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Posts: 8866
| So we're up on Eagle, fishing a weedy bay...
*whack* dink pike. *whack* then another, and another... "Crap, get outta here, 'ya rotten little ----" Then it started getting funny. Here's two muskie fishermen, laughing our heads off catching these litlle 28" pike. Granted it wasn't much of a challenge, but it was a riot. They're good to eat, they're fun to catch, and they're just nuts. Why don't we ever fish for them intentionally? |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | esoxaddict - 8/19/2008 7:38 PM
So we're up on Eagle, fishing a weedy bay...
*whack* dink pike. *whack* then another, and another... "Crap, get outta here, 'ya rotten little ----" Then it started getting funny. Here's two muskie fishermen, laughing our heads off catching these litlle 28" pike. Granted it wasn't much of a challenge, but it was a riot. They're good to eat, they're fun to catch, and they're just nuts. Why don't we ever fish for them intentionally?
If you fished for them intentionally they'd be harder to catch then Muskies!! |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | haha...I grew up fishing for northern. Heck, when I was young, I didn't even know what a musky was.
A fish is a fish in my mind...they are all fun to catch. Heck, one of the best fights I have had on my hands was a 16 lb sheephead down on the tennessee river, a fish considered by many to be junk fish. But it was still a blast!!! |
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Posts: 159
Location: Stevens Point, WI | We don't fish for them because we are musky fishermen. Pike don't hold a candle to the mystique of the mighty muskellunge. I got my pb pike this summer- i never thought i'd be unhappy catching a pike over 40 inches, but i had a big frown when i saw white spots instead of green bars. how many of us out there really have the mindset that "a fish is a fish?" No way am i as happy with a 35 inch pike as i am with a 35 inch musky. |
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| anyone can catch pike...not everyone can catch a muskie |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | i guess i'll just be happier on the water than most....lol
Don't get me wrong....I'd prefer a musky over a northern.....but i'd take a northern over a fishless day. Guess I'm not a "true" musky fisherman, eh?
Edit for spelling: dang...i really can't spell...
Edited by scolba 8/19/2008 1:06 PM
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Posts: 159
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Sometimes we do need to catch a hundred of something a take a break from fishing all day hoping to see one. But when i go musky fishing and only catch a 30 inch northern and my wife asks if i got anything when i get home my answer is "no." Maybe that's too uptight, but it's muskies or nothing when the big rods are in the boat. |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | Nah, not too uptight, you just know what you want.
BTW, I don't mean to sound snotty in my replies. I'm just not a good enough of a fisherman (YET!) to be able to target just one especially ellusive species and hope that I catch one. I gotta be happy with what God sends my way. HAHA!  |
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Posts: 899
| Yeah, there was a great white spinnerbait in the weeds pike bite up on Eagle when I was up there July 19-26...ask Breal31, he spent a lot of time fishing them after losing faith in the muskies:) Nothing wrong with enjoying incidental catches at all, I'll take anything that wants to bite my lure.
How's your week going Brian? |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I love fishing big Pike. A 36"Pike is not anything I'd ever sneeze at, but that's me. A 45" Pike is much more a trophy to me than a 45" Muskie, for certain. I've caught WAY more Muskies 45" than Pike.
