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Posts: 29
| Well, Just as the title says I'm looking to get geared up and need some help. Unfortunately I have very few Muskie opertunities nearby however I have great access to some phenomenal Pike / Esox fishing and figure the gear to do either should be somewhat similar.
For a little background, I've spent the bulk of my years chasing walleye and of course have geared up accordingly with primarly 5.5ftf to 7ft medium to medium heavy rods, a variety of spinning reels, 6-12 lb dia power pro (14lb to 28lb strength), a ton of bottom bouncers, slip weights, spiners, jigs, crank baits, and so forth. I've always been a person that if I stumble across something else is biting on a given day such as small mouth bass, northerns or otherwise, I've been known to target those to the best of my ability untill they turn off. Well, low and behold I got into some fantasitic pike fishing multiple times last summer to the point that we actually began targeting them. Even better is that fact that the area is all walleye fisherman and pike are almost looked down upon, meaning I have no competition fishing for them. After a summer of pusing my undersized equipment to the limit (and having a blast) I've decided to gear up a little for this year. Last summer I primarly used 30lb steel leaders, bass style spinner baits, and a number of different crankbaits with the best being my perch colored Rapala's, to the point that I had two of them bit in half! I also lost some monsters simply because my gear was to small and I was often times fishing sunken timber and rock. all of my esox fishing revolved around casting as the spots are not condusive to trolling.
Pretend I know nothing about gear, although I have done some reading, and help me spend a some money. I would like to get two decent rod/reel setups, I'm thinking something in the order of some 8 footers with a little larger reels as I had a few that absolutely burned the drag off my reels. I don't want to break the bank if possible! Next would be how heavy and what type of line works best. I really like power pro but am open to other suggestions. I assume steel leaders are a must and considering I broke a couple last year I should probably move to something heavier than 30lbs? Last comes to baits. As I said before, last year revolved around crankbaits that I had for walleye fishing, some bass spinner baits, and of course I have a few spoons. I would like to widen my options with atleast some of the absolute neccessities for these fish. I should probably add the majority of the fish caught will be between 6 and 20 lbs however a 30lber isn't out of the question but it is probably as big as I need to consider and would certainly be the trophy for the year.
Any help would be great, with very few people fish for northerns and I have been unable to find a good forum to ask questions however I have to think that much of the muskie gear, baits, and tacktics should translate well to northern fishing.
I also had a number of follow-ups to the boat and as aggressive as I found them to be I wonder if they would respond to the figure eight the way muskies do?
Thanks for any help | |
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| Piking? A good topic. These fish don't get enough respect. Good to catch; and good to eat once you get the Y bones out. This is what I like to go out with. Three rods: 8-20 lb., 6.5'; 15-25 lb., 6' but I wish it was 6.5'; 15-30 lb., 6.5'. Reels are baitcasting. As good as you want to spend for. I just use Abu Garcia 5500c3, 6500c3, and Shimano Corvalus. (Hey, I don't like to spend money.) I fill the 5500 with 14 lb. extra-tough mono. The 6500 with 20 lb. extra-tough mono; and the Corvalus with 60 lb. Power Pro. In shallow water I like to throw 1 ounce spoons, Dardevl and Len Thompson. Must have red and white, yellow five of diamonds, and silver. In line spinners: Mepps Muskie Killer and Mepps Giant Killer. Silver blade and black tail; and silver blade and white tail. Gold blade and brown tail; red and white blade and brown or white tail. Shallow plug in early season: Heavy duty (6") Bomber Long A in red head. Has worked for me in highly pressured situations. I also throw the six inch Jake. (We're not looking for juniors.) I have three 6" Believers that I would always want along; and three 6" Depthraiders. Don't need anything else. Take along a pair of gloves for gripping--but you probably know this. Good luck. | |
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Posts: 29
| Forgot about the Meps, bought a few last year but don't think I tried them out. As far as gloves, pliers, forcepts, and so forth the old Yar-craft is fully outfitted that way! Also, I learned how to do y-bones 20-years ago and amazed quite a few people at the cleaning station. Last year my wife had come down to see the catch and said the cleaning station looked like they should have been shooting film with a mirror above me based the croud that had gathered to see how it was done. Like I said, very few keep northerns around here, this is good for me! Also, keep in mind that any gear that I need I'll likely have to order due to our local scheels carrying almost nothing except for a few spoons or meps when it comes to northern gear and unfortunately we don't have another game in town! | |
