Best bet for SE Pike?

[mojo]

So i caught my first pike last summer in the river raisin but it barely made it over 20 inches. my buddy got a 33'' that same day. Now i am dying to hook into a real fish but need some help on where to go. i don't have a boat but i do have a kayak. It does pretty well even on good sized lakes as long as the boat traffic doesn't get too crazy. I tried it up in pickney state park with no luck. I want to try around the irish hills area but i'm afraid the boat traffic will just be too crazy. Anyone have a good lake? i'm willing to make a decent drive too, and plan on being up in the UP around newberry later this summer so if there is a conisitantly good lake up there i would love to hear about that as well. Any advice at all you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks....Joe

[shametamer]

well, lets say this further into michigan(north) you get ,the more pike are available..by the time you reach the upper,its rare to find a lake not containing them. Obviously, the larger the body of water, the greater the chance of larger fish... in or around newberry, you have dollarville flooding,millecoquins,blind sucker,the manistique lakes, numerous rivers, the big water, u name it. South the opprotunities are still quite plentiful, TRy one of the huron-clinton metro parks..stoney creek or kent lake in kensingtn metro park. Each of these have speed limits, so are excellent for a kayakist? Both offer the opprotunity for a good sized pike. fishing from shore the area along upper erie,like say pt. mouillee can be productive early in the year. further west in the state chances remain high. Wait til u hook your first muskie,they grow larger, and maybe a tad meaner!

[rockinmichigan]

mojo, I've fished the River Raisen last year for the first time. I was getting bites constantly, but my timing as far as trying to hook the son of a guns was off. I caught a decent sized channel cat though, and my buddy caught a couple of gobies. It was off I-75 near the Port of Monroe exit. You're from Toledo, so here's a couple ideas. There's a boat launch off of Summit Street. I don't know where exactly in Toledo, I live in Lambertville, MI and I take Sterns Road to Summit Street, then I take a right and on the second street on the left it dead ends to a boat launch. Its a dirt road and there's a bait shop/marina near the entrance of the street. I'd be damned if I can remember the name of the road, but try hitting Sterns and following the directions I gave. If you don't take your kayek out try fishing from shore. There's a lot of lillypads, tall grass, cat tails, that kind of fun stuff that should have plenty of bluegills, perch, bass, and I'm sure pike too. I know if you take your kayek out a ways you'll run into some smallmouth bass. Another suggestion is Luna Pier. Take 75 to Exit 6 in Michigan, take a right. You can't miss it, just take Luna Pier Road until it curves to the left, and take the parking lot to the right as the road curves out. There's a pier there I fish all the time. Good variety, just about everything can be caught there. You might not limit out on a specific species, but I got a hold of something BIG last April, and I think it was a northern. Big and touigh enough it snapped my ten pound test line.

[PITBULL]

Lake St. Clair. Normaly do fairly good in Ancor Bay around Brandenburg in mid to late May threw June, Find clumps of cabbage weeds in 6-10' drift and us a 4-6" perch for bait rigged on a slip sinker rig.
I dont use steel leaders any more Ill use Spiderwire or Fireline
for the leader. Just drift with the bait about half way to the bottom I use trolling reels leave the clicker on and freespool open with just enough tension to keep the bait in place. let them take the bait out then just tighten the line. We pick up some nice fish this way. also later we pick up some nice smallmouth. we dont keep them pike taste better.

[rockinmichigan]

Believe it or not I've never eaten pike. What does it taste like, or does it have a taste of its own?

[musky22]

I personlly think they have a taste all there own. There meat is firm and they are one of my favorite fish to eat. I have also cought a few pike in the river raisin myself, mainly in spring and fall.

[mojo]

thanks a lot for the suggestions. does anyone fish the irish hills area? my buddy has a cottage up on vinyard but the boat traffic is crazy and i've never botherd to fish when i'm up there. i have thrown a few off the dock and gotton bass but that was it. And for Lake St. clair, can i do well just working the shorelines around there? i have no idea where to put in or even to begin, but if there are fish i am more than willing to take the drive.

[rockinmichigan]

Your welcome mojo, and I'm curious about Lake St. Clair too. I've never fished there but would like to get up that way sometime this year. Anybody know if the ice is gone yet off of Lake Erie's shore?

[shametamer]

irish hills?..well wamplers has a decent amount of pike, connecting lake round may better suit ur kayak...sand lake also supports a pike population.....vineyard has some plus the planted 'eyes'..crooked as i recall has pike also..some of the smaller ponds and lakes are mainly bass and panfish.....Columbia lake out there is the most productive, but no public access, so unless u know someone or could talk someone into letting launch off their property, you can't get on it!..u could try Michigan center chain(part of grand river system) it may offer larger fish.....

[rockinmichigan]

Wamplers Lake, I've heard of it. Isn't that near Dearborn or something? I'm trying to remember where that is, because someone told me before but I can't think of where it is.

[BAMBAM]

wamplers is in irish hills

[rockinmichigan]

Thanks BAMBAM, that's probably why I've heard of it. That ain't too far from me I don't think. Irish Hills is up by Ann Arbor ain't it?

[Can't Touch This]

I would say kent lake is your best bet, been there quite a few times on our kayaks. Caught a few pike, but, we mainly fish for bass and gills. With all the weeds, you can really only use a topwater, and a spinner bait. Just try around islands, or in bays.

[rockinmichigan]

Where abouts is Kent Lake located at?