Ease of catching Pike is a numbers thing. Some waters are loaded with them, and the quality as a result suffers. Of course, it isn't much of a challenge to catch those fish. What about the waters where really BIG Pike are available, in low density? I don't think trophy Pike are any easier to catch than Trophy Muskies. Some days they are harder to find and catch for me. |
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Posts: 305
Location: Illinois | I would rather catch a 40 inch pike than a 40 inch musky. I have fished muskies long enough that I have caught many 40 inchers. I have nevr caught a 40 inch pike. ANY fish that is willing to tug on my line is welcome. I love muskies. I fish for them the vast majority of the time and I love it. However, I also love watching a flagstanding up on the ice. I love the darkness and coloring of a big smallie. Heck, I even like the train run of a giant carp on a spinning reel. Muskies are tops, but pike and other incidentals?-You bet. |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | It's hard for me to pass up a pike trip, I don't mind fishing for em. Just as fun, but then again i primarily fished for pike before I got into muskies. |
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Posts: 159
Location: Stevens Point, WI | OK i'll confess, i'd rather catch a 52 inch pike than a 52" muskie, but other than that, the thousands of pike i've caught have spoiled me i guess. I hope if i ever get to 3000 muskies i'll still be shaking every time i hook one 45 inches or better. |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | In July I had a 40+ inch Northern miss a cowgirl and it actually took me a few seconds to realize that I had just seen a Huge Northern. I'd be just as happy with a 40" Northern as I would a Musky. If the MN DNR plan works we might start seeing some really nice Northern Pike Fisheries which is cool, I think. |
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| Ive done some remote fly in trips to Northern Saskatchewan and if you think Pike aren't fun when they get really big..guess again..we had Pike to 50" on one trip...if you don't think so...go fish Riou Lake and report back! ; )
Big Pike rock....now pike under about 38" I could do without! |
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Posts: 785
| Next really little one you get let him swim around a little before pulling him in. We had about a 44" musky t-bone one two fridays ago. Ended up just ripping the pike off the lure when in came close to the boat but way way cool to see. |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | You guys don't know how good you have it. In IL/IA we don't have pike to catch on those fishless days. Its easy to throw muskie lures all day and catch nothing. I'd love to catch a pike over 40". |
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Posts: 122
Location: Bloomington, IL | au contraire mon frere....or whatever....
http://www.ifishillinois.org/gofish/tips/NPIKE.htm |
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Posts: 171
| I can see both ways. I'm more of a multi-species guy due to location. Nearest muskie lake is about 2 hrs and that's low density, at best. I don't get enough practice to target just muskies (I'm not that good of a musky fisherman) so I love the chance at other fish.
Biggest one I had on this year was playing tug of war with me for a 15" smallie..........I lost, but geez, was THAT cool!
ErieBoy75 |
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| Ive done some remote fly in trips to Northern Saskatchewan and if you think Pike aren't fun when they get really big..guess again..we had Pike to 50" on one trip...if you don't think so...go fish Riou Lake and report back!
this is actually my "dream trip", going for monster pike early season in N Sask.
true trophy pike are harder to find than trophy muskies...so when my wife gave me the green light i started saving for a "lowly" pike trip in the next couple years.
in the meanwhile, i'll shake off the snakes, but get no end of enjoyment out of the incidental big pike that i stumble into.
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Posts: 137
| I like them all. I live in Indiana, so we rarely get a rogue pike, as they are pretty rare in the waters we fish. More often than not, we catch an incidental bass, and I love those too, as they get quite large in our southern Indiana waters. A couple years ago, My brother and I caught three bass on Muskie lures that went 5.5lbs, 6.5 lbs, and finally a fat 7.5 lber. I was happy to tell my wife I caught two fish and my brother caught one. It was a good day to catch something, and getting a surprise every now and again is part of what I love about fishing. Takes me back to bobber fishing as a kid, when you never know what fish would eat your bait. Muskie fishing is great, and I have a hard time doing anything else, but I still make my vacation every year to do a fly-in for pike, because it is nice to go somewhere where the fish actually hit a little more than muskies do. And we always get fish over 40" and two years ago i had a 47" pike and this year a 43" pike. I easily put those down as two of the best fish I have ever caught. Of course, you won't ever catch me throwing a spoon for pike, because muskie lures are my true addiction I think. Heaving them out is what I love, or I wouldn't do it all day most of the year. |
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Posts: 619
Location: Verona, WI | I'm with you Lambeau - I'd tag along on that trip. The pictures I saw from some guys on the Great Slave Lake on the other site were enough to make me drool.
