Understanding Pike Behaviour

Mature northern pike are impressive fish. Their massive size and terrorizing demeanor lure fishermen into the remote North Country where these fish thrive. When a monster pike strikes at boat side, the experience is unlike any other adventure in freshwater.
Pike are different from other species in many ways. These fish change their habitat requirements and daily habits as they mature. Anglers who understand the physiological changes pike experience with age have an edge in anticipating the best places to find pike and when peak fishing times occur. Those who don’t understand pike are doomed to catch nothing but “hammer handle” sized specimens.

It Starts with the Spawn

Northern pike spawn early. The first pike began staging to spawn when ice still covers most of a lake. Shallow, dark-bottomed bays shed their ice first. The adjoining marshes and brush flooded by spring melt waters are the preferred spawning haunts of pike.
Immediately after spawning, big females take up temporary residence along shallow-water bays where the water is a few degrees warmer than the main lake. It’s here they recover from the spawn and soon begin feeding.
Sand-bottomed bays will attract pike, but most fish favor dark-bottomed bays that warm quickly in the spring sun. Water temperature plays a major role in catching pike this time of year. Immediately following the spawn, the water is only about 40 degrees.
Pike, while willing to feed in cold water, tend to be lethargic. The best fishing action takes place in the afternoon when the sun has warmed the water and the pike’s naturally aggressive spirit a few degrees.

Targeting Post-Spawn Pike

Classic pike lures such as over sized spoons with catch fish in these conditions, bit the retrieve speed required to get the right action leads to a lot of “follows” and few savage strikes. Lures that can be worked more slowly, such as oversized jerkbaits, jumbo soft-plastic lures and jigs are rigged with plastic, are a better choice for targeting pike immediately following the spawn. The slower retrieve of these baits makes them irresistible to spring pike.
As the water warms to the 50-degree range, other popular and more aggressive pike baits become effective. Now’s the time to throw a combination if oversized spoons, bucktails, high-action crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Should the weather suddenly turn cold, more subtle action lures will again become necessary.
This period of shallow-water action is short-lived. As soon as the water approaches 60 degrees, big pike abandon shallow bays and seek deeper, cooler waters. Finding them as they disperse throughout the lake becomes hit of miss.

The Two Rod Approach

When targeting pike, it’s always a good idea to keep two rods rigged and ready with different lure types. Certain lures such as spoons are workhorses that can be cast great distances and cover a lot of water. The spoon won’t always close the deal, however. If a pike strikes at and misses a spoon respond quickly by tossing a jerkbait that can be worked a little slower into the same spot and watch out.

Another good two rod/two lure combination includes a spinnerbait and a hig rigged with a large soft-plastic bait.

Prime Spots

The shallow bays are favored by pike in early spring tend to have specific features. The best bays are those with 4 to 8 feet of water, a dark bottom and weeds above and below the surface of the water. Common pondweed, smartweed, pencil reeds and cattail are all excellent weed types that attract and hold pike.
Bays that have a river or small creek flowing into them are also prime spots. The flowing water attracts baitfish and in turn holds pike nearby.
Remote waters and fishing spots are always better. The most remote lakes with limited fishing activity are going to produce more and bigger pike than lakes that experience heavy fishing pressure. Also, lakes with a good population of suckers, whitefish, ciscoes, smelt and other soft-rayed forage species produce the most impressive sway-bellied pike. A lake that doesn’t have these forage types will rarely produce monster pike.
Bigger lakes and bigger back bays with lots of these critical features hold more trophy pike. Small isolated bays or lakes may produce some trophy fish, but usually not enough big fish to be considered serious destinations.
Big pike are actually a rare commodity. Only the best lakes with the best features routinely produce trophy fish. This is the reason most monster pike are caught at fly-in lakes where the habitat is ideal and fishing pressure modest. If these lakes have a catch-and-release policy, the odds of catching a trophy are even better.

Summing It Up

Catching more and bigger pike is a study in how these fish require specific habitat types and water temperatures. Match this knowledge on select waters, throw the right lures and the mystery of catching monster pike suddenly becomes an open book.




Extra info

When targeting pike, it’s always a good idea to keep two rods rigged and ready with different lure types. Certain lures, such as spoons and workhorses, that can be cast great distances and cover a lot of water.

Written by Mark Romanack - Found in the Cabela's Outfitter Journal June