Bobber-sucker fishing.

[Coke Hawk]

Looking for some good lakes around the Wilmar - Alexanderia area to do some pike fishing? A small group of us like to kick back and do some bobber-sucker fishing for pike, usually early October. Just wondering if there are any lakes that are known to produce?

[Outfitter17]

Doesn't fishing that way kill alot of nice fish?

[Coke Hawk]

No, not really, been doing it about 12yrs and have been catching and releasing regularly. It happens on occasion, but we have pretty good luck, the few that "gut" it are usually for the frying pan, seem to be doing something right never had one over 5 lbs. that we couldn't take a picture of and try again for next fall. I wouldn't be doing it if I where wasting them.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Lake Minnetonka?

[FishinChad]

Nothing wrong with sucker fishing, it has its time and place.

Glad to hear you guys mostly practice C&R, a smaller pike here and there for the pan is great too, theres just too many small pike in some of our lakes, its the 5lb+ that we need to appreciate around here as they are becoming harder and harder to find.

Sometimes I feel like some people let fish take the bait for too long when sucker fishing, basically because when they lose a fish they will always blame it on "didnt let him take it long enough" but usually thats not why you missed. You will miss fish with any fishing method, if its a nice pike, odds are pretty good he will have the hook in its mouth right away or very shortly after. I personally dont like to harm fish because I wont eat them, so I am quick to set the hook and dont notice any difference in hook-up rate compared to people I fish with that wait longer, I dont think I have fataly wounded a pike sucker fishing since I was pretty young.

[crazyice]

Lake Minnetonka?

Not exactly Alex/Wilmar area....

[sheephead24]

Doesn't fishing that way kill alot of nice fish?

seems funny outfitter17 that you care about how people fish for pike because they might be killing nice fish that way, when you have two monster bucks killed in your pic, one in each hand!

[hanso612]

Quick strike rigs rarely gut hook fish. The second hook down the hatch, no matter which way the pike grabs the minnow,always catches on a part of the mouth and prevents the hole works from going down the gullet.

With quick strike riggs there is no need to wait to set the hook either.

In my experience the worst baits for hurting pike are small crankbaits and stickbaits with multiple trebles. Small jigs are a close second and most of them get bit off with no chance of being removed.

It's not the bait that hurts. It's the style of fishing. Unattended lines, dead stick techniques, and any method that gives fish time to swallow the whole rig are the main problems.

Watch out for the lure sellers they will tell you anything to get you to bite. Hans

[AndyM]

I've used suckers alot on bass and northern. I have the problem with setting the hook too fast. Get some, miss some, oh well I don't have to worry about gut hookin' them. Might have to try the quick strike rig.

[rodmaker]

If you go out now and drag suckers on a snell on the edge of the weedline, you will also catch some of the biggest bass of the season this way.

Nothing using this presentation for Pike also. Try trolling a spinner bait with a sucker, or trolling a sucker with a spinner on a snell. When they hit, they almost set the hook them selves. I usually just give them the rod tip and then let them have it!!!

Hang on!!!

Another presentation you can try if you are anchoring is this. Use a snell 3 -5 ft or so. Use a slip sinker (weight depends on depth). Hook the sucker towards the tail. Cast it out. Keep your bail open. Put a piece of tin foil or a piece of foam on you line by the rod tip. just watch that. Usually when you get a hit that way you can let them them make the initial run. They will stop/pause, when they take off the 2nd time , set the hook.

[mr d]

if they stop the 1st time

[AlwysFshn]

If you are stilling looking for a lake, Green has alot of big pike in Spicer.

Although I just noticed your post was from a month ago, probably not looking anymore.

[LEECH21]

I fish Green about twice a week...never come across a pike bigger than 30"???

I must be doing something wrong...

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

Usually when you get a hit that way you can let them them make the initial run. They will stop/pause, when they take off the 2nd time , set the hook.

now theres a man who knows a pike!!! about 99% of the time a pike will grab it's prey, swim to another spot, turn the prey in it's mouth so it's head first down the gullet and start swimming again. as it starts to swim it's swallowing it, so the trick to not gut hooking is immediate hookset when it takes off the second time. northern don't normally try and swallow untill it's head first in the mouth. if it doesn't stop... when it went into the mouth you can bet it was head first. so count to ten, if it doesn't stop. set the hook at eleven. keep in mind this is a 7'' or smaller minnow i'm talking about here. bigger ones a pike chews on while it swims for sometimes an hour before it'll stop. quick strike? set when you want pretty much.

[FishinChad]

Do you really want to wait until the fish has the minnow head first and about to swallow? I hook my minnow closer to the rear than the head, so how does it help to wait until the fish has turned the minnow head first? Only difference I really see between waiting and not waiting, is gut hooks. I dont ever let a pike take it for more than 10 seconds, usually less. I dont miss that many hooksets, and even when you do let them take it for a while you will still miss hooksets and even have some fish spit it out before you set the hook. I dont eat the fish so I dont like to kill them, if I missed a ton of fish I would let them take it longer, but my opinion is that if your not eating the fish, dont let him have it for long.

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

Do you really want to wait until the fish has the minnow head first and about to swallow?

yep. key word there is about to. i hook my minnows probly the same as most... right above and almost to the back of the dorsal fin in the meaty part where it keeps them kicking the longest. also so it doesn't go into the innards. i also catch and release about ... i don't know... 99 percent i guess, of any species. i haven't gut hooked a fish on a sucker since i can remember. northern are very predictable in how they eat. so are we for that matter. lol.

ever try and eat a sandwich walking fast? pretty tough. now try and eat it when it's alive and squirming around. that's why they have to stop. probly learned from experience that swimming and turning don't mix. maybe instinct, who really knows for sure. but they swallow head first. every single time.as soon as a northern moves, and i mean that ''instant'' is when i set the hook. if it didn't work i'd go to a circle hook like i use on cats. or make a quick strike for smaller minnows. for bigger minnows around 7''s or so i make my own quick strikes, little different style but i, and others i know, think it's better.. they will be up on my HSOforum for sale soon but i got other stuff that comes first. work in progress. anyway, i suggest you do it the way your comfortable and what works for you. it seems to work, so work it, lol. again, ten seconds without stopping is a sure bet that sucker is already head first and going down soon. they also don't swallow as a rule while they are stationary. hence hitting them when they move again.