Pike Fishing Virgin

[Granix69]

I have been fishing since I was about 10 years old. Now I am 31. Basically my fishing was for Crappie, Gills, and Perch...some Bass. This has been my first year fishing hard for Bass and I am currently on 2 leagues. My partner helped get me going on the Bass thing and I am loving it. The Bass fishing thing has really got me going on catching big fish and I have picked up on it enough that I think I am ready for the next step. I want to learn to Walleye, PIKE and Musky fish, my problem is, I don't really know anything about it. as my partner doesn't either. I have been doing a lot of reading and just not getting enought info to get a clean fresh start in Southwest Lower MI. I do know that one of the lakes I want to hit when I start doing it is and that is Bankson in Lawton. I have heard there is a lot of Northern in this lake. I have a 17ft Bass Tracker for the lakes to fish. Can anybody point me in the right direction as to teach this begginer at PIKE fishing. How to troll, Bait, Depth, Time of season, Lakes, Rivers-- ( for SW Mishigan) Poles to use, Length, Reels to use, Line size/kind, Leaders, and setups. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully you guys can keep the price involved on Pole and Reel to a minimum as I am a beginner. Thanks guys!

[CubanFisherman]

First of all, you should subscribe to In-Fisherman or another outdoor magazine. In-Fisherman is very helpful because it not only discusses lures and presentation, but the biology of the fish, and their feeding patterns, etc. For pike, bass equipment should start you off sufficiently, as long as your line is 10# or greater and you use a steel leader. If you use heavier, more abrasion resistant braid like 20# Fireline, a leader is not always necessary. Especially when you aren't going to be hooking into any trophies right away. As far as lures go, I like jerkbaits like Rapala Husky Jerks and Smithwick Rogues. Four inches and larger should be a good size. No pike arsenal would be complete without spoons. The classic Johnson Silver minnow is very versatile, and a red and white striped Dardevle has years of results to back it up. Spinnerbaits, even bass size, are always a good lure to try. My favorite color is white. Also, use live minnows whenever you can. 4-6 inch shiners, suckers, or even perch all outproduce artificials when stillfished under a bobber or drifted over drop offs. With this heat right now, most pike will be deep and rather difficult to catch. Spring/early Summer and Fall are prime to catch big pike.
Hope this helps. Good luck!

[Krull]

Pike will almost always be found next to large weedlines. In the summer months, concentrate on drop offs or banks with good weed cover. The pike will stay on the drop off to stay cool and ambush bait fish. Depending on depth, there are a lot of lure choices. My Favorite are Rapala Fat and Shad Raps in perch Pattern. Depth will decide if you use a deep diver, shallow runner, ect, ect... You can also catch them on spinner baits, Larger Mepps (size 3 or higher), Spoons. Basically they will hit almost anything. I think trolling for them is the most effective way to catch them, but you can find concentrations of them where you can cast and nail them as well. I can't say it enough, weed, weed, weeds, and I am not talking about lilly pads, I am talking about thick underwater vegetation and fish along the edges. If you like to use live bait, a large sucker hooked through the back, with a large float, rod in rod holder with spool open. When you get a hit, let the pike take it, count to 20 and lay the hammer.

Oh, another thing, steel leaders = less fish IMO. You may lose the occasional fish because they cut the line, but well worth it (again IMO) with the increase in numbers. The lures are designed to work most effectively when tied directly to the line. For trolling, a heavier action rod works best, 10 LB line is sufficient as long as you have a good reel.

Good Luck.

[Granix69]

Man...Thanks a Gazillion CF & Krull. After reading some of your tips It really helps clarify some of the things I have been reading but wasn't quite sure of. I can't wait for a little cooler weather to come around. I will prolly start fishing for them pretty heavy around September because that is when my 2 Bass Leagues get over with. The Weeds thing I can relate with...on my Bass nights we have a couple boats that just flat out throw white spinner baits along the weeds and they constantly complain:rant: about how they thought they had their 10 pounder but it turned out to be a Pike. I guess I wouldn't care the first few times as I have never caught a Northern and look forward to it like you wouldn't believe. I really appreciate the details you guys are giving me like the Size and Brand to start with. Most places I have read just say USE A MEPPS MAN! I am like ...yeah...and ummm, what size :confused: and so on as I am kinda new to this stuff and really consider myself a dummy still :bash: . Heck, at the beggining of this year before we started bass fishing my buddy would always refer to crankbait, spinnerbait, plastic bait. I was like what is Crankbait? Hehe...my idea of fishing was minnows and Nightcrawlers and that is pretty much all I had ever used. I am really getting the hang of this and loving it. Enough to have bought myself a new Bass Tracker. BTW CF, I subscribed to In-Fisherman last night. Well, sorry for rambling on guys, Like I said, Thanks a lot, you guys are the greatest!

[ulrichdebrus]

Northern Pike: A Complete Guide to Pike and Pike Fishing
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585740446/qid=1122517210/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0325534-7483917

I'm usually not one for learning to fish from books but this one is actually pretty good.

*

[icefishermanmark]

Find weeds in5-15 feet of water that grow to the surface. Real stringy weeds and fish there. I find that if there are Crappie then there are usually pike there. Use mepps #3-5 and big crankers. And bring a net! I caught a 30 incher a while back, and had him on 6lb. line and no net. It took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get him in the boat because I don't like to gill pike. Get a big net too. And mouth spreaders

[MiketheElder]

Yeah, mouth spreaders. Buy two different sizes. If you catch a big pike and try to use spreaders too small for his mouth, one shake of his head and your spreaders will go flying into the lake. I know from experience. And after you get your lure back don't forget to take the spreaders out. That was my cousin's experience.

Big Mike

[XArmy]

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[BassMaster06]

a red and white zara spook is a awesome lure to catch pike and muskey on. ive also caught alot of pike on my baby bass crankbait by rapala. It dives to 6ft. Fish the shallows in the morning up by weeds and lilly pads with a scum frog and you'll probly have some luck too.