Northern Pike Fishing

In May, when one goes fishing for Northern Pike, the pike move into shallow waters to spawn. It is now pikes are at their heaviest, making the really big ones easiest to find and catch. A large female pike weighing 22 lbs or more may have as much as 2.2 – 4.4 lbs of eggs however we recommend that big pike must be released to maintain a sustainable high pike stock. Which pike lures one chooses is a personal choice, but I prefer a northern fly, shallow moving wobbler or shallow moving fishing spoons. If you are interested in northern fly fishing and want a visual marker when you fish, try a pike popper.

 

After spawning, pike move to deeper water, and this is when you can really have fun when catching pike because they use a lot of energy and lose a lot of body mass during spawning and are very hungry. In this period anything from pike angling, throwing wobblers, trolling and fly fishing will do to catch a pike. Jerk bait is extremely effective for pike and it will raise your pike fishing to a higher level – guaranteed! With jerk bait you can fish in any depth of water, whether shallow, deep or in between. Fishing with it will often lead to hard attacks and spectacular fights.
Fishing with topwater lures as so-called pike poppers is really exciting as they move forward on the surface and are preferable for use near weed lines and/or underwater vegetation. Pike attacks these with deadly force and huge splashes. Extremely fascinating!

In June and July pike prefer to enter deeper water (10-30 feet) and are harder to get in find. Pike trolling and pike bait fishing during this time of year will be the most effective way because it will be the easiest methods to enter these depths. With trolling ; cannon downriggers are among the best in the market.A useful thing to take advantage of is to invest in a fish finder.I recommend a good one among lowrance fish finders. In the summer months pike can be harder to find because when fishing for big Northern pike you have to fish in deeper waters.
With no wind it can be a challenging task to find pike so it is best to fish in the evening and the morning, since windy and grey weather often makes pike more active than in the middle of the day.

When it comes to fishing techniques during the summer you may want to fish fast and vary your technique - in other words, combine fast and slow winding.
Big bait often attracts big pike, especially after the spawning period when the pike need a lot of food.
When the water becomes colder in September and October the pike come into shallow waters again (6 - 18 feet) which allow the use of most fishing methods. Autumn and Spring are considered as the best seasons for fishing for large pike and as the water is usually colder it may be an advantage to fish a bit slower.
Never forget to invest in fishing pliers and a digital fishing scale as we all want to know the exact weight of especially the bigger ones.

I hope you have gotten some useful tips for choosing pike lures when out pike fishing.

Pike Lures