Trolling for fall pike

[Cudz]

I rarely target pike but I might just give a go this weekend. My understanding is that bigger pike move out to deeper water in the fall. I will be trolling between 23 and 40ft. What lures do you recommend.

 

I have a few deep taildancers, some bigger storm lures, some big husky jerks, some big spinners and spinnerbaits, some sebile magic swimmers, all types and sizes of lipless cranks and of course spoons. Do you recommend a dipsy diver or should I try a three way swivel with 1-2 oz weight or should I just troll the baits as they are without an aid to assist them get deeper? I only have 2 days on the lake, so I am trying to eliminate some options so I can focus on a few.

 

I am not really interested in 30" pike here. I can catch those. I want fish that are closer to 40" (don't we all).

 

I am open to any suggestions. THe lake I will be fishing will be just north of Muskoka if that makes a difference.

[kickingfrog]

Limited help for fall pike here, but I'll start.

 

In most central Ontario lakes the big pike will head for cooler water has summer gets warmer, and then move back shallow as things cool off in fall. I've found fall pike in spots similar to June, weeds (not the thick slop) and shoals near deeper water. I haven't trolled for them either. Like I said, limited help.

 

I think you're fine for lures.

 

Other factors:

 

Does the lake have enough deep water?

How did the summer weather impact the water temps?

Does the lake have many big pike? It's always a numbers game.

 

 

 

Good luck.

Edited September 21, 2009 by kickingfrog

[Cookslav]

Hey Cudz,

 

We were after Pickerel last weekend but we ended up hammering pike on 3" clown pattern X-raps...nothing huge unfortunatley.

The Big fish was 30" and we managed 12 between noon and 3pm so it was a fun 3 hours non the less.

 

We worked the high pressure pretty hard Friday night through Saturday to no avail but Sunday they came on.

All fish were caught while trolling extemely slow...we're talking about a crawl slow enough to "just" wobble the bait.

We were flat lining and running planners but we found the magic depth was 18'-20' of water where the temp measured around 64 degrees.

Like I said we were targeting Pickerel, so I was looking for bait fish pods, shelfs, and humps etc...

Iincidentally the Pike seemed to like the tradtional eye habbitat LOL....

Its worth mentioning Clown color seemed to be key?

Once I pulled in 3 my Brother switched...then he started catching as well.

Could be a fluke but there is something about that pattern and fall fish for me...

I have never caught a warm weather fish on that color, yet its been a magic fall patern for me, landing me my 2 biggest Pickeral, and 2 of my largest pike?

Anyway,

Not a single eye caught but still a fun time on the water.

Cheers

[Raf]

we catch big pike (40" class) in the fall by trolling large, deep diving muskie lures (hookers, plows, perchbaits, etc.). sometimes using wire-line, sometimes just braid. typically we keep the baits in the 18-25' range, banging structure (usually rock) often and hard. points, shoals, whatever, as long as there's deep water nearby.

[Dabluz]

I use the same technique as Raf. The lures have to be large. The really big pike often try to steal the walleyes on our chain. Difficult to say what are the best lures and I would even say that which lure to use is less important than the size of the lure and depth you will be trolling.

[redneck666]

well, did you see "worm dangler's" report on that monster pike? 40" pike caught on a worm harness while trolling and if your a walleye fisherman im sure you've used worm harnesses, i usually use those for big pike but the biggest i've recieved so far is a healthy 30"er on a lindy wire worm harness (silver blades, red beads, 3 hooks) just remember that sometimes the bigger the lure doesnt always mean the bigger the fish. pike are honestly the fish i target most, along with salmon, whitefish, and walleye. my biggest pike have always come while trolling harnesses over weed beds for walleye. and that big 40" from "worm dangler" was caught in a weed bed in about 14-15FOW i think.... i was gunna fish that spot last weekend and i should've! lol.. i find that peoples tackle selections get a little complicated when fishing for these voracious fish and my tackle is light and works very well for what i target.... well anyhow good luck out there!

 

 

JP

Edited September 22, 2009 by bigredneck

[Greencoachdog]

I use the same technique as Raf. The lures have to be large. The really big pike often try to steal the walleyes on our chain.

