Something I have been curious about lately. Does working a lure at the boat in a figure 8 work for Northerns like it does for Musky?

At times�.

One of the best things Ive seen for pike is counter-intuitive. If one is following the lure, snatch it away from him as quickly as you can, then throw back to the same spot. I promise you won't get it away from him a second time.

Everyones impulse is to slow the lure down so he hits it. Do the opposite, make it appear like its trying to get away.

Very good point.

Thanks. Never thought of that.

When we see them following to the boat we'll slow the lure almost to a stop and then not quite jerk it but pull it away in an escape motion. Triggers a strike if they're inclined, sometimes they're not. If not we'll short cast over them to give them another look though splashing a lure down right in front of them can be a good tactic too with the splash triggering a strike particularly if they are a little better than neutral.

If trolling a spoon (use a ball-bearing swivel), let your rod tip drift back a bit and then snap it forward - will sometimes turn a follow (if it's there) into a strike.

The figure 8 works good if you see them coming for it close to the boat. One time I had a pike come up 10' from the boat, at a buzzbait I was throwing for muskies, and it saw the boat or me and took a dive out of sight. I made large oval with the rod about 2' in the water and the pike came up and nailed the buzzbait before I completed the oval. I use a large oval instead of a "8" in the water. That is the only pike I've caught on a figure 8 though, and I end every cast with a figure 8 weather I see a fish following or not. Other than that fish all the pike I've caught have been at least 20' from the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj7XEpUed4I

My wife made a short pike video,,all the haters blasted her for rough fish handling,,it just went into the dogpot anyway!

Ha! That was a great video!!

most often an immediate speed "increase" after a short strike
will initiate a hookup when trolling for northerns.
it works on saltwater species like wahoo also. its always good
to make slight changes in your trolling speed and direction
on occaision.

Best northern technique I know is to try to concentrate only on walleyes. ;-{>8

That's when I catch those hammer handles, would swear it's the same one over and over again.

Yeah, my best northerns came when I was bottom bouncing for walleye.

My 42 incher came that way though not bottom bouncing. Was working a tickle tail (think fuzz-e grub) with a minnow across mud flats about ten feet deep in hopes of enticing a negative walleye. Light action rod with 6# line made for some fun! There are big carp in that lake and I thought I had one. Horsed it to the surface and then all hell broke loose.

42" is my tops as well. Came on a #9 Rapala while making a big turn.

Didnt measure it. Would this one make 42?




An earlier one did make 42�I measured him�.

Nice fishes!

(You are aware of the UFO in the top picture, right?)

Nice indeed! Hope the UFO guys didn't steal your spot.

You wont believe this but we actually saw a bonafide UFO over that same lake one day�seriously.

Pard caught a couple 42 inchers�.

Nice fish, I wish you gentlemen would do us a favor, and wear a PFD. Then you can post more pictures next year.

Is that 15# denoting 15 pounds? Seems a bit light for 42. (Not saying it isn't 42, just surprised by the weight, although it does look a bit thin compared to the second one.) What always impresses me with good-sized northerns is how thick they are through the "shoulders".

Yeah that is 15 pounds, caught soon after ice out. We have found if we catch the same fish in late summer they will weigh out#20 or so�that one is thin�.

Same pard a few years later with another skinny one�

That one only went 12 pounds, but was shy of the 42 inch mark by a couple inches...

Going by pounds is "fishy" to me. One spring I caught a 24 incher with a tail sticking out of its mouth. Good eating size and on cleaning I found a partially digested 12 inch northern. So for weight would it be with or without dinner? The amazing thing to me was it would still strike a spoon.

Caught three or four like that. We hardly ever weigh them, especially the big ones because we want them swimming away healthily as quickly as possible.Hardly ever eat the things, just love catching them�never eat a big one.

Most lakes around here have plenty in the worth-the-trouble to 24 inch or so range so it's common to keep them (was caught in Pickerel Lake, oddly enough ) Bigger are easier to fillet and taste just fine, nice and mild. Some people here keep them all but I like to hope for a repeat performance if it's bigger than common. And we don't like to keep more than a meal or two on hand so after that it's release. A guy needs an excuse go go fishing again next week, no?

I'm not much of a fish eater anyway, and our favorite lake for pike is in Alberta, and is catch and release only. The fishing is phenomenal so I can't argue the fine points of the strategy.By provincial law its all single barbless hook and we use ultra light tackle to make it even more fun. Headed back up in August. Cant wait!

