How to Catch Mid Summer Pike

[Bemoredog]

I've touched on this a little in another thread but was curious what forum members had to say.

In mid-June myself and another forum member hit up CVR and landed silly amounts of Pike. Good sizes, all very healthy and lots of fight. I understand this is pretty typical of Pike post-spawn. They're still shallow, weeds are low, water is clear and the fish are voracious from spawning. Spoons and swim baits were the ticket.

Fast forward to the August long weekend. I hit up Keho, Clear (in PP1) and Twin Valley.

Keho Tried fishing the weed lines. Had reservations about it since the weeds looked thick (no room for fish to lurk) and brown (dead, not producing oxygen). After an hour I moved to deeper water. Between 10 and 25 feet. I used swimbaits, spoons and husky jerks. Got nothing on the spoons. Landed most on swimbaits, rattlin raps and husky jerk. I had quite a bit of line out so the lures were likely at least 10 ft down. Landed 6 in about 3 hours. All well past the weed line but not in the middle of the lake. Surface temp was 21C, water was very tainted/poor visibility. Trolled between 2km to 3.5km/hr. Fish were healthy but small.

Clear Lake Super weedy (submerged weeds and also weeds rising and floating right on surface). Very shallow. Extremely poor visibility except for the far north end where the shallow depth and dense weeds make it almost unfishable/boatable anyways. Caught one by the docks in the shallows on a surface lure on my first cast. Two more bites in a small bay in the north end on a rubber frog texas rigged. All casting.

We decided to leave and try Twin as the fishing was extremely poor and frustrating. On the way out at the far, far north tip of Clear Lake we saw a Pike break water and go after a bird on the water. Stopped the truck, got out, worked the shoreline for about 20 minutes and landed another on a surface lure. Small but healthy. Was a pretty fun experience.

Twin Valley Same deal as Clear Lake except not as shallow, little less weedy but not by much. Caught 3 or 4 on swim baits and one on a buckshot tipped with smelt. All casting/jigging. Tried trolling a few times along the edges but nothing. Talked with some guy who said he hauled in 25. Spoke with another and he said 13. Pike were mostly small, but seemed healthy/fat.

So what's the deal? Do Pike change their tune in mid-Summer? Do they go deep? Do they remain in the weedlines? I've read in various places that although Pike are a "warm water" species, the bigger adult Pike actually prefer temps in the 4 to 16 Celsius range and this causes the big girls and boys to move out of the weeds by mid-summer and disperse into deeper, cooler waters, leaving the smaller guys behind in the shallows. Does that sound right? Additionally, does the summer heat make Pike sluggish and does this require a faster or slower presentation? Do the larger Pike return to the shallows in the fall or stay out deep until spring spawn?

Either way, these experiences have left me somewhat confused and thinking I either need to learn more about Pike or only target them in the spring.

[Talking moose]

If your after large pike, go deep. In the summer the small to medium pike will still be fairly shallow. The big hens will be out deep chasing whitefish, Cisco or tullibee in the cooler water. Once the thermocline flips in the fall they will be roaming everywhere for awhile.

[pikergolf]

I wouldn't call pike a warm water species at all, they prefer cold water, not lake trout cold but cold. Easy enough to see a fishes preferred water temp by their range. Northern Pike are a Colder water species than walleye or perch but not as cold as Lakers. We are on the southern side of their range in southern Ab. because our Res. are shallow.

Summer can be tough, but they will move shallower, weeds, if they have to, to feed. They are where their food is at feeding time. Last two weeks of Aug. and most of Sept. I found best for pike in numbers, size Sept. and Oct. into Nov. I found best, for bigger fish,but they do slow down when the water gets below 50F.

[Red Bullets]

If the lake has any overhanging bush that shades an area..pike will bask and lay in wait in the shade.

[RavYak]

When you fish deeper water you probably aren't fishing deep enough. You always want to be fishing just up off the bottom as that is where the fish will be and you need to adjust your lures/speeds in order to accomplish this.

Spoons only sink a few feet and are a poor choice in water more then 8 feet deep. Many swim baits are the same. Crankbaits it all depend on the model and they are my go to because many of them dive to certain depths so it is easy to know where you are fishing and adjust your depths just by changing crankbaits.

I believe the really big pike do go deeper in the middle of the summer. The small ones and middle size(say up to 30 in) can be caught anywhere and it just depends on structure and the lake where they will be.