Shane |
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| Pike are dumb, no matter if they are 22 inches or 45 inches.
A pike is a Pike, just like a bass is a bass or a blue gill is a blue gill.
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| and muskies are "smart"..give me a break...i will challenge anyone to catching a Pike over 46" is MUCH harder than getting a musky over 50".... |
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Posts: 162
Location: East Troy, WI | lambeau im with you on that n. sask. trip... i've been talking to my girl friend telling her thats where i want my honeymoon to be... catching 45" plus pike would be awesome...
i never mind catching the 25" pike in canada though, they taste great... |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | Pike keep things interesting between muskies. But this year we aren't catching the pike and bass we normaly do. Last few years it wasn't uncommon to hit a dozen a day this year not sure we have a dozen for the year. Best to dates a 42" pike and my partner was just as happy with that pike as he was getting his 50" muskie. Nothing like having a 20"+ smallie explode on a bait either, I'm not picky as long as somethings pulling back. |
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Posts: 69
Location: janesville | pike are fun to catch especially during the winter on tip-ups. but during the summer they can be hard to catch i have fished for them many times on lakes that only have northerns in them and only catch the snakes. this summer on our houseboat trip to Minnesota my cousin and i fished for them because they don't have many muskies in those lakes and we went 10 for 50 on them and i had one upper 30's low 40's eat my hole buzzbait right at the side of the boat and i ended up losing him. but when there are no muskies in some lakes i like to catch them especially on buzzbaits. i still like muskies better but in the winter and pike only lakes they are still fun to catch when you cant catch any muskies |
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Posts: 315
| few weeks ago on our annual Ontario trip i couldnt catch a muskie for the life of me. i had plenty of hit and miss, plenty of fish spotted, even had 4 hooked in one day but failed to get one in the boat. pike on the other hand were all over the place, and i mean nice pike. i believe a pike 36-45in is great fun.
on our trip we brought some lighter tackle for pike to bring home, 1/2oz green and white spinnerbaits, 17lbs mono, man we were set......never caught one while we were fishing for them one day. we caught all of them while casting for muskies. i caught 6 in 5 drifts over a weed flat with a pacemaker, many on 8in jakes, and the biggest of the trip was 40" and that was on a black showgirl. it was crazy......sneaky little bastards = )
so yeah it stunk i didnt even get a muskie in the boat, but i had a great time like always. i am a fisherman, if it's on the line its fun to me. where ever i go i find something to fish for, i love it all........perch and walleyes on the ice, redfish in the spring in Florida, bass, carp, pike in the spring, muskies in the summer and fall, and bass in the fall are unreal. its alllll good too me
-ba- |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Some Pike I have caught.
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Big Pike Rock!
A 44" Pike is alot harder to catch than a 48" muskie any day.
I love to see Pikepath's pics and stories about the Europen Pike that they fight with... Very Cool....
Jerome |
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Location: Amsterdam | Being a euro guy pike is al i fish for, and love every minute of it.
I think pike population is quite a bit bigger than you guys but even than it can be a tough species.
Biggest for me has been 46.5" (on a static deadbait midwinter)
I do more trolling than i do casting but i find myself changing more to a caster because the strikes/bites give way more satisfaction.
I love catching Pike! |
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Posts: 11
| I think it's funny that people can say pike aren't any fun...especially when they are muskie fishermen. I mean, how can you compare one esox to another?-- Especially when you go WAY north to the truly superb pike destinations where pike--not muskies--are the apex predators in a system. As far as I'm concerned, why does it matter if it's got lots of sharp teeth and it fights hard? Isn't that the point people? |
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Posts: 4266
| Here is a 43" pike from MN that fought harder and longer than any muskie that I have ever caught. I hooked her on the first glider that I ever made She made a few power runs that would have pulled a bigger muskie backwards. I'll take pike any day. Smaller ones are far better eating than people realize.
