I love fishing for pike and have an Ontario trip coming up where we will hit them hard. Biggest last year was 44.5 inches.
Couple of random tips I have learned the hard way (you prolly already know most of them, but maybe there is a tidbit in here somewhere!):
Use cross-lok snaps and good leaders. I used Titanium or Flourocarbon leaders. Those cheap snaps will open right up.
Inline bucktails are becoming more and more my go to lure of choice. Big cranks work well too. Jerkbaits also work well. I dont like spoons even though many people like them. Jigs work well too on fish that arent too active. I will usually just fish them with my walleye rig and expect to lose a few jigs.
Best line I have found is Tuf Line. I use 35#.
I hand land fish up to about 36-38".....unless the back treble is not in the fish. That is a time I might put one in the net. Watch the smaller ones, the crazy shakers. Those are the ones that will put a hook in ya.
Look up a youtube video on taking the Y bones out. It is easy to do.
When you are releasing a fish, just before it is ready to swim away, slide down and give its tail a little squeeze right ahead of the "fin" part of the tail. Make a point to do this when your buddy is leaning over looking at the fish from the rear.
Make sure you have good pliers and jaw spreaders.
Dont hold a big fish completely vertical as it can be hard on its spine. If you are gonna release the fish, have the camera ready, the pliers, jaw spreaders, etc so you minimize the time out of the water.
If you get a follow from a nice fish but it wont bite, give it about 3-5 minutes and hit it with a different lure.
I will re-emhasize one point: Watch those crazy wild head shaking little ones. You put one of those in the boat still green and you are unleashing a tazmanian devil!
