Pike spawn questions

[lunkerhunter2]

I was watching Fishing with Dave on the Sportsmans Channel yesterday and they were on Rainy Lake catching pre-spawn pike and some actively spawning. They were using large stickbaits like the Rapala Minnow and Bombers. Their catch rate was phenomenal! Huge fish cast after cast. They also said it was one of a handfull of lakes with regs allowing fishing during the spawn. I think it was Rainey lake? Anyhow, i have several lakes here in UT that have large pike in them and was wanting to know what techniques and times would be the best to target these fish? I have plenty of experience fishing for tigers but never pike except ice fishing for them. I plan on trying bucktail spinners, large stickbaits, and possibly some swimbaits. Anybody have any good advice? Water temps to look for or specific areas of the lake? Thanks[cool]
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[CROSSINEYES]

wish i knew a litle moore about them as well. im going with some of the same stuff you are. i would think bigger baits will be closer to the size of the prey they would be feading on. not sure what month they spawn either here.
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[birddogwi]

What kind of system are you guys targeting?
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[lunkerhunter2]

Watershed you mean?
It is a reservoir that gets as deep as 60'+ i think but has shallow flats and plenty of points and such. Alot of sand and gravel shore line.
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[bigpikeguy]

I'll try to help you out here LH2 but i cant promise anything. I fish for pike as soon as the ice melts off the lakes here in PA which is in about a month. I actually like to fish the day the ice is gone, the sooner the better. I like to do my pike fishing from my 9' pontoon kick boat. they never know you are there.

One of the first things you can do to look for pike is by actually seeing them hanging out in the shallow water or by looking for pike poop! Im serious! I fish alot of bays that have a ton of weeds in them in the summer. The pike poop stands out like a sore thumb on the green bottom on top of all the dead weeds. it kinda resembles bird crap. globs of white stuff, if u see yellow crap that usually means muskie. So look for white poop.

So once you find the white poop grab a rod. I love to throw X-Raps, subwalks, Yum money minnows, spoons, and big bucktail spinners. Once you get to the warmest part of the day, on a sunny day, throw a top water like a spook or a chug bug. Its awesome to see a pike explode on those things. Once it starts to cool off again start throwing the other stuff. there is only about an hour or two window for the top water stuff, just experiment.

Ok now you know how to find them and what to use here is how to get the bigger pike. If you are in a location for an hour or two and caught about 10 pike in the 20" range, chances are thats all the bigger they are gonna get. So dont be afraid to move. Big pike tend to hang out together. Dont know why but thats just how it works. Once again dont be afraid to go shallow for the big guys. Some of the bigger pike i caught were only in 12" of water.

Well like i said i wont promise anything but i think that should give you a good start. Good luck![]
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[lunkerhunter2]

Great info BPG!! I will use some of this to try and get some in a month or so.[]
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[bigpikeguy]

Glad i could help LH2! The only payment i require is for you to let me know how you do. Just remember the sooner you can get there after the ice melts the better.

I did leave one important thing out. Although im not sure if this applies to just the lake i fish on or not. I don't use really big lures for pike. I tend to stay in the 3 to 4 inch size. The reason being is when i first started to fish for these guys i was throwing big 6 and 8 inch plugs, big spoons, and bucktail spinners and all i got was skunked. Then one day i said to hell with this and i started to fish for bass and put on a smaller X-rap about 3 or 4 inches. BAM!!! first cast you will never guess what i caught!!! a pike. Keep in mind i was fish the same spot for about 3 hours with bigger lures. So i decided to keep that lure tied on and i got a few more pike in the next hour or so. Well then i decided to experiment a little. I tied on a small trout spoon about 1 1/2" long and put on some small split shots about 12" in front of it to get it down so it would just tickle the top of the dead weeds. Well after about 4 or five casts BAM!!! another pike. The same thing worked for small inline bass spinners. Every avid pike angler i talk to from out of state tell me im nuts but i seen it so i believe it. I have not figured out why the pike on my water prefers smaller bait. I have tried larger and smaller baits all through the spring and summer only to find the small baits work way better, 10 to 1.

I guess what im getting at here is do not be afraid to use really small baits for these guys if you are not getting any hits on your bigger stuff. O yeah there is a down fall to fishing with small baits, well two of them actually. 1 ya got to get your hand closer to the teeth, ya tend to get bloody lol. 2 bring extra hooks, like the eagle claw 2X work good. fish over 25 or 30 inches tend to bend those little hooks badly lol. Which also means try to use a rod with a little give in the tip so there is not as much stress on the hook. All in all that does make the fight alot more fun, but it can get nerve racking when you got a 35+ incher on the end of a 1 1/2" trout spoon lol.

All i got to say is good luck and hold on!
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[utwalleye]

hey Brody, as soon as yuba opens up I'm headed down, if you want we can hook up and head down together. after those ones I caught last year they have my full attention. I've been reading a little bit about pike and in some lakes the pike will spawn just before the ice comes off or start as the ice comes off. later chuck
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[mactuna]

Very true Chuck, seems they bite better in the cooler water. March and April last year they bite better than any months after that.
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[duxxer]

I'm new here but, I'm old in yrs..lol Been chasing pike for over 50 yrs and I've never known pike to bite very good during the actual spawn even on Canadian lks. But thats just my observation .Maybe I was using the wrong lures or not holding my mouth right. But shortly after the spawn they can get real hungry,and when the spawning bays get into the middle 50s (surface temp) thats when you should be on the water. Fish slower at this time of year or just hook on a minnow and wait. Fish the north side of the lake first,west side of bays or sheltered areas where the sun can penetrate but the westerly winds cant hit.( thats where you should be even before the bay warms) Another trick that can be used at this time of year is to hook a dead minnow in the back (treble hook) and use a slip sinker rig... Then on two of the exposed points tail hook a live crappie minnow on each...then hold on!.. A little later on as the water begins to warm get yourself a few 3/8th oz spoonplugs (silver or gold chrome or yellow have worked best for me over the yrs) and troll the deep edges18 ft. or deeper and you'll catch pike. After the water warms up into the 70s or higher the really big pike (14lbs and up ) get really hard to find.You can use the minnows and spoonplugs and bucktails and still catch pike but the really big ones get really scarce. If you fish the Canadian shield lakes you can catch big pike thru the summer but on most stateside lakes they just go deep and get lockjaw. Hope this helped.
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[jigs]

welcome aboard duxxer, if all your posts are as good as that one you will have us all pro fisherman in no time.
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[lunkerhunter2]

Excellent post. Welcome to BFT and looking forward to more of your posts.[cool]
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[mactuna]

Great imfo
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