Don't complain about the hammer handles. They eat just as well as walleye. Options: fillet the y bones out; run them through a grinder and mix with favorite spices and make fish patties (awsome good); pickle them (dissolves the fork bones) or smoke them (you don't mind working around the fork bones to get the meat!)

I have embarrassing pictures from the day before catch and release was even mentioned. We used to fish NW Ontario after ice out for big pike on the surface in shallow water. In canoes. . They could not go down, so they went out and up! And towed you around a bit. Good clean fun.

Once caught a mouse in our food pack. Jury quickly sentenced it to death. I took a treble hook and put a rubber band around the mouse and the hook. We had heard a large pike in an eddy in the river above our campsite, but none of us could catch it. I got into a canoe and took the mouse to the opposite side of the river from camp, and half-hitched it to a bush. Paddled back to camp letting line out. Got out and pulled the mouse into the current. The submarine came up and hit the mouse - fish came completely out of the water, and the mouse was 5 feet in the air. Mouse did not move when he hit the water again. . I tightened the line and twitched him. The fight was on. After running up and down the river bank, i landed and release a 25# brute. Seems if pike hit something and miss, they don't hit again unless it moves slightly. Although I shouldn't say that - it may be that they would eat it anyway, but I get impatient waiting for them to come back!

Sounds like Great Whites after seals.

I'm excited to get out and fish for pike! There are 3 or 4 great pike lakes within 40 miles of here. I haven't quite figured them out though. I've thrown everything at them and have a follow or slight tap every once in a while but can't figure out what they will really go after. I've used inline spinners, regular spinners, big rapalas, small rapalas, spoons in all shapes/size/color, etc. I'm not giving up though. I caught a bunch of hammer handles on a camping trip during high school but can't remember what part of summer it was. I'm determined to catch some this summer. I'm tired of catching little trout!

The best pike fishing I've experienced was free-lance fly-in fishing in my home province of Saskatchewan. We'd get there in the spring just after ice-out and troll through muskeg bays, usually with #2 Len Thompson five of diamonds spoons. You'd be hard pressed to get your partner to glance to the other side of the boat over a 15 pounder. My best was 31.5 pounds.

The shallow water fish were a lot of fun, taking long runs til you can see the bottom of a bait caster.Then you either stop them and work them back or just drive the boat over and get some line back on your reel. Although I have used lighter walleye grade tackle successfully it lead to too many fish being played past exhaustion. When you kill one of those big girls you will feel like you ran over a deer.

The biggest pike tended to come in like they were a dead log until they see the boat. Occasionally you could net them at that point if you were quick about it, but you're unlikely to do that more than once. More normally the fish would spook and head for the horizon and it would be zinnnnnnnnnng, pause, zinnnnng pause, zing "start the boat". The little guys like 10 and 15s are actually more fun in some ways but they just don't have the broad backed, draft horse style straight line pulling power.

Did I mention I like pike? my friends were mostly there for the lakers.

I have had beau coup fun catching pike in your province! A couple unnamed lakes and a couple which shall remain nameless.

Who needs to name them all, there's nobody there to say the name to anyway. ;)We figured out one time that if a fellow was to fish a different lake everyday he would be done in 274 years give or take a few. Or, if you prefer open water fishing make it two per day. Some other provinces have a similar amount.

Ha! Yup. Awesome video, Waterrat!

When fishing for Northerns here in the fall, we will often times be casting to sunken brush in sloughs/creeks. Many times in mid retrieve, when I discover my line is draped over a submerged limb/brush, I let the lure/spoon completely stop and sit still, then dangle/vertical jig it a bit before trying to dislodge it. This has resulted in convincing pike (often good ones) to strike often enough that I have adopted it as SOP. I assume they are fish that were following it and are thus convinced the prey is expiring? It is a hard motion to replicate without being imminently 'stuck' first...and it does require looong leaders, a little bit of faith and being able to let lost gear run off your back...but it works...and a monster pike is a great way to get your lure unstuck.

Perhaps our greatest conglomeration of big fish success on one trip using this method...and we probably only lost 20 bucks in Krocodile spoons to earn this pic...


And disregard that guy in the blue vest - here's my fish eating his for not producing a specimen worthy of our trophy shot