Muskie Fishing
Ontario Muskie Fishing
The Next
Bite
Ontario Fishing Trips
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 An
Early Ice Pike Party
by Pete Maina
This time of year is all about getting together
with friends and family. Whether it’s for a
holiday meal, a tailgate party or the annual
company Christmas Party, folks will find just
about any reason to get together for some fun
and relaxation. I think that’s one of the
reasons the popularity oPhoto Couf ice fishing
continues to increase every year. Ice fishing is
just plain fun. It’s a social sport, meaning the
more friends you can bring to the party, the
better your chances of success. This is
especially true when the target is early ice
Pike. The more anglers in the group, the more
water you can cover, and thus the easier it’s
going to be to get a pattern dialed in for that
day. So here’s my “formula” for organizing a fun
and successful ice fishing Pike Party.
First of all is location. A good early ice spot
for Pike fishing is typically going to be
complex in structure. That’s not to say you
won’t find good pike fishing on “bowl” lakes ,
but the ideal type of area will be a bay with
plenty of shallow water, maybe a rock or gravel
bar or two to create some edges, quick access to
main-lake deep water, and weed growth at various
depth throughout. Pike can be tough to pattern
this time of year so having a multitude of
options in a relatively small space gives you
the best opportunity to dial things in quickly.
The one thing that seems consistent is that you
need to be fishing over or near weeds, be it
shallow, deep or in between. And the weeds don’t
need to be green, although where available the
fresher vegetation is preferred.
Here’s where the “social” aspect of this type of
fishing comes into play. The more folks
available, the more you can cover all the bases
to get an idea where the best fishing is going
to be. I think this “social” aspect is one of
the things that makes ice fishing such a growing
segment of our sport. It’s fun! Tip-ups make the
task even more fun, and pretty simple. They
allow you to cover the water column vertically,
setting baits at various depths. Every state has
its own regulations, but here in Wisconsin where
I live, we are allowed 3 lines per angler which
is great when you have a couple or three anglers
trying to cover a decent sized area.
Since you want to be keying on weeds where
possible, pay close attention not to set your
baits “down in” the weeds. Pike are sight
feeders primarily, so you need to make sure the
baits are where these fish can see them. It’s
not at all unusual for me to even set a couple
baits just below the ice, especially in shallow
water. Pike are not normally easily spooked when
they are in a feeding mood, but I still like to
be safe and use tip-ups like Frabill’s Round
Tip-Up, which cover the hole, not allowing the
light through that may deter the pike from
checking out a shallow-set bait. The important
thing to getting a pattern down is to set lines
in a wide variety of spots and depths and keep
your offering above the weeds.
As for rigging your tip-ups, I recommend dead
bait for the deeper sets, or those that are set
on or near the bottom, and live bait for the
ones set up in the water column. In a perfect
world, I like a couple dead baits on the bottom,
a couple live bait sets in the mid-water column,
and a couple more set just below the ice. Since
the goal is to determine the pattern for the
day, make sure you stay mobile and ready to move
set-ups around as you begin to contact fish and
a pattern begins to show itself. Now there may
be days when you’ll have action in all the spots
and then moving set-ups may not be needed, but
typically the pike will show a preference for
one specific pattern over the others.
This is where I want to stress the importance of
paying attention to your tip-ups too. You want
to be able to get to a hole as soon as possible
when a flag is tripped. You always want to use
quick-strike style rigging on your tip-ups, and
be alert so that when you get a bite, you can
get to the hole, set the hooks and get the fish
in and released in a timely fashion. I build my
rigs using Berkley 7-Strand wire (90 lb test)
and small, strong treble hooks like Mustad’s KVD
Elite Trebles in a size #4.
Now I understand that some folks find watching
tip-ups a bit boring, and that’s fine. In that
case, use one of your lines to incorporate a
jigging presentation. Especially for working the
deeper water, jigging can be a very effective
way to cover the water column and trigger pike
to bite. As for jigging lures for pike, I’ve had
real good success with the Sebile Vibrato. This
unique jigging lure features a minnow-shaped
body with a hook at either end and a line tie in
the middle. It has a great attention-grabbing
vibration on the pull and a killer
fish-triggering flutter on the fall. For gear I
suggest a good stout jig stick like Frabill’s
Fin-S 30 inch Medium Heavy Icerod and a reel
spooled with 14 pound Berkley Crystal FireLine
or 12 pound test Berkley NanoFil. To that I’ll
run a 3 foot leader made from 17 or 20 pound
test Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon. Other effective
jigging lures include a standard jig head rigged
with a Berkley 4 inch GULP! Minnow or the 5 inch
GULP! Jerkshad. If there’s a secret to good
jigging for pike, it’s to really try a variety
of jigging actions from very aggressive jigging
to dead-sticking it. Pike can be really finicky
at times, and you never know what it will take
to trigger a bite. One trick I have used with
good success in the past is to drill 2 holes
right next to one another and set a tip-up in
one and jig in the other one. Whether the bait
on the tip-up draws the fish in and the jig bait
trips his trigger, or the other way around, it’s
a tactic worth incorporating occasionally.
Ice fishing is always going to be better with a
group of friends, so why not organize a “buddy
outing” and head out for some early ice pike
action. With a good plan and a bunch of good
friends, you’re sure to find your Next Bite.
 
Check out Petes Podcasts here!
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