 

 

Sounds like a SSR in Walleye color patten would be a good choice for those conditions!!!

[bucktail]

Like the guys have said, trolling large body baits in the 15 to 25 " range is the way to go.

Concentrate on the primary drops especially near large food shelves.

In another week or so aftera few cold nights try power trolling large spinnerbaits over the tops of large weed flats, especially on the first cold drizzly days.

Large fish will venture up on these flats and start to feed.

[pike slayer]

i wasnt really targetting large pike when i hooked into that 40" i was after some afternoon eyes, but big pike do love spinners. In the later fall i troll big #14 x-raps in 10-20feet of water over shoals, any large crankbaits will do. i find once the temps start to drop the big pike come in closer to shore.

[TennesseeGuy]

I plan to be above the 51st during the October 3 week. Will give pike a chance in shallow bays, moving water and anywhere I find fish that pike like to eat. I'll hit deeper water with an Esox Cobra tipped with a sucker. During fall I usually pick up nice pike while fishing for walleyes with jigs. Fishing jigs in flats (10' - 14') has produced well for me. My lake is relatively shallow, but full of huge pike and tons of small to medium walleyes.

 

I may troll for an hour or so, but probably not at all.

 

Nobody else is scheduled in camp for the week. Lots of water to myself.

[Dabluz]

A couple of years ago, I was pike fishing in a lake right outside of Quebec City. This lake gets a lot of fishing pressure. I saw an old guy fishing with a huge flourescent orange Suick about 16 inches long. I found that was quite weird for a lake with such fishing pressure but he told me that he has a cottage nearby and it was the only way to consistently catch big pike in that lake. I didn't see him catch any pike but I'm sure what he told me was right.

 

I remember when I was a kid that guys who specialized in catching really big pike used large suckers as bait. If they were using frozen suckers up to 3 or 4 lbs in weight, they would step on the sucker in order to push all the air out of the sucker so that it would sink. They used big floats on the ends of hand lines to keep the sucker off the bottom. I often saw them with 20 to 45 lb pike. Most of these fishermen were Polish immigrants in Northern Quebec and a few owned a butcher shop. I'm sure that they sold the pike they caught to other immigrants. This was over 50 years ago. For us Quebecers, we were not interested in catching pike, we fished for walleye. The big pike we caught were accidental catches.

[skrillaguerilla]

i like using rapala j-13's with a little bit of extra weight if necessary. I usually catch the bigger ones when trolling points and underwater shoals 15-25 f.o.w.. Pike like to hide and ambush stuff as it passes by them. Big ones are lazy and will sit in the slack current behind the points and shoals, and come up to strike the lure as it passes over them. On lakes with no weeds and fist sized rocks on the bottom, i like to let the rapala dig into the bottom and kick up dust every so often. Make sure you give the rod a good sweep every so often. sometimes followers will strike when the lure speeds up. 3-5km/h is a good speed to start with, unless you're in a cold front, then slow it down a bit. i like the jointed lures because they always wiggle no matter what speed you go.

[Skud]

It probably wouldn't hurt to to cast over shallow weedbeds(6-12 fow) near deep water first thing in the morning and late afternoon. Those big gators will move up to feed in warmer temps for short periods in low light conditions.

[Jack-of-all-fish]

Two lures are all you need to troll with for big pike.

1/Lucky Strike- Old Wooden Plug (Canadian Tire special)

2/Depth Raider - Shiner or perch pattern depending on baitfish in your particular lake

Troll in 15-25 feet of water off of points and weedbeds at 1.8 to 2.2 mph

Jack.

[Dabluz]

One excellent lure can be found at a Dollarama store. It's a large banana type lure. However, if you want to use 50 lb test line and for really big pike, I don't trust the lure to be tough enough. The hooks should be replaced before using this lure. It doesn't dive very deep but the action is beautiful. I use this lure when I don't want to bother with a wire leader. If I lose the lure....I don't mind. Any of my hooks that I use for fishing are worth more than what Dollarama sells the banana lure.....lol.

[misfish]

It probably wouldn't hurt to to cast over shallow weedbeds(6-12 fow) near deep water first thing in the morning and late afternoon. Those big gators will move up to feed in warmer temps for short periods in low light conditions.

 

 

I