[dodger]

In southern reservoirs I catch Pike all year in 7' - 35' of water. Big ones shallow, deep, in the middle. I just do not find them being all that fussy???

Dodger.

[EZM]

Here's what I believe are a few things to do if you really want big pike.

1) Fish the deep side of drop offs - if you find structure that runs steeply and may funnel the smaller quarry - that``s a good place to set up. Deep is better.

2) Big pike will not (often) expend energy chasing small fast moving targets unless they are right in front of them. They prefer a big and slow (or still) bait. That precisely why more monsters are caught under the ice.

3) Use you maps - like the maps you make on autochart - the good spots will become obvious.

[aulrich]

Just came back from an extra long weekend at Dory and even further north once the water warms up the big girls go away. But the water was about as warm as I have ever seen it main lake was 72 bays pushing 75. As I understand it 61-65 is a pike's sweet spot. We tried trolling deep divers but no go. Oddly this time of year we can catch nice ones at sun set in front of the cabin miles from the cabbage chasing whitefish fry and those who eat them


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[Remi3006]

Originally Posted by EZM

Here's what I believe are a few things to do if you really want big pike.

1) Fish the deep side of drop offs - if you find structure that runs steeply and may funnel the smaller quarry - that``s a good place to set up. Deep is better.

2) Big pike will not (often) expend energy chasing small fast moving targets unless they are right in front of them. They prefer a big and slow (or still) bait. That precisely why more monsters are caught under the ice.

3) Use you maps - like the maps you make on autochart - the good spots will become obvious.

^^^^^ Yep! ^^^^^

[KegRiver]

The biggest Pike I saw this year came out of a bay where the deepest hole was a bit over six feet according to my Hummingbird.

That was an 18 pound female. In all we caught 13 fish over ten pounds in that bay in three days of fishing.
Water temperature was at 64 degrees according to my fish finder.

We were there the last week in June.

[dryflyguy]

Originally Posted by EZM

Here's what I believe are a few things to do if you really want big pike.

1) Fish the deep side of drop offs - if you find structure that runs steeply and may funnel the smaller quarry - that``s a good place to set up. Deep is better.

2) Big pike will not (often) expend energy chasing small fast moving targets unless they are right in front of them. They prefer a big and slow (or still) bait. That precisely why more monsters are caught under the ice.

3) Use you maps - like the maps you make on autochart - the good spots will become obvious.

Agree with these points you've made.
I don't get out often in my boat to fish, but one of the more successful trips I had was trolling a mid-depth drop off (5-15 feet) using a sinking crankbait. Size wasn't too impressive (we were at Cross Lake), but we did manage an 8lb'r and numerous in the 2-4 lb range. This was middle of September, however

As for maps, I don't have sonar on my boat, but I use a handheld GPS with a lake depth card and it's been extremely helpful in locating spots that have produced results. Sometimes it's a miss, but without the maps, I'd be a lot less confident of the spots I'm fishing.

[Tom Pullings]

Biggest pike I've ever seen caught was in about 5 feet of water at a southern reservoir 3 days ago.

[schmedlap]

on the particular lake and its structure, the location and depth of weed growth, etc. Pike are, in my experience, just most likely to be found in a balance of factors. In mid summer they will go much deeper if the lake actually has some cooler deep water, but only if their feed also goes there. If the lake has no really colder deeps with a food supply, they will stay, or at least come up in feeding, to whatever depth is required to eat. They are the top carnivores (fishivores?) in most of the lakes they inhabit, so, IMHO, the usual question is more along the lines of where is their natural food (?). I have caught them in shallow water, in weed beds or under algae mats, in hot calm mid-summer in places where there was no deeper or cooler water with any significant "bait". But, if one wants some "rule of thumb" for catching big ones (we caught a number over 90 cm, several over 100 cm, and one well over 20 lb. in this method on one trip last August - all released because I would never kill those big girls) then it is to troll or cast the edge of the thick weed beds, which is usually in 12-16 feet of water, in AB lakes (different if one is way north in the "Shield" lakes). Big shiny heavy metal lures or "fat" deep-diving cranks, trolled or cast with rather slow troll/retrieval speeds.

Especially if the wind is blowing onto the shore one is dealing with - as much as it can be a pain in a boat (as opposed to finding a comfortable "lee" shore), find the downwind shore, suck up the issues with boat control and "splash", and fish there - that is where the big pike will be chasing the smaller food sources which appear, literally, to get "blown in there". In my experience we are about twice as likely to find big pike in those conditions than in calm or lee areas, in hot summer conditions.

