where are Northern Pike this time of year?

D

DB731

Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
8,955
Ice is almost here on my small lake in MN, and I tried for them on 3 separate days in the last week or so. Zero activity. Are they in the middle of the lake, on the bottom? Are they where the baitfish are, and if so, where is that? Or, are they simply not active now? They should be, according to the books. Maybe less active? I am assuming they didn't move to Florida. :D
 
I would try on a point with a rock pile. That's where I always try to be. Or maybe in a bay with a river near by. On a small lake would try the first suggestion. They do seem to get a little more sluggish during the winter. Or maybe it's just because you can't get the bait in front of their face (or just make a lure seem enticing to them) the way you can casting/trolling. I always get them during winter but not in bulk like during open water months. I had some pickled pike for the first time this weekend. Dam it was good. Didnt expect it to be. I'm gonna attempt to make some soon here. People go crazy over walleyes, but I prefer pike just cause 9 times out of 10 you'll never get skunked fishing for them. Poor man's lobster. Walleye tastes a bit cleaner but prefer the texture of pike. Good luck.
 
10- 12 feet of water hunting where they always do. When it freezes enough try a tip-up in those depths with a med. sucker or shiner, 4' under the ice.
 
Pike have to be the easiest fish on the planet to catch through the ice. For the ultimate in simplicity get a few of those Norwegian ? giant L shaped hooks, and push it lengthwise through a frozen smelt. Use plain black Dacron line and gently jig the smelt. Just hand over hand pull the pike up through the ice. You just grab the back of the hook and with a wrist snap the pike is twisting on the ice. I used to ice fish a small prairie reservoir. The trick was to find the old creek channel and fish along its edges. There are so many variations that I could write pages on this stuff.
 
Early ice is a good time to fish. The ice is late this year being only 8 inches thick but the pike are biting. Smelts work well, place the bait a few inches above the bottom. Good time of year for ice fishing as its far less work to drill holes when the ice isn't 3 feet thick.
 
Give the weedline a try with a sucker minnow a couple feet up from the bottom on a tipup. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Im in W. Central Minnesota and the ice is pretty spotty here.. Ive been looking for a safe lake for the past couple days to no avail. What part of the state are you in?

Stay Safe
 
clear_ice said:
Give the weedline a try with a sucker minnow a couple feet up from the bottom on a tipup. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Im in W. Central Minnesota and the ice is pretty spotty here.. Ive been looking for a safe lake for the past couple days to no avail. What part of the state are you in?

Stay Safe
Click to expand...

Mankato. I don't do ice, not because of the fear of falling through, but because I like to fish with lures and can't stand getting painful fingers.

This is the massive body of water I fish:

Lion's%20Lake.JPG
 
Bufford said:
Early ice is a good time to fish. The ice is late this year being only 8 inches thick but the pike are biting. Smelts work well, place the bait a few inches above the bottom. Good time of year for ice fishing as its far less work to drill holes when the ice isn't 3 feet thick.
Click to expand...

Good point about the ice. I have seen whitefish moving in and out of the current under bridges were there is an open in the ice, from the current. Obviously any current area is potentially dangerous but later when the ice is thicker, moving closer to the feeding spots like current funnels helps. I used to make my own wire worms for whites and I have molds for lead head jigs. I used to buy the tails in one pound bags as I went through so many in a rocky river. But man the Walleye I nailed ! Its been years since I went for whites, maybe this winter, dunno. Pop a hole and toss a blanket over your head if you don't have a tent. I sometimes prefer this to hauling all my gear on a plastic sled, its much quicker than setting up.
 
Mmmm...Northern Pike.

I grew up with this fish being common and always liked it. Now I moved to Vancouver Island and everyone raves about salmon here, but I really miss my Northern Pike.
 
stargawker said:
Mmmm...Northern Pike.

I grew up with this fish being common and always liked it. Now I moved to Vancouver Island and everyone raves about salmon here, but I really miss my Northern Pike.
Click to expand...

Too funny....As a kid growing up in southern Ontario I used to catch the huge Rainbows, browns etc. that ran the rivers. Years ago I could do pike boneless, unsure if I remember how to now.
 
stargawker said:
Mmmm...Northern Pike.

I grew up with this fish being common and always liked it. Now I moved to Vancouver Island and everyone raves about salmon here, but I really miss my Northern Pike.
Click to expand...

I let them all go, and I really really enjoy their aggression. In that regard, somebody suggested I try snakeheads, but it sounds like those scandalous rascals are nocturnal?

Dammit, I wish bluefish could be introduced to Minnesota from New Jersey! :D:D
 
Blue fish are great sport fishes, don't taste a 1/3 as tasty as a nice piece of pike though. The best blue fish I ever had was smoked. Whereas pike you can make a million ways!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top