Any of you than can recommend a place where a guy can rent a cabin/boat for a week and get in on some serious good/huge pike?

My dad wants to go someplace where I can consistently get onto some good pike - not numbers but big pike.

We have places where we can catch 30 to 60 pike a day in that 25 inch to 30 inch class - he's looking for someplace where he can catch upper 30's and in the 40's and have a good shot at doing it.

Something that won't break the bank? Even if he has to take my brother's boat - a lake where he can rent a cabin etc?

Does such a place exist?

Oh Canada.....

Dober

Not MN or Wisc (nor Canada) but the huge Oahe resevour in SD is a trophy pike fishery especially very early spring with first ice-out in the back bays. These usually have a dark silt or mud bottom so warm much faster than the main body. These bays are where huge brood pike come and fishing big chubs can land huge fish. Access might be the biggest challenge though I 'm sure there's road access to some these and also by water if enough ice is out of the main body.

I know they take some big pike in the Mississippi backwaters down by Red Wing in shallow water on the late ice. I know a few guys that fish dead bait deadsticked on the bottom down there and get some really big toothy critters.

For many years I had it in for big northerns. The best places know of to catch them are around the twin cities. I know where to find them that run in the high 30 in range, but beyond that, there is nowhere south of Ontario that consistently will produce a many in the upper 40 inch range.

If I wanted to spend a week catching 40 inch and bigger fish I'd go to Lake Nipigon about the first week of June and I'd go out into the lake and fish shallow dark bottomed bays and the lakes on the big islands. No cabins, no accommodations at all, but the fish are there. Dangerous lake for small boats and people unused to big water. There used to be an outfit that would take a houseboat out with a few small boats on it. Without an 18 foot deep hull boat though you are stuck in one place if the wind blows much at all. That lake and open water is a good place to die in a 14 foot shallow hull boat if the wind comes up. Not much different than Superior.

If you want a quality experience with some big northerns and some big muskies available, there is one place. I could get get a few big ones in a weeks time. If you know what you are about you could too, more likely only one big one for a newb.

46" Muskie via my 9' 9wt fly rod in Minne

Merry Christmas all

Dober

Dober! You look so happy with that thing! Why?

I work hard to avoid them most of the time.

More than likely a state and maybe world record for a fly rod musky, a dream come true for me. Now if I can just break the 50" mark...

Are you being TIC or serious that you try to avoid them?

Dober

Dead serious. Mostly I am fishing with UL rigs for other species. I see them often enough. There s really no way to handle them with that tackle. Same with the big northerns in Nipigon. I used to go there for the specs. Not going to eat the northerns or muskies, and don't want to kill them or even risk it.

Last one of them like that I caught went >20,<25 lbs on a UL rig w/4lb line. Took forever to get my Rapala back and then I had to resuscitate that bugger for way too long. Wasted more than half my fishing time. Usually they just bite off the Rap and you're done. How do you keep that from happening on a flyrod?

Huh, interesting. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I pretty look at fly fishing as the ultimate challenge irregardless to species of fish.

Do you fly fish at all? We need to get some time on the h20 together so you can get a feel for what it's like to throw a pike/muskie fly on a 9' 9 wt or 9' 10 wt. After an afternoon of trying to sort out how to toss one of those rigs you may have a decent appreciation for what fly fishing is all about.

Me thinks if you fly fished a a bit you'd sort out in a hurry why I feel that catching a big musky and or pike on a fly rod is so special.

Dober

Used to fly fish. Still do on occasion. Biggest I managed on a fly rod was a 13 lb northern. Much rather catch nice smallies on a fly rod.

The places I do that might be able to cure you of this mental illness that's got you messing with them toothy things.

Smallies might just do it, maybe...

Dober

I go to Long Lake in Ont. with Northern Woods Lodge early June. Nice cabins and boats or bring your own boat. Enough in the 36" to 42" to keep it interesting.