jigging move, but an aggresive move to get the shape of a darter, tube, and those "wings" on a Rapala jig working to swim the bait outward and create a helicopter/swinging fall back to center. You are looking to provoke an instinct "slash" strike from the pike, not a "here fishy fishy" tactic.

Just like any other jig approach, re-tie as the action does put added stress on the knot. A decent walleye/laker set-up will work well, a sprial wrap rod...even better. Jason Mitchell makes some nice rods for this...

Chris

[Matt Johnson]

Like Chris said, you want that jig to swing out to the sides and away from the opening of the bottom of the ice hole. This covers more ground and draws in more fish. So, essentially what you want is a giant circular pattern when jigging...

For a set up I like to use a 36-inch Professional Plus Graphite rigged with a 1500 series shimano a 8 pound test P-Line. I'll also rig up a Tyger Wire leader in anywhere from 10-30 pound test. Then you just tie on your favorite swimming lure or tube

[blackdog1101]

OK guys, thanks very much. I'm going to try this for sure this weekend. I'll report back any success.