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Northern Pike
Summer Pike
Points
Some are definitely better than others! Reading water and
being able to carry out a logical fishing approach is the most important
part of the process. You can have the sharpest hooks, make the perfect
cast and work your lure correctly but if you're fishing dead water, not
much will happen. On structure like points especially, making good use of
lure depth and fishing angles is really important. For the most part,
points are things that stick out, with more than one side. A shoreline
wall, for example, has only one surface. Depending on their shape and
layout, a point can have four, five, even six 'lanes' or sides to work.
New Spring,
Same Old Stuff For Pike
Is there anything better than having a thick, mad pike on the end of your
line when the trees are just starting to bud? Compared to those eighteen
inch winter rods, feeling that seven footer buck around is great. Some of
the biggest pike of the year are catchable right now. The fishing world
changes around pike like clockwork every year, but they sure don't. You
can have success by experimenting with where you fish and how no matter
what the spring weather. Don't get hung up on dates, water temps or what
you've heard and read. Get out there and poke around.
Jigging Early
Summer Pike
Yes, my pike box is full of the same large jerkbaits, big thumper spoons
and wild looking spinnerbaits as yours probably is. And yes, hitting a big
pike casting one of these classic lures is a rush when it happens.
But bigger fish are in and out of shallower casting depths faster than
most fishermen realize, and one of the best lures to catch them on a
consistent basis is also the cheapest: the jig!
Pike & Muskie:
Try Open Water
Seasonal changes to lakes and rivers aren't normally consistent from one
year to the next. Yes, lakes will freeze and thaw, and they'll also warm
and cool. All of this is 100% guaranteed. In the fall, regardless of what
the localized weather patterns have been, pike and muskies can be caught
well off of the bottom, away from structure or using open water in any
combination. Every type of water has factors that contribute to open water
fishing. Some of them are available food, available structure and depth,
structure types and even fishing/boating pressure. Every lake is
different. But in early to mid-fall especially, suspended and open water
fish have proven very reliable for me. (They're out there in the summer,
too). In rough or nasty fall conditions, the open water bite can be a
great option.
Dead-Bait
Tactics for Hardwater Pike
Snow-covered landscapes and frozen bodies of water have a deliberate way
of changing a pike anglers' methods and routines. Gone are the oversized
spinnerbaits, cranks and spoons - the familiar tools of warm weather
fishing - and out come the tip ups and quick strike rigs. Match these up
with a variety of dead baits, and you'll be well on your way to a season
full of cold days and red-hot northern pike.
Go on the
Deadbait Diet for Trophy Pike!
Most people’s New Year’s Resolution is losing twenty pounds. Once the ice
is safe and the season opens, I’m normally out on the big bays and shoals
trying to gain twenty pounds. Twenty pound-plus pike, that is. Early
January produces more pike over 42 inches for me than all other months of
the year combined. And I catch the majority of them fishing deadbait under
tip-ups.
How to Filet a Pike
Easy boneless
way to fillet a northern pike.
Slip One By
Those Early-Season Walleyes And Pike.
If you own a medium-action spinning rod, a selection of sliding floats and
have access to a good supply of natural bait, there's a presentation
you'll want to spend some time with this spring: float fishing. Pike and
walleyes are both suckers for this system, and what it lacks in fanfare,
it more than makes up for in production under a variety of conditions. You
can almost always trick a few fish with a float
Hair Jigs
And Spring Pike
In cold water early in the season, jigs are a top-choice for all species
of fish. When pike are the primary target, the characteristics of baits
dressed with natural hair, in particular deer hair, make them a deadly
choice.
Cold Water
Pike
Esox luscious. The Northern pike. The water wolf.
Whatever the name, the attitude is the same; MEAN! The cold and ice only
seem to add to the pike's cranky personality; it dares you to try and yank
it through a hole and pull it out of its turf. In the winter, pike are
active and not as finicky as other species of fish; they will readily hit
your bait and will fight like a bear when hooked. When it comes to ice
fishing for pike, you don't have the advantage of using a boat to search
the lake for the pike's favourite hiding spot, you need to go looking for
them.
Spoon Fed
Pike
It seems that more and more emphasis is being put on
the use of body baits. Tackle companies are spending more money developing
the perfect swimming action, the perfect wobble, or rattle, or any number
of other characteristics. The spoon seems to have fallen by the wayside in favour of Husky Jerks, Bombers, Torpedoes, and other similiar lures.
When the
Predators Return
Boats crisscrossed it all summer long; personal
watercraft here, tuber there. Weeds uprooted and shredded, fouling the
surface like bees in a beverage. These disorderly but auspicious shoreline
flats are playgrounds for people, and consequently vacated by gamefish.
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