Just promise that, if you catch any of those big girls, and the rules (stupidly?) allow you to keep them, you will not. Handle them gently, take a picture and let them go. They are not very good eating (they are quite old, by fish standards) and their genes are to be retained for future fishing (?).

[Krush]

There is an excellent book that will answer all of these types of questions for you. It explains where the pike are and why for each of their "seasons" in each type of lake that they can inhabit. It's called "Pike: An In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies". Definitely well worth reading!

[iYearn]

Originally Posted by EZM

Here's what I believe are a few things to do if you really want big pike.

1) Fish the deep side of drop offs - if you find structure that runs steeply and may funnel the smaller quarry - that``s a good place to set up. Deep is better.

2) Big pike will not (often) expend energy chasing small fast moving targets unless they are right in front of them. They prefer a big and slow (or still) bait. That precisely why more monsters are caught under the ice.

3) Use you maps - like the maps you make on autochart - the good spots will become obvious.

I love what EZM is saying here.

I would add two further points:

4) Secret weapon: Rod holder -- this may take some discipline but put the rod in your holder and leave it there with the boat anchored.

5) Think hard-water tip up: Yep, go dead stick with a smelt or herring just off the bottom with EZM's deep side of the drop off idea.

Tight lines! (with a BIG pike)

[millsboy79]

Originally Posted by iYearn

I love what EZM is saying here.

I would add two further points:

4) Secret weapon: Rod holder -- this may take some discipline but put the rod in your holder and leave it there with the boat anchored.

5) Think hard-water tip up: Yep, go dead stick with a smelt or herring just off the bottom with EZM's deep side of the drop off idea.

Tight lines! (with a BIG pike)

What does the rod holder do that your hands can't, other than reduce your reaction time and miss hook sets?

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by millsboy79

What does the rod holder do that your hands can't, other than reduce your reaction time and miss hook sets?

He was talking about using big bait in which case you need to give them a bit of time to chew on/swallow the bait.

This may be a decent technique for catching the real big pike(assuming you know the spots to fish for them) but I personally find bait fishing very boring so you won't find me doing it.

[millsboy79]

Originally Posted by RavYak

He was talking about using big bait in which case you need to give them a bit of time to chew on/swallow the bait.

This may be a decent technique for catching the real big pike(assuming you know the spots to fish for them) but I personally find bait fishing very boring so you won't find me doing it.

That still doesn't answer why a rod holder.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by millsboy79

That still doesn't answer why a rod holder.

Yes it does... To fight the urge of setting the hook...

[millsboy79]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Yes it does... To fight the urge of setting the hook...

Hahaha ... gotcha ... I will continue to use my hands though.

[Bemoredog]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

Just promise that, if you catch any of those big girls, and the rules (stupidly?) allow you to keep them, you will not. Handle them gently, take a picture and let them go. They are not very good eating (they are quite old, by fish standards) and their genes are to be retained for future fishing (?).

Don't worry. I don't ever fish Pike to keep. Strictly C&R. The one Pike I kept was from Glenmore, a small hammer handle, and I didn't have much choice in the matter.

If I were keeping Pike I know well enough not to keep the bigger ones since they are typically the breeding hens and produce significant number of eggs. And yes, they're old and don't taste great. If I were keeping Pike I'd be aiming for those between 2 and 5 lbs.

[Bemoredog]

Originally Posted by iYearn

I love what EZM is saying here.

I would add two further points:

4) Secret weapon: Rod holder -- this may take some discipline but put the rod in your holder and leave it there with the boat anchored.

5) Think hard-water tip up: Yep, go dead stick with a smelt or herring just off the bottom with EZM's deep side of the drop off idea.

Tight lines! (with a BIG pike)

Good advice. But I'll probably avoid this since it seems like a good way to gut hook the fish and I mainly do C&R. Even when not letting the rod sit and using bait I've had gut hooks. So I try to avoid bait unless I'm confident I can avoid gut hooking or I'm keeping the fish.

[aulrich]

Circle hooks , quick strike rig or a quick strike rig out of circle hooks(have not tried personally).

At least ice fishing as long as you are johnny on the spot you don't gut hook.

[iYearn]

Originally Posted by millsboy79

Hahaha ... gotcha ... I will continue to use my hands though.

There's a good joke here...but this is a family site.

[millsboy79]

Originally Posted by iYearn

There's a good joke here...but this is a family site.

Hahaha ... PHRASING, BOOM ... NIIIIICE