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| And another thing: in case you want to get some book learnin. I would recommend Will Ryan's book "Northern Pike"; a nice and informative read available used on line at Amazon. Also worth reading is Jack Penny's book "Pro Tactics: Northern Pike." I don't agree with all of Penny's gear and lure selections, but he does have some insights. | |
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Location: sneaking out to get on the water ;-) | For northern I recentley upgraded to a st croix premeir 6'10" m action rod with a calcutta 200 on it. Before that I used a 6'6" cabelas fish eagle II mh bass rod with a abu c5 mag x 5600 reel spooled with 30# spider wire ultracast and a 45# steel leader. Northern wiil deffinetley hit in the 8! In line spinners, spinners, cranks, topwater, gliders, jerks, jigs, and soft plastics all work. They are the next best thing to a muskie for me. | |
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Posts: 2326
Location: SE, WI. | 3or 4 baits I like for pike are, 2 colors of spinnerbaits, white skirt/white dbl trailer, Black skirt/ orange blades/white dbl trailer. A twitched, or jerked#13 or 18 rapala. A 6" reef hang, which you will need a jerk bait rod for....6'9" jerk bait rod, A jig and creature is also a great bait for pike! | |
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Posts: 339
Location: Denmark | At Esoxhunt you will also find a lot of pike fishing infos.
http://esoxhunt.dk/ | |
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Posts: 684
Location: Sycamore, IL | I would have the following three set-ups: a 7' MH/ H spinning rod for jigging/ live bait; a bass "swim bait" bait caster rod for small to mid sized lures; a MH musky rod 7'6" or more for larger blades, cranks and jerkbaits. I like a 2500 size spinning reel for jigging...shimano makes nice ones. For bait casters get a 200 curado or an abu revo S for the swim bait rod and a 300 curado or a Revo Toro 50 for the musky set-up. 30lb wire leaders should be fine...I don't know why you are breaking off? Make sure to change out your leaders if they get kinked or worn and don't lock your drag down and you should not have a problem with leader failure. Lots of good braided lines to choose from...I like 40-50lb on my bass stuff and 65-80lb on my muskie gear. Not sure where you are fishing so I won't comment on exact baits to buy, but only say to try and have a variety of sizes that cover all depth ranges and speeds. Hope this helps and that you have a successful season. I love pike fishing... | |
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Posts: 29
| Thanks for the info guys. I've been a little slow getting back to this between a vacation and being slammed at work. I read through the comment and of course welcome more and have a few questions. I notice a few seem particular to bait casters, is their a particular reason? I've always been a spinning reel guy myself even after trying out some pretty expensive bait casting reels. Maybe it's a personal preference thing but if there's a clear cut advantage feel free to school me. I see most are using somewhat similar rods in terms of length. I was thinking maybe a 7 or 8 footer would have some advantage when tossing larger lures or when doing the old figure 8. I have a number of other questions but I'll post those someday when I have a keyboard as typing on the iPad is kind of a PITA.
Thanks again. | |
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Posts: 909
Location: South-Central VA | I think you'd really like the combo of a 9' MH Tackle Industries paired with something like a Curado 200/300, Revo SX, Diawa Lexa, or a similar reel. I use my TI MH to throw down to a 3/4oz rattletrap or up to about a 3.5oz crankbait. It would be perfect for pike sized baits.
jeremy
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Location: sneaking out to get on the water ;-) | Some baits are much easier to work with the baitcasters. Also they burn the baits in much nicer once you get used to them the power of them is awesome. I had always used spinning gear for trout most of my life but in 08 started muskie fishing and got my first baitcaster. I hardly ever pick up spinning gear anymore unless I'm walleye fishing jigs. | |
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| I don't think it matters for most pike fishing whether you use spinning or baitcasting gear. But I do think the baitcaster is stronger and can take more stress than the spinning reel. This is a factor when using bigger baits. You might want to try one modestly priced baitcasting outfit and see how you like it over the course of a season. It is fun to develop the skill to use this gear effectively. | |
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New to the Sport - Help Me Gear up!