Which bait for big Pike?

[Whatever]

I just spent a considerable amount of time attempting to catch a big Pike by dragging a bait through the weeds on a local reservoir. I would put a slipbobber three feet above a large hook, cast into the weed beds and slowly retrieve it. No luck. Everybody locally recommends smelt as bait. I used to use Perch, as they are free, and seem much tougher. Smelt frequently fall off the hook pulling through the weeds.

Do any of you have experience with this method? What set up is preferred, and what are preferred baits? Is there a better method for Pike? I caught one decent fish last week, about 6 pounds, by casting a 2" Krocodile. I have caught one good fish so far on bait, a 16 pounder, and that was a long time back. A 17 and a 27 pounder were caught a month ago on the water I was fishing, with smelt. Advice is appreciated.

[Dwight Hottle]

Suckers are the bait of choice for musky & pike. Smelt are more of a lake trout bait. Also perch make a better substitute than smelt. Look for open pockets & defined weed edges to fish. Artificals will work instead of live bait & let you cover more water. Trolling for pike with a spoon, spinner bait or crank bait also work well. Once you find some good areas with a pike population you can cast for them. You can use the same trolling baits or add my favorite jerk baits both soft & hard as well as glide baits. 

[A-Jay]

9 hours ago, Whatever said:

I just spent a considerable amount of time attempting to catch a big Pike by dragging a bait through the weeds on a local reservoir. I would put a slipbobber three feet above a large hook, cast into the weed beds and slowly retrieve it. No luck. Everybody locally recommends smelt as bait. I used to use Perch, as they are free, and seem much tougher. Smelt frequently fall off the hook pulling through the weeds.

Do any of you have experience with this method? What set up is preferred, and what are preferred baits? Is there a better method for Pike? I caught one decent fish last week, about 6 pounds, by casting a 2" Krocodile. I have caught one good fish so far on bait, a 16 pounder, and that was a long time back. A 17 and a 27 pounder were caught a month ago on the water I was fishing, with smelt. Advice is appreciated.

The bigger pike prefer cooler water.

On middle to smaller sized lakes, early and late season, big pike will be in the 'shallower' water while it's still cool.  Once water temps start creeping above 68-ish in the skinny water,

the plus size models relocate to cooler, usually deeper haunts. 

On the largest bodies of water up north where the water temps remain cool longer, 

mid depth flats with cabbage can be very good during the summer. 

When no contact is made shallow(er), looking deeper may be the way to go.

Good Luck.

A-Jay

[jimmyjoe]

   I fish for pike from shore. As crazy as it sounds, you have to "call'em". Slap the water, like a fish in distress. Pike are curious; they'll meander on over to see what the ruckus is about. They have, after all, no fear.

   What @A-Jay said about deeper haunts in warmer water is true. I fish for pike in the Mississippi and its tributaries, so most of the water I cover is relatively shallow. I either wait until the late afternoon or cast (rarely and mightily) to deeper pockets. The vast majority of my pike come from the skirts of sandbars in shadowed waters. I assume they're there to ambush walleye, which we call "pike candy".

   I do not use bait for pike; only artificials. My favorite lures are spoons and spinnerbaits. 3/4 and 1 oz Dardevles, 4/5 oz. Cop-E-Cats and regular 1/2 or 5/8 oz. spinnerbaits produce well for me. Mepps spinners with #5 blades (like the Musky Killer) work well, too. Although I catch fewer, sometimes a Zonar works OK. I don't hop them; I burn them.

   I always fish tightline (steady retrieve) for pike. The 'tube has a video (somewhere) that shows a pike hitting and then letting go of a moving jig .......  in about one-billionth of a second. (I exaggerate. ?).

 

   I hope you have good luck for pike!         jj

[Whatever]

A-Jay,

I just returned from a 6 week trip to a local res (about 40 miles in length), which has a good Pike population. In NW Montana, the damned things are everywhere now. I have no idea how many thousands of casts I made, and produced only one fish, barely into the decent range. I did catch 4 "hammer handles" as well. Spoons, spinners, plugs (large and small), plastics,, fly's (large streamer's) and rubber frogs. And several dozen smelt, from 4" to 8". I fished early (5am) to late, sometimes throwing bait and plugs until midnight. I made some big wooden floating plugs this past winter, 5" to 8" monsters, and would troll, or cast early and late. I also fished spin gear, baitcasters, and fly rods. There are widespread shallows (to 10 or 15") with mud bottom, and lots of milfoil. I eventually came home when it hit 100 degrees, and stayed there. Which is bizarre in Montana.

Starting in mid- May, the weather slowly warmed, and the snowmelt was raging, until mid June, when the water warmed substantially. I know there are  good fish there, but cannot figure a strategy for getting into them. I have caught a few good Pike over the years, but have no consistency with the bigger fish.  I am planning another month or longer back there this fall, so appreciate any advice.

[gim]

I catch a fair number of decent to large size pike when I’m muskie fishing with big artificial lures. The plus size lures tend to weed out the smaller hammer handles.
 

