Pike problems!

[Josh Smith]

So, is it like a walleye, or different in configuration?

Maybe I'll just invest in one of those lip-holdin' gadgets against the possibility of pike...

Josh

[Derekbass02]

21 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Send some Northern Pike down here!I will appreciate catching them since I enjoy targeting several species of fish.

If you send up some 10 pound bass. I personally like pike. I have never had a bait bitten off by one and the lake I fish in has millions. I am lucky.

[Rick Howard]

Ha!  I asked this same question a few months ago.  Those toothy bastages like to steel ly lures.  I tied on a 50ld braid leader and still got cut on a few.  

[Fishin Ethan]

from someone that dosen't have to deal with a "Pike Problem" your Problem seems like a good one

my 2 cents

[Brnnoser6983]

Pike are fun. I suggest going with a bigger line. Min 30lb braid.

And pike here in Minnesota is going to happen. You never know if the pocket your going into has pike or bass. It's the nature of the beast literally. I have hit pockets with bass and three feet away snag a northern.

 

 

 

[Catch 22]

I used to feel the same way about pickerel,but have come to understand that they provide tons of pullage round here in the winter. On average,they do lay waste on two LC`s every year.

[Josh Smith]

So, what do they smell like? Folks talk about the smell...

Josh

[noway]

On 2/18/2016 at 11:20 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

You need to step up your game & only attract the bigger ones. These are lot's of fun. 

 

Nice Muskie.

[Dwight Hottle]

8 minutes ago, noway said:

Nice Muskie.

It is a pike.

[soflabasser]

On 2/18/2016 at 11:20 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

You need to step up your game & only attract the bigger ones. These are lot's of fun. 

 

Awesome Northern Pike! I would enjoy making a trip up there to catch a couple of those!We have Barracuda down here which are somewhat similar fish in terms of how aggressive they are when hitting lures.

[Last_Cast]

If there was a way to rid of them without killing I would be for it. I get slammed with them early in the season on one of the lakes I go to. Big pain but it's better than work!

[gim]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 11:44 PM, Josh Smith said:

So, what do they smell like? Folks talk about the smell...

Josh

Thanks for all the responses.  I know they are not a problem everywhere bass swim.  It may be localized to some specific areas of the Midwest.  The issue for me is literally getting ANY lure past them to get in front of a bass.  They shred skum frogs, rendering them useless and waterlogged, they bend blades and wires, they rip soft plastics.  And it seems lately they are all the same size: small and skinny.  I used to catch one every once in a while that was like the large one posted earlier in this thread, but I haven't seen an 8 or 10 pounder in a decade now.  It wouldn't bother me if I caught a few per trip, but sometimes its about 40 in 4 hours.  No joke!  Yes Josh, they stink, because they're covered in slime.  And that smell doesn't go away for a while either.  I've also tried eating them but they're full of bones, and I can't get past the slime.  Its like a really bad sinus infection...

[wisconsin heat]

On 2/18/2016 at 7:54 PM, gimruis said:

I have a lot of problems with pike up here in the north country (MN).  Lately it seems like no matter what lure or bait I get out there to target largemouth in weedy cover, it just gets annihilated.  At first it was mostly faster moving hard lures like cranks, spinner baits, etc but lately they'll destroy frogs and even soft plastics!  How do I get my lure past these snakes and in front of a bass instead?  This problem seems to be getting worse and worse and so many lakes are over run with small, aggressive pike that take great joy in ruining my lures.

I'd like to know how you are getting these lures under 24+ inches of ice!

[Gundog]

I got a similar problem with the pickerel (same family) in my fav. lake. They are abundant and hit anything that moves. Fishing slow on the bottom is the only way I don't hook them. Pickerel, like pike, are not good eating fish so nobody harvests them. I take them legally and use them as fertilizer for my garden. That's about all they are good for. 

[River Dave]

It's amazing how much you bleed after a Pike or muskie gets you, I almost wonder if your bodies way of rinsing the fish slime out of the cut. Sure makes a mess though. One of the most dangerous things on a muskie or a larger Pike is the raker teeth on the roof of their mouth. If you get your fingers up in the gills and aren't careful those rakers will make the back of your fingers look like hamburger when they get to thrashing. Unfortunately that's the voice of experience talking there. 

Having said that I still love catching Pike and spend a fair amount of time specifically targeting them. It is annoying to have a 14" pickerel straighten the wire on a $6 spinnerbait but most of that stuff is fixable and I will never grumble about catching too many fish. I love catching toothy critters.

[Josh Smith]

I've heard of people eating pickerel. Are they any good?

Josh

[A-Jay]

11 minutes ago, Josh Smith said:

I've heard of people eating pickerel. Are they any good?

Josh

 Legal / medium sized Pike Is Very Good and considered by many to be one of the best eating freshwater fish.  Removal of the "Y" bone is a must but after that it's very tasty.

Pickerel, I'm not a fan.

A-Jay

[gim]

I've heard you can pickle them.

[A-Jay]

20 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've heard you can pickle them.

I guess ~ One can pickle a shoe too but that doesn't mean I'll eat it.

A-Jay

[Scott F]

I grab all but the biggest ones by the back of the head. Fingers go nowhere near the teeth.  Where pike are common, use wire leaders. Losing lures is bad for you but generally isn't healthy for the pike when lures are left stuck in their mouths.

[Scarborough817]

i'm lucky in the sense that my home lake is only lmb and smb plus some rock bass which i will be fishing for as soon as the ice melts. when dealing with pike i normally have trouble unhooking them what i have learned it that going through the gill can open the mouth and make life easier but only if you hit the right spot.

[A-Jay]

6 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said:

i'm lucky in the sense that my home lake is only lmb and smb plus some rock bass which i will be fishing for as soon as the ice melts. when dealing with pike i normally have trouble unhooking them what i have learned it that going through the gill can open the mouth and make life easier but only if you hit the right spot.

A jaw spreader is a very handy tool used to keep the jaws of death off your knuckles while dislodging a hook or lure.

Rapala Big Game kit pictured below includes one.  This one has dramatically reduced my personal blood loss considerably.

A-Jay

 

[msp]

I have your solution. Im surprised that nobody has mentioned it yet.

I fish here in Canada for Pike from ice out all the way till bass opener in Central Ontario which is the last week of June.

With horizontal baits such as spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and crankbaits, purchase 50 pound Flourocarbon ( Seagar Premium Blue label )

Tie the leader ( about 12-18 inch ) directly to your main line with back to back uni knots and directly to you lure on the other end.

The investment will save you $ in lost lures in the long run

The flouro leader wont affect your baits much and will reduce the amount of bite offs. As for other baits like jigs , worms, senkos ect.... your *** out of luck. Also consider harvesting your limit of Pike as they are very tasty if you can filet the Y bones out

Good luck

 

[FrogFreak]

I don't like Northern Pike but I deal with them up here in MN. Some lakes have tons of them. They do effect how I fish for sure. The key for me is to find something they don't want and the bass do want (jigs or t-rigged plastics are ignored more than moving baits).

They really irritate me when they start destroying my homemade lures but whatcha gonna do? I've had them cut through braid and I really don't want to use a leader if I can help it. 

Don't get me wrong, I like catching the big ones. It's all the hammer handles that can be a bit much after awhile. I very seldom throw spinners for this very reason. Pike eat em up here like candy. 

I feel your pain OP.

Here's my solution for handling Northern Pike.

[webertime]

Grab behind the head with or with a boca-type grabber.   The stink is not like Smallie Livewell stink but it's close.  Pike do have some great names though...  Hammer-handles, Supertankers, horse coques... Catch enough of them and you can tell from the bite, immediately what you have.