A Winter Question?

[basscrusher]

Redfish,  trout,  flounder in VA and NC.   Tarpon,  snook, bonefish, permit when I go to FL.  Crappie and perch in winter locally.

 

Forgot sheepshead and black drum 

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Is there still the PMT, Professional Muskie Tour? I saw an episode of Keyes Outdoors last year and I thought he was in an event. It could have been a different series too.

Yep - the PMTT is still a thing. Doesn't get as much press as Bass tours as the top prize is $20k.

https://promusky.com/

 

9 minutes ago, gimruis said:

No pike tournaments here either.

(blink)

 

This coming year, there's two pike only tournaments in MN - quite a few that are perch/pike/walleye and a number of others that have a wide field of fish (pike/walleye/bass/crappie/sunnies/perch...)

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/fishing/tournaments/tourneylist.pdf

[basscrusher]

Hate to say it, but bass are simply to keep me occupied between trips for fish that actually fight hard

[Further North]

2 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

Here in Ontario, there’s tons of pike tournaments, and even a few full season circuits ( mainly in the spring though when the water temps are cooler). Most of them

are by total length of five fish instead of weight, as it’s easier to measure them that way. Our bass season doesn’t start till June in most places here, so a lot of guys fish pike tournaments until then. I used to fish several back when I fished tournaments, did quite well and won some pretty decent money too. 

That's cool - If I lived where you do, that'd be fun.

[gim]

6 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

This coming year, there's two pike only tournaments in MN - quite a few that are perch/pike/walleye and a number of others that have a wide field of fish (pike/walleye/bass/crappie/sunnies/perch...)

I assume they are classified as a multi-species event.

 

Do you actually know anyone who specifically targets northern pike here Ken? I was just wondering. Between all of my friends, relatives, and others I know through the outdoor grapevine here I can’t think of anyone who specifically is after them. That’s like hundreds of fisher people and zero of them after pike. Seems a little strange given how abundant they are. I have heard of people targeting them in the winter while spearing or using tip ups, but not in the open water season here, unless they’re going to Canada on a trip.

[Further North]

21 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Is there still the PMT, Professional Muskie Tour? I saw an episode of Keyes Outdoors last year and I thought he was in an event. It could have been a different series too.

I honestly don't know.  I've never been a tournament guy, so I don't follow them.  I kinda keep an eye on Treelands because several of the musky fly anglers I know participate, and my rod builder is a sponsor.

 

23 minutes ago, gimruis said:

No pike tournaments here either. But I have seen a weekly pike club before on various lakes around here. I was bass fishing one evening and when I finished around dark, there was about a dozen boats in the parking lot doing their award ceremony. They were all having a good time together drinking beer so I went over there and talked to one of them for a few minutes. The format was similar to @Way north bass guy described, a length and immediate release format. I’m not one to specifically target a pike but these guys genuinely seemed to be enjoying it.

Sounds kind of cool.

I'll absolutely target pike, if there's enough of them around.  I wind up chasing muskies more because that's mostly what's in the rivers here.

[cyclops2]

ME   ?

[Further North]

2 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

As for different species, I’ll fish for just about anything throughout the year, but if I had to choose one, it’d probably be pike. There’s lots of them around here, they’re aggressive and put up a good fight on the right tackle, and most of the ways we target them are very similar to bass fishing. Oh yeah, we get some good sized ones around here too, not just the little “hammer handles” that many places only get. 

Georgian Bay is supposed to have some monster pike...and so do a lot of lakes up your way.

I can't wait to get back to NW Ontario to chase some.

[MN Fisher]

Just now, gimruis said:

I assume they are classified as a multi-species event.

I know the two listed as Pike only are just that...only pike are counted at the weigh in.

 

One of them is during ice-season (2/12) up on Crow Wing - and it's a 3 hour thing

Second is the yearly 'International Pike Tournament' on Gull Lake - a 2 day event the 17th and 18th of September.

 

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Do you actually know anyone who specifically targets northern pike here Ken?

There's one guy in the neighborhood who's a pike fanatic. It's all he targets and everything else (bass, walleye, etc) is a 'trash fish' to him.

 

Takes all kinds I suppose.

[Further North]

5 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Takes all kinds I suppose.

I've always found it interesting to find out why any given angler focuses on one fish more than others.

[LrgmouthShad]

i suppose catfish in the south... ill be out of the north soon enough anyway

[TnRiver46]

I would definitely target pike if we had them. It’s one of the few species we don’t 

[Way north bass guy]

9 hours ago, Further North said:

Georgian Bay is supposed to have some monster pike...and so do a lot of lakes up your way.

“The Bay” has a ton of pike, and just like it’s musky ( where the Canadian record 65lber came from), there are some true giants. Lots of water out there, more species of bait than they could ever ask for in a lifetime, and extremely low fishing pressure makes for some fun spring days. This big girl I got last year was just shy of 45” and very fat, and that was in mid summer. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I would definitely target pike if we had them. It’s one of the few species we don’t 

You definitely don't need to actually target them here to catch a bunch.  Just go bass fishing with some sort of leader on your lure and you will almost guaranteed catch some.  Shiny, flashy, moving lures when the water is cooler in the spring or fall is best.  When one bites, you will feel it.  There is nothing subtle about it.  The daily bag limit is 10 in most of the state of MN here too with a mandatory release slot size of 22-26 inches.  Essentially they want you to keep a bunch of small ones because the big ones are rare nowadays.  The trick is cleaning them.  They're slimy and have Y bones in their filet which requires some detail with a filet knife to remove.

 

We used to have more big ones like the ones people regularly catch in Canada, but people harvested them for too long and it takes a while for them to reach reasonable size.  I caught probably 100 of them or more last season while I was bass and muskie fishing, and I can recall 4 of them being over 30 inches.  The biggest was a 35 incher.

 

[Bankc]

We've got some walleye and saugers near me, but I never have any luck with them.  So I typically gravitate towards crappie.  Also, there are a few ponds that stock trout in the winter, so I'll hit them up from time to time as well.  

 

Cold water crappie taste best anyway.  It's really the only time of year I fish for them.

[Bluegillslayer]

In freshwater, trout and panfish. In saltwater, lingcod and other bottomfish.

[N Florida Mike]

Whatever”s bitin! ?

[TnRiver46]

Trout will always be close to or at the bottom of my list. They should have left them all in Germany and California 

[geo g]

Here in south Florida there are always bass present, but not always willing to bite.  I will target peacock, and snakeheads, with fast moving spinners, and top water.  Just fun to catch, and much meaner than black bass.

[Further North]

8 hours ago, Way north bass guy said:

That's a beast of fish!

In all the years I've been chasing pike, I've only caught two over 45"...and they were on back to back days, on opposite sides of the same island up in NW Ontario.  One on a spoon, one on a fly.

[soflabasser]

On 1/18/2022 at 3:06 PM, Mobasser said:

I know many here on BR fish for other species as well as bass. If there were no bass to fish for, what species would you target?

I am a multi species fisherman that enjoys catching fish so I will be happy catching anything that bites whether it is a big shark or tiny little fish.