Edited by Beaver 8/20/2008 6:11 AM
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Love pike! Half of my pictures up are of pike. In June we go to Canada to an all pike lake. Big girl this year was 48" and they have a LOT of 50"+ on the lake.
http://www.gruntmuskielures.com/muskiepictures.html
Good time pike fishing and you get a little more action. The fish of 10 casts not 10,000 LOL
James |
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | I've never really caught any big pike. Lots of 32,33,34 inchers and a million snakes. I loved fishing for them in my younger days and had a blast. But you have to admit, when you're bringing in a cowgirl or a mag dawg and it gets hit..."FISH...nevermind, another 25" pike," it gets annoying. The little suckers will eat anything that moves and is smaller than them by an inch. I wish muskies and big pike were the same way, but then it would be no challenge. |
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Posts: 501
Location: Norway | Top H2O - 8/19/2008 11:00 PM
Big Pike Rock!
A 44" Pike is alot harder to catch than a 48" muskie any day.
I love to see Pikepath's pics and stories about the Europen Pike that they fight with... Very Cool....
Jerome
Cool, in pretty near future Ill start posting those awkwards helmet cam videos.
I can assure you that we catch a few "wrenches" between the 20+lbs'ers, and when you get a 3-4pound pike on a pounder bulldawg, you want to cry.
You know the big ones are there, and thats what keeps you going...
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| i love catching pike of any size. of course the big ones are better than the smaller ones. but they're all still fun. especially when jigging for em with a 1/2ox esox cobra jig and either a reaper tail or a big grub. they love those, and what a fight! ever caught a 15lbs pike out of 25-30ft of water? one heck of a fight! also awesome when pulling a spinnerbait or even a mepps over weeds and watching them smash. pike fishing is so much fun! |
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| Anyone can catch a muskie, too. It just takes longer because there are generally fewer of them.
If catching a big muskie is the ONLY thing you're in it for, I'm guessing you haven't been doing this for very long. 5 years isn't very long. Get past 10 years of proficient fishing (gotta throw out time you spent learning the ropes) and see what you think. Most of the guys that think a nice sized pike isn't worth catching are newer, unseasoned muskie fishermen. Same goes for the guys that say, "I was disappointed with the 10# walleye I caught because it wasn't a muskie." Seriously, WHY? A 10# walleye, like a 25# pike, is more rare than a 20# muskie. |
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Posts: 44
Location: ashland wi | I agree with beaver, i caught a 43 inch morthern this spring and it blew away any musky i ever fought as far as the battle is concerned,the musky seem to tire a lot more quicker,the endurance of a big pike is something else,this went completely airborn on hookset and a solid 15min battle ensued.
relesed this one for somebody else to try and tangle with her.  |
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Posts: 44
Location: ashland wi | here it is.
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Posts: 457
Location: Minneconia | Carp fight hard too. |
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Posts: 20
| I don't consistently catch muskies so pike are welcome in my boat. |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | That's why they are called "Bonus Pike"
I love teeth, no matter the variety!
but the Ski is still King in my book |
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | Funny nobody fishes Montana more for pike...
JS
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | J.Sloan-That is a cool looking pike! I would almost have to make a replica of that one! |
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Posts: 4266
| How big was that one? WOW!
I just like to catch fish, period. I keep some bass tackle geared up when I'm fishing muskies in June so I can fish smallies in between spots. I'm too old and brittle to fish muskies all day, I have to take a break and fish for something else during the day so I can rest.  |
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Posts: 1023
Location: Lafayette, IN | So much of it depends on the rod you have in your hand when landing a particular fish. When I'm targeting muskies I throw musky tackle. We typically throw heavy bass tackle for pike. Then of course, bass tackle for bass. Ultra light for the creeks (usually). I've had some ridiculous strikes from bass on musky tackle. The fights didn't last long but man, the strikes were exciting! Whatever you enjoy I guess. I just enjoy fishing. Nuff said? |
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