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| Message Subject: Newbie to Muskies/Northerns | |||
SLE |
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Posts: 29 | First post on this site as I've spent to many years being a walleye snob just as many others are that I fish with in the great state of North Dakota. Over the years I've dabbled on and off catching Northern pike in area lakes however many of my fishing partners had no interest in catching those slimey, stinky, good for only pickling fish. On the other hand an old friend from southern MN taught me how to bone out a Northern Fillet about 20 years ago in which I have managed to become very good at and have change a few attitudes towards a great game fish and table fair. I have been lurking around this site which although it's for muskies I believe they are much of the same minus the size. Over the past couple of seasons the main lake I fish (Lake Sakakawea) has been seeing a steady increase in Northern Pike Acitivity amoungst the vast majority of walleye fisherman. Well this summer I've spent a great deal of time fishing on a lake that is fished first and formost for walleye with most looking down there noses at anything else laying on the cleaning station table. Well, Ive come to find that although I like walleye fishing I first and formost just like fishing and really don't care whats tugging on the end of my line so long as I get a good fight and have fun doing it. Put it this way, during a walleye tourneyment last season where we could catch 10 walleye's and weigh our largest 5; I and my partner managed to come in with 5 northerns, 3 small mouth bass, 1 cat fish, 3 perch, 7 walleyes and we had an absolute blast! As a little history, about 20 years ago a small area lake had a booming population of hammer handle pike. I spent a good portion of my summer that year chasing these small preditors and found bass style spinner baits and the ocasional crank bait in my imited tackle box seemed to be the ticket. Of course at that time you could by a spinner bait for less than a dollar so that was what the tackel box became stocked with along with the rest of my walleye gear. Fast forward to this summer in which after catching a days worth of walleyes I decided I might as well throw on on one of these old spinner baits that I still had in my tackle assortment to do some casting into the rocks. Low and behold I caught northern after northern, had followups and strikes right at the boat untill they had completely destroyed my 20 year old crusty spinner bait skirts. Before the following weekend I stocked up on new spiiner baits and made another run of it. Ended up even haveing an even better time keeping 10 fish between 6 and 10 pounds with all kinds of action. As summer went on the the northerns moved out of the shallows into deeper water I went back to walleye fishing untill labor day. The freezer was full and the family wanted to go for a boat ride. I decided to shoot accross to a bay where I knew of a bunch of sunkin timber. An hour and a half later casting spinner baits I couldn't get the smile off my face. Went back out the next two days fishing only for northerns and having a great time and great success with a slight switch over to using some number 6 perch colored Rapalas. had one go 16 lbs and multiple in the 10 lb range. Spent all of last weekend doing the same with the largest landed being a 12 lber that bit my rapala in half! I guess I'm hooked at this point as I find myself researching tactics for pike instead of walleye which is what has brought me here. Just looking for some good advise on targeting northerns at different times of the year, what depthes to be looking in, what kind of cover to find, and what's everyones go to baits. I know these aren't muskies but I think the cross over is pretty similar. Any advise on gear, reels, rods, nets or otherwise. I have a 22lber on the wall that I caught when I was 15 years old on a lindy rig while walleye fishing. I'd love to add another however the next one is gonna have to be closer to 30lbs otherwise it can live to fight another day. For a little background on my currnet equipment; I'm currently running a Yarcraft 1895 Storm SC with a 225 Opti, 80lb 24v Powerdrive AP Copilot, a Eagle 480 on the bow and an older Lowrance X19c at the helm lots of 6'6" medium action rods primarly set up with spinning reels with 20lb power pro or 14lb Fire Line, a large extendable frabile brade style net (which is a PITA with crank baits), a couple boxes of misc crank baits ranging from reef runners to smaller rapalas, of course lots of lindies, spinners and jigs along wtih a banjo minnow set that someone gave to me as a gag gift. Outside of needing some different tackle (which I'll have to order as our local shops are terrible) my biggest problem seems to be when fishing some of the sunken timber that if they go on a run to the bottom (which seems to happen with the bigger fish) I cann't stop them and I end up tangled in the trees which is dishearting for me as I not only am I missing some chances at trophies but if I cann't land it I want it to survive to fight another day. Don't know if heavier rods, reels, and line would help but my ears are open to all suggestions as I've found a new passion. | ||
| The Swan |
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| Not too many pike fans here. But I like them. And like to write about it. sounds like you are doing great. I wish I had a water like Sakakawea nearby. Books: Will Ryan, "Northern Pike"; Jack Penny, "Pro Tactics: Northern Pike"; In-Fisherman, "Pike"; and Kitt Berg, "Northern Pike Fishing." Jack penny seems like he is trying to sell a certain brand of tackle, but he makes some good points and takes you through season by season. Tackle: when I go out for pike I like to take a 10-20 lb., 6'6" rod with an abu Garcia 5500C3 reel loaded with 14 lb. extra-tough mono. This rod is # 1. Also a 6' (I wish it was 6'6") rod with an Abu Garcia 6500C3 reel loaded with 20 lb. extra-tough mono. Finally--to throw the Mepps Giant Killer--I take a 15-30 lb. Gander Mountain Muskie rod with a Shimano Corvalus reel and 65 lb. Power Pro line. Of course the pike go from shallow water in spring to deeper and deeper water as the season progresses and the water warms up. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this out. So I would fish deeper and deeper as the season progresses until the water cools off in the fall. Structure is the key and weed structure is the first choice. But wood, boulders, and shoal structure also holds them. In the spring go to wherever the weeds are progressing the most. If I am after shallow water pike, I would not go out without my 1 ounce spoons. Dardevl and Len Thompson especially. Don't underestimate these. My must have colors are red and white, yellow five of diamonds, and silver. I might also use some larger spoons just for fun: Lindy Gator Spoon, silver, Len Thompson 1 and 1/8 ounce (red on white; and silver); and Northland Half-Wave spoon, 1 and 1/4 ounce. For spinners, I would take my basic Mepps Muskie Killers and Giant Killers (single tails, not tandem). Silver and black; silver and white; red/white and brown; and gold and brown or black would be my choices. I might also take a Giant Killer with firetiger blade, black body. I'll come back to this... | |||
| Nolan |
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| 80 lb line and a locked drag. Don't let them pull you around in the trees. | |||
| FAT-SKI |
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Posts: 1360 Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Big musky double bladed bucktails catch some BIG pike. My biggest came on a Double 10, it was a 43". I have and will continue to catch bigger muskies then that, but it will take me a long time if not ever to catch a bigger pike. But then you would need the gear to handle the stress of the blades. But because big Bucktails (if you choose to throw them) are such great musky baits, be careful the waters you choose to use them in. If there are muskies in the water I would say that would be better not to throw those baits, as muskies, if played out for awhile on light tackle tend to have higher mortality rates after the catch and release My wife is huge into pike fishing, she throws a 7'0 field and stream rod with a spinning reel and 30lb braid. She mainly sticks to a 4" rattle style bait and throws that all day, she has put more 30+ inch fish in the boat last and this year then I have seen in a long time... Not sure if it is lady luck or she really knows what she is doing... but either way I swear they love those big rattle baits and they smash them when they strike. Even has a musky using that set up (yes I was the one musky fishing and she was the one that caught the musky) Personally I think the musky gods were laughing at me that day. She put about 30 big pike in the boat plus a 45" musky while I caught one 42"er last fall... Edited by FAT-SKI 9/21/2012 4:14 PM | ||
| Ronix |
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Posts: 992 | pike are what got me into this sport! i love all esox theyre the only fish I target! when i got out for pike I tend to use the same muskie lures except downsized. 6" grandmas, musky mania magic makers, grim reaper spinnerbaits, sledges etc. are just some examples. For rods I prefer longer but ill mostly use 8'0-8'6 MH rods, a shimano curado sized reel and 65lbs suffix. I dont like the mono it can be a pain to cast but thats just me | ||
| The Swan |
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| I said I'd come back. For shallow running crankbaits, I use 6" Jakes and Grandmas from my muskie collection. But I would not go out without a 6" Bomber Long A with a red head and white/silver body. Change the hooks from silver to steel or bronze in color. Silver hooks are a dead give-away. For mid-depth crankbait: I would go with the 6" Believer or a slow moving 6" Depthraider. Deeper: I would rely on the 6" Depthraider. On crankbait colors, to me, red and white is always in fashion for pike; and anything that looks like a shiner or big minnow would be favored. You might catch more fish using smaller lures, say 5". But I would always start with the 6ers. I've seen a 32" pike straighten a hook on a Jointed Rapala. And I once had a 20" St. Lawrence River pike try and eat a 9" Grandma. Tough guy. Good luck. | |||
| SLE |
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Posts: 29 | Thanks for all of the information guys! I hope to get out one or two more times however the time left before pheasant season is slipping away quickly. The more I read the more intrigued I become. Apparently what I was doing through the year was correct for the most part as we caught a lot fish between 6 lbs and 15 lbs with a few that weren't landed that I expect may have been larger. I think my next goal is to pick up just one or two dedicated rod setups. something probably in the 7 ft range with a nice heavy backbone and a fast tip so I can feel if the lures are running properly and a decent reel. Any suggestions of brand and model that would fit the bill but not break the bank would great. The other thing I feel I need to work on is some of the basic tackle, as already listed. The one big thing I noticed, especially on the spinner baits, was that I had as many follow ups as I had hits which means I had them intrigued but theirs a good chance a different lure might have closed the deal. I know on labor day when I switched over to that perch colored Rapala it was like turning a light switch on. Curious if anybody ever uses any mepps lures? I do have a handfull of these but never tried one. I'm also guilty of ignoring the tried and true Dare Devil which I believe is a staple when it comes to pike fishing! One last question (atleast for now), how heavy and long of leaders do most of you use? I have a variety in the boat however it seems that the 12 inchers are about the right length as the 18s are kind of a pain to cast, at least with a lighter spinner bait. I also had a couple break this summer, one that I was trying to pull out of the trees and two while fighting fish. One of the two broke right at the swivel while the other broke about in the middle however I suspect that one had a kink in it. For the most part I've been using 30lb leaders as the local selection sucks and this is about as heavy as I can find. Any suggestions on the best places to order some the tackle, leaders, and such? Thanks again for all of the responses and as I said these certainly aren't a musky however I've certainly have come accross a newfound passion! | ||
| FAT-SKI |
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Posts: 1360 Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | I think TackleIndustries has some MH (power) fast (action) rods that are really very nice. Reels? you could really get away up in the high money amounts pretty quickly. But me personally I like spinning reels for my pike fishing. I do use a Abu Garcia BCX, but it is there low level reel and it is fine, don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with it. I do have some heavier line on that reel too. But I always find myself going back to the spinning reel. I guess I just prefer them for the pike. Heck, If I could find one that wasn't as big as my head and fish musky with it I would. I have nice field and stream spinning reels and also Shimano, can never go wrong with Shimano. Leaders? I usually go with 50lb, but my wife prefers 30lb. Just depends on how heavy the line is for me really. Yes 12" is what works best for me, some situations call for larger and some for smaller, I like to use 6" leaders when throwing certain baits IMO it helps action on some. But I like the 18"ers while trolling. For leaders I would just go to a website like Cabela's. Also I would use braid, I am not a mono fan. Unless for top water bass fishing during the hot summer months when it is too hot to fish musky. I love throwing mepps, one of my fondest memories of catching a pike was when I was about 10 yrs old. I was tossing one all day and everyone around me was catching fish except for me. My parents, cousins, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles you name it. I was fishing for about two hours off the boat when we pulled up on a small patch of lilly pads. I was feeling down as I wanted to catch a fish, so I told myself that I would give it a few more casts before calling it a day. First cast I threw out a big pike smashed the lure and went air born to shake the hooks, It's not often that I see that, and still have not seen one go air born like that one did. She was a fat 12lber. Not sure on length though, as back then no one took measurements just weights. I swear I have never been so tired and happy all at the same time. I like throwing big spoons, when I see one that is generally sized for musky fishing I will take that to a lake without musky (but know has big pike) and toss it all day. I have caught some pigs doing that. I tend to stick with spoons and spinners when fishing pike, but my wife is all about the crank baits. I guess it just depends on what makes you confident. | ||
| SLE |
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Posts: 29 | That's awsome, by your description of lures and such it sounds like I'm on the right track. Nothing better than some visual pike fishing, even more so if they actually come out of the water like you described! Had one come out of the water right at the boat as a last ditch effort to grab my bait as I was lifting it back into the boat for another cast. it missed the lure but scared the bejesus out me and my wife, absolutely astonishing none the less. Cann't say I've ever had anything like that happen when walleye fishing! I did manage to catch two pike this year and had what I suspected as two pike hits while retreiving small perch while walleye fishing. Obviously we got two of them in so I know exactly what happend however of the two we didn't land one let go and I ended up with a mangled 6" perch (suppose it could have been a hog of a walleye but I doubt it), while the other time I'm fairly certain I was realing in a small perch 6" or less when I had a huge hit on the line, tugged twice and severed the lindy I was using! Nothing like fishing for the Top of the Food Chain in the lake! The other thing that amazed me were some of the battle scares that some of the bigger pike had. I swear some of them looked like another fish tryed to make a meal of them and I'm not talking about a hanmmer handle, some of the 10+ lbers had some pretty serious scars! | ||
| muskie24/7 |
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Posts: 909 | Fish with teeth rock! 
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