I haven’t caught hardly any pike this season when bass fishing since opener in May because it got so friggin hot. I think the warm temps drove them deeper.

 

Don’t be afraid to reel at a high rate right now. I see anglers trolling for them and muskies at 5mph.

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, Whatever said:

A-Jay,

I just returned from a 6 week trip to a local res (about 40 miles in length), which has a good Pike population. In NW Montana, the damned things are everywhere now. I have no idea how many thousands of casts I made, and produced only one fish, barely into the decent range. I did catch 4 "hammer handles" as well. Spoons, spinners, plugs (large and small), plastics,, fly's (large streamer's) and rubber frogs. And several dozen smelt, from 4" to 8". I fished early (5am) to late, sometimes throwing bait and plugs until midnight. I made some big wooden floating plugs this past winter, 5" to 8" monsters, and would troll, or cast early and late. I also fished spin gear, baitcasters, and fly rods. There are widespread shallows (to 10 or 15") with mud bottom, and lots of milfoil. I eventually came home when it hit 100 degrees, and stayed there. Which is bizarre in Montana.

Starting in mid- May, the weather slowly warmed, and the snowmelt was raging, until mid June, when the water warmed substantially. I know there are  good fish there, but cannot figure a strategy for getting into them. I have caught a few good Pike over the years, but have no consistency with the bigger fish.  I am planning another month or longer back there this fall, so appreciate any advice.

I like a paddletail swimbait & a Medium Large Spinnerbait that I can burn. 

And then there's this . . . .

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/summer-pike-fishing/156096

 

A-Jay

[desmobob]

Big, bulky and noisy lures, retrieved fast, seem to work best for me... big spinner baits, buzz baits/buzz frogs, giant in-line dressed spinners, etc.

 

I absolutely love to see that wake appear when a pike accelerates like a top fueler to nail a surface lure.  If it happens in close, it almost makes you want to throw the rod down and run to the other end of the boat...

 ?

 

 

 ?

[rtwvumtneer6]

We catch a few every year bass fishing.  Black and blue bladed jig when they're shallow and a 5xd when they get into 12-15ft (which is relatively deep for the lakes were on).

[Further North]

On 7/4/2021 at 7:26 AM, A-Jay said:

The bigger pike prefer cooler water.

On middle to smaller sized lakes, early and late season, big pike will be in the 'shallower' water while it's still cool.  Once water temps start creeping above 68-ish in the skinny water,

the plus size models relocate to cooler, usually deeper haunts. 

On the largest bodies of water up north where the water temps remain cool longer, 

mid depth flats with cabbage can be very good during the summer. 

When no contact is made shallow(er), looking deeper may be the way to go.

Good Luck.

A-Jay

That's the answer.

FWIW, I will not fish for Esox (pike or musky) once the surface temp gets above 75°

 

[Whatever]

On 7/4/2021 at 6:46 AM, jimmyjoe said:

   I fish for pike from shore. As crazy as it sounds, you have to "call'em". Slap the water, like a fish in distress. Pike are curious; they'll meander on over to see what the ruckus is about. They have, after all, no fear.

   What @A-Jay said about deeper haunts in warmer water is true. I fish for pike in the Mississippi and its tributaries, so most of the water I cover is relatively shallow. I either wait until the late afternoon or cast (rarely and mightily) to deeper pockets. The vast majority of my pike come from the skirts of sandbars in shadowed waters. I assume they're there to ambush walleye, which we call "pike candy".

   I do not use bait for pike; only artificials. My favorite lures are spoons and spinnerbaits. 3/4 and 1 oz Dardevles, 4/5 oz. Cop-E-Cats and regular 1/2 or 5/8 oz. spinnerbaits produce well for me. Mepps spinners with #5 blades (like the Musky Killer) work well, too. Although I catch fewer, sometimes a Zonar works OK. I don't hop them; I burn them.

   I always fish tightline (steady retrieve) for pike. The 'tube has a video (somewhere) that shows a pike hitting and then letting go of a moving jig .......  in about one-billionth of a second. (I exaggerate. ?).

 

   I hope you have good luck for pike!         jj

JimmyJoe, in reference to your "tightline" comment, I understand the issue. But with Live bait (technically it has to be dead), the local technique is to give the fish a slackline when he hits. As a Pike cannot swallow a perch or sunfish tail first (due to dorsal spines), they usually mouth the bait, until it is head first in their mouth before swallowing. I have witnessed this with the only good fish I have actually caught on "live" bait. As soon as you feel a fish, flip the bail, and wait until the fish starts taking line (I am using a slip bobber). Then  set the hook.

Where I am unsure of this is which hook, how to hook the baitfish, how deep to fish. Or any other aspects I may be missing. We have some very good fish here. I just have to figure out how to catch them.

[jimmyjoe]

     I understand. I guess I was kinda concentrating on the, "Is there a better method for Pike?" comment.

 

   As for the, "We have some very good fish here. I just have to figure out how to catch them. " comment, believe you me, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THAT ONE!   ???       jj