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2nd year of getting into pike fishing and curious if there is anything that you veterans would recommend to fill out my tackle box. I was thinking of getting some sucker bait fish to throw out on a line to see if anything would hit it...
1oz red and white reddevil spoon
1oz yellow and red five of diamonds
1oz yellow and red five of diamonds wiggler
1oz silver with red eyes wiggler
1oz yellow and red five of diamonds weedless with bucktail
2 mepps marabou 5 blade black (1 in gold spoon/1 silver spoon)
2 mepps marabou 5 blade fire tiger 5 blade
1 fire tiger marabou with like a squirrel color tail
1 Musky Killer tandem marabou black with silver spoon
3 Strike king lipless cranks
Handful of xraps in varying depths and lengths
Shadlicious 4.5 inch soft swimmer baits
Mr. Twister in yellow and white
Strike king spinner
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I think ya got it covered. Ya got a really good start anyway. I do have one piece of advice for you that worked for me over the years. I use X-Raps alot for pike and sometimes i need to slow my retrieve down inorder to get them to bite. I still jerk the bait fast, i just let the pause last a little longer. Seems to draw the fish in closer. Good luck!
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Thanks and I will give that a try... Last year I wasn't very successful using the xraps so I would imagine slowing my retrieval may increase my hit rates.
Also, I have read every article I can find on the net about Northern Pike fishing with regard to time of year, activity etc
While I know it's fishing and there are no absolute "truths" here are some items I've found that I would love for vet fisherman to chime in on
1. Post ice out northern fishing lands the biggest Northern closest to shore
2.Post ice out northern fishing needs extremely slow presentation and even live bait to get a bite
3. Post ice out northern fishing is the "WORST" time of year to fish for northern
4. Post ice out northern fishing is great because they like other fish are aggressive during their spawn
Also I've read that the northern will spawn when the water temp reaches 35 degrees Fahrenheit
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I'm no vet pike fisherman but I can chime in on the last one about the water temp. Water in a lake rarely reaches that cold of a temperature, more then a few feet below the ice. If you were to look at a thermal profile of the lakes you are fishing at you would see that at the bottom it is 4 degrees C or 39 degrees Fahrenheit and gradually decreases it temp until it reaches the ice. And by gradually I mean with in probably 5-10 feet ,or possible less, of the ice the temperature will start to decline. As soon as the ice comes off of the lake they mix to a consistent temp of around 4 degrees C and then only get warmer from there. I found sources on the web that suggest the don't start spawning until at least 40 degrees or more. Hopefully that answers you questions on water temp.
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Well that actually makes more sense than 35 degrees when you explain it like that... Considering the water wouldn't reach 40 degrees until just after ice out.
Good info
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Well all i can tell you is that up here in PA Post Ice out is the best time to catch pike during the year. Its also the best time to catch large numbers. But for some reason i did not get any big guys at ice out. I got my bigger pike last year at the end of may and begging of June. I was using Zoom Super Flukes.
Just i case you were wondering. I think pike is one of the best tasting fish around. One 30" pike can feet a family of 3 easy. If you catch one and wanna try it out let me know and i will tell you a great way to cook em.
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Have you considered fly-fishing for pike? Sounds crazy, huh, but more & bigger fish are taken every year on flies than hardware! If the fish are in the shallows or hanging in cabbage beds (even as deep as 10 ft to the tops), streamer flies are killers...and it's not as hard to do as you may think. I can teach anyone to cast well enough to catch Toothy Critters in 2 - 3 hours.
If you're interested in trying, you can get everything you need to know, including casting advice, from my book, "Toothy Critters Love Flies." See my web site: [url "http://www.PikeFlyGuy.com"]www.PikeFlyGuy.com[/url]. Also available at Amazon.com and book stores. Feel free to write me if you've got any questions.
This is NOT a commercial enterprise for me. I just love promoting the thrill of 20# fish charging flies. I also host "Fly-fishing weeks" at several northern Canadian lodges in August.
Let me know if you give it a try. It's the "hottest" action in pike fishing now.
George Bernstein
The Pike Fly Guy
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Never used a fly rod before but am always up for something, anything that will land more fish.
I will check your site out and thanks for the info
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There's a basic Pike/Musky fly tackle package available at the site. Very good quality at a reasonable price, not marked up. It's just a service I offer. Also a complete fly-tying package to "roll your own" pike flies. Easy to do, and directions are in the book.
Good luck.
George
The Pike Fly Guy
[url "mailto:pikeflyguy@aol.com"]pikeflyguy@aol.com[/url]
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