By Mark Romanack
 |
| The best pike fishing takes place in late May and early June except in the far north where anglers can target big pike into July. This brute came from the Pym Island Camp serviced by Hearst Air which is one of the furthest north camps you can fish in Ontario. |
Pike are
easy to find and catch. Correction, small pike are easy to find and catch.
Trophy class pike
that stretch past 40 inches and weigh upwards of 20-25 pounds
are rarely an easy mark. It’s not so much that these fish are rare, but that
most anglers don’t know how to search out the waters where these jolly green
giants are abundant.
PIKE AND PRESSURE DON’T GO TOGETHER
Pike in
general are aggressive fish that are susceptible to a lot of popular angling techniques.
Waters that see substantial fishing pressure rarely produce trophy class pike
because these fish tend to get caught (and eaten) long before they have a
chance to reach trophy status. In northern latitudes an adult pike in the 20
pound range can easily be 20-30 years of age! Growing big pike takes time and
the fish must live in waters where time
and the odds of survival are on their
side.
Seeking out
remote waters that see little fishing pressure is one of the most important
points to locating good pike water. The types of waters that best fit this
category are the countless remote fisheries found throughout Ontario.
REMOTE & FERTILE WATERS ARE BEST
Flying to
remote fisheries is a great way to target big pike, but unfortunately not all
fly-in lakes are great pike producers. “Low fishing pressure is a big part of
producing trophy pike, but these fish also need an ideal living and spawning
environment to produce substantial numbers of trophies,” says Malcolm
Leuenberger, Owner of Leuenberger’s Fly-In Lodge and Wilderness Outposts. “The
best pike lakes are those that have major river systems feeding them. Rivers
provide pike the ideal place
to spawn. Early in the spring when rivers are
swollen with run off, the marshy areas adjacent to river mouths become choice
spawning habitat for northern pike. The bigger the river or the more rivers
that flow into a particular body of water, the more prime spawning habitat
that’s created.” |
| Trophy pike are most often found in remote waters such as Ontario’s Lake Nipigon pictured here. Left to right we have Brian Herman, Kirk Herman and camera guy Aaron Word taking a break from the action. |
Just as
important as spawning habitat is good living habitat. Large bays that have soft
bottom areas and plenty of weed growth are important for supporting a good pike
population. These are the places that hold significant amounts of baitfish and
pike spend most of the early spring months living in these waters.
THE FORAGE CONNECTION
Forage is
the next key ingredient to producing significant numbers of big pike. Many
lakes across Ontario support good populations of pike and walleye, but some
lakes have little in the way of forage species for these fish to feed upon.
Pike grow best when they have an abundant forage base of soft rayed fish like
suckers, whitefish and ciscoes. In lakes where the forage is primarily yellow
perch or small walleye, pike rarely grow big. A diet of these spiny rayed fish
will support pike, but the growth rates suffer and few big fish are found in
these waters.
“Some of
the best pike lakes are those that have lake trout in them,” recommends
Leuenberger. “Pike feed heavily on ciscoes that are a common and essential
forage species for lake trout. Lakes that have good populations of ciscoes and
also good pike spawning and living habitat are the best possible choices for
trophy pike fishing.”
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
The saying
goes that timing is everything. In the case of northern pike fishing, timing is
critical for several reasons. Pike concentrate in the shallow and marshy areas
of the lake during spawning and for several weeks after spawning. These marshy
areas are easy to locate, making the search for prime fishing waters a
no-brainer.
Unfortunately,
big pike don’t stay in the shallow water bays for long. As soon as the water
begins to warm above the 50-60 degree mark, big pike start abandoning shallow
water in favor of cooler main lake waters. Big pike are highly temperature
sensitive, whereas smaller pike will live in warm shallow water year around.
Fishing the shallows after the big boys have moved deep will produce nothing
but “hammer handle” pike.
Depending
upon the latitude, the prime times for Ontario pike fishing range from late May
into mid June. In the far north, some excellent pike fishing takes place
through June into early July.
During the
middle of summer, big pike can still be targeted, but because these fish are
dispersed throughout the lake, it’s more difficult to find numbers of fish.
FISHING METHODS
 |
| Big pike rarely come easy. This one caught by Fishing 411's tech guy, Roger Meinert, ended up being the best of the trip for Roger and a fish he will remember for the rest of his life. |
When big
pike are found in shallow water, they are typically aggressive and willing to
bite a wide variety of lure types. Bucktail spinners, spinnerbaits and monster
spoons are common fishing lures that have produced countless trophy pike. When
conditions are right and pike are on the
bite, it’s hard to deny that these baits catch lots of fish.
Unfortunately,
fishing conditions are rarely ideal and catching trophy pike requires thinking
a little outside the box. My favorite pike lures focus more towards baits that
can be fished slowly. Bucktails, spinners and spoons must be retrieved fairly
quickly to generate the desired action. Fast moving baits lead to a lot of
follows, short strikes and missed fish.
Giant
jerkbaits and soft plastic creatures fished on jigheads or Texas rigged are my
favorite spring pike lures. Big jerkbaits (my favorites are saltwater baits)
have the advantage of being produced with “pike sized” hooks and these large
lures are difficult for pike to completely inhale into their mouth. This makes
it easier to unhook and release fish.
The Rapala
Husky Jerk 14 is about the smallest jerkbait I’ll throw for trophy pike. Better
yet saltwater or musky versions produced by Yo-Zuri, Bomber, Salmo, Musky Mania and other brands.
Hard body
jerkbaits can be casted long distances and twitched to create an erratic
darting action. Ideally these lures should be fished near the surface and over
the tops of emerging weed growth. This fishing strategy prevents snags and also
helps to monitor how fish are relating to these lures. If a number of fish make
half hearted attempts to strike these lures, that’s a sign that a more subtle
type of lure may be required.
Large
plastic creatures fished on jigs and Texas rigged are ideal for targeting pike
that are reluctant to bite jerkbaits or other lures. The advantage of fishing
plastics is these lures are exceptionally life-like and they can be rigged to
sink very slowly.
A jighead
with a large hook is essential to fishing these soft plastics. My favorite
jighead is produced by Bait Rigs called the Esox Cobra. This jighead design features a wedge shaped
head with an eye tie that comes out the nose of the jighead, making it much
easier to snake the jig through weed and even wood cover. The oversized wide
gap hook bites through even large plastic baits and molded in is a barbed
collar that insures the grub body or other plastic used will stay in position
tight against the jighead.
 |
| Soft plastic “creatures” like these are among the author’s favorites for fishing in heavy cover. A jig like the Bait Rigs Esox Cobra pictured here works best in light to moderate cover and the Texas Rigged option is best in heavy or emergent cover like cattails and bullrush. |
In sparse
to moderate weed cover I favor the jig rigging method. When I’m fishing a jig
and plastic combination, I keep my rod tip about face high and allow the jig to
sink to bottom on a slack line. When the jig hits bottom, I twitch the jig
towards the surface using short pops of the rod tip. When I spot the jig near the
surface, I lower the rod tip and let the jig glide back to bottom. This simple
jigging technique does a good job of convincing pike they’re looking at a dying
minnow.
Because a
lot of strikes come on slack line, it’s important to fish with a fluorescent
line you can see.
When the
weeds are dense or sticking out the surface like cattails and bullrush, the
Texas rigged plastic option makes more sense. In this case the plastic is
casted to openings in the weeds. Again I use the rod tip to control the plastic,
keeping it near the surface in dense cover and letting the plastic slowly drop
into pockets and openings in the weeds.
RODS/REELS/LINES
For
jerkbaits I like to fish heavy “flippin’ stick” style baitcasting rods. A 20
pound plus northern will be a handful on anything with less backbone. On this
rod a baitcasting reel capable of handling about 200 yards of 50 to 65 pound
test super braid is ideal. I find that eight strand braids like that produced
by Maxima are superior in that they have body and lay on the reels spool
better. Because Maxima braid is more tightly wound than other braids, it casts
better and has considerably better abrasion resistance properties.
Jig fishing
requires a little different approach. Baitcasting gear can be used to jig fish the
larger plastics, but throwing the smaller plastics will require a heavy action
spinning outfit and 30 to 40 pound test braid. Most spinning rods simply don’t
have the backbone to handle trophy class pike. Saltwater style spinning rods
are a good choice. Look for a seven foot rod rated for 10-20 pound test line
and match this rod with a spinning reel capable of handling 150 yards of line.
A FEW WORDS ON HANDLING PIKE
Pike are
big, but they are very delicate fish. It’s important to photograph and release
fish as quickly as possible. Keep your pliers and a pair of side cutters handy
for unhooking landed fish. If the hooks are buried deep, I usually opt to cut
the hook free using a pair of heavy duty side cutters. It’s a simple matter to
replace the hooks on a lure and get back to fishing.
When
photographing the fish, keep the fish in the net and in the water until
everything is ready for the photo. A digital camera works best because you can
quickly check the preview button to make sure your picture turned out good
before releasing the fish.
Releasing
trophy class pike is not only important, it’s our obligation. A fiberglass
replica mount on your wall will look better than the skin mount and you’ll have
the satisfaction of knowing that monster fish is alive and likely to give
someone else the thrill of their life.
SUMMING IT UP
Getting on
the trail of monster pike is about finding remote waters, selecting lakes that
have good spawning and living habitats and focusing on fisheries with the best
forage base. The rest is about timing and a few key fishing tactics that
routinely produce pike on good days and bad.
PIKE FISHING RESOURCES
