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Do you want to catch pike? Pike has a voracious appetite and is one of the main predators in the waters. They are hard fighters and are a serious challenge for any angler. In this article, we will discuss pike fishing tips to help you be successful in taking pike home.
Table of Contents
Pike Fishing Tips
1. Pike loves aquatic vegetation. They are at home there and chase down their prey. Look for pike in weed lines, pad fields, reed or wild rice beds, lily pads, grass, overhanging trees, and bushes.
2. Pike loves the shallow areas with a lot of vegetation to provide protection and avenues for ambushing their prey. Fish for pike in these shallow areas that are close to the margins.
3. Fish for pike early morning and late evenings. During summer, the pike is very active early in the morning. Get there just before daylight. Additionally, late evenings when it is dusk are great for pike fishing. They use the fading sunlight as cover to come out.
4. During winter, look for pike near drop-offs. Many baitfish will be in the drop-offs and pike will lurk there to target the baitfish.
5. The deep and calm backwaters in rivers are also areas to target for pike during winter and early spring.
6. Pike is an extremely hard fighter. Don’t underestimate the fight it will put up. Get a strong mainline for the violent fight that will ensue.
7. Pike are big fish and will require a big net. Don’t lose the pike because you bought a small net.
8. Use wire leaders. Pike have very sharp teeth and wire leaders are just what you need.
9. Fish for pike also in the night. Many anglers do night fishing for other types of fish. You can also fish for pike at night. They feed in shallower water at night and it might be easier to get them when you fish at night in the shallow areas and margins.
10. Be quiet and move gently. Pike are very sensitive to noise, movements, and other threats from the land when they are near the shore. Keep your shadow off the water. Additionally, wear dark colors to blend with the trees along the shoreline.
11. Change your lures. Use different types, sizes, and colors of lures. You might be surprised by the combination that works on a particular day.
12. Always try to strike a conversation with other anglers. You might be surprised about how much valuable information you can gather from a chat with another angler.
13. Always use sharp hooks and have strong hook sets. Pike’s mouth is lined with sharp piercing teeth. You will need sharp hooks to drive deep down into its mouth. You won’t have any chance of hooking into pikes without sharp hooks.
14. Wearing polarized sunglasses will help you clearly see in the water.
15. Vary your retrieves for every lure you toss. Experiment with different retrieves and observe what was the result. Reeling in fast, sometimes slow. Try jerking action to the bait and at other times try abrupt jerks as well as subtle mini-jerks.
16. Learn the difference between males and females. The males are smaller but more aggressive. The females are larger than the males and more cautious about striking a lure.
17. Fish in deeper water early in the morning during early spring because pike will be resting in the warmer and deeper water.
18. Big female pikes feed more in cold water. Many pike anglers catch their biggest pike in cold water when the temperature is below 50 degrees.
19. Fall is one of the best times to go pike fishing. They will be aggressively feeding to put on weight for the winter months that are coming. This is especially true for females and who will be producing eggs and will need all the energy to develop the eggs.
20. Find where whitefish are located. they are prime targets for pike as they have fat meat and soft-rayed fins that are easier for pike to eat and swallow. Find Whitefish and you will have found one of the food sources of pike.
21. Start fishing heavily in March as pike starts feeding to prepare for the spawning period. Pike will become more active as the sunlight get warmer and the days are longer.
22. Pike likes to reside in deep breaks near bays with a lot of vegetation in Spring. They also will live near steep breaks close to weed beds. They like these areas in Spring for feeding in deeper water and spawning in shallow water.
23. Use dead bait in early spring either under a bobber rig or without a strike indicator.
24. If you use dead bait in early spring, always raise your bait a few feet from the bottom. Pike will be on the lookout for food that is suspended above the weeds and not buried in it.
25. Use long nose pliers for a safe and easy unhooking of the fish.
26. If you are fishing a pike, get a jaw spreader. It is very dangerous and difficult to try opening its mouth with your hands. Don’t ever do that.
27. Bring a wire cutter. Sometimes you will need to cut your wire trace when the pike is hooked too deeply.
28. Don’t be too hasty to strike right away when you get a take. Wait a few seconds. Pike usually attack their prey from the side and then slowly turn the fish in their mouth, preparing to swallow it head-first.
29. Use two treble hooks. This will increase your chances of successfully hooking the pike. Pike’s mouth is very big and it is easy for the hook to miss the target.
30. Use armor gloves to work with pike mouths. Pike’s teeth are large, sharp, and plentiful. There are 700 razor-sharp teeth that can quickly and seriously injure you.
Best Lure & Baits
1. Swimbaits
2. Spinnerbaits
3. Spoons
4. Crankbaits
5. Jigs
6. Jerkbaits
7. Soft Baits
8. Topwater
The Bottom Line
The Pike is truly an exciting fish to target. It has a great appetite, is very aggressive, and grows to a very large size. It is the consummate predator and gamefish. In this article, we discuss pike fishing tips to help you be a better angler for pike. It is our hope that whether you are a beginner pike angler or an experienced angler, there will be takeaways that can help you improve your fishing skills. If you also fish for bass, this article on bass fishing tips can help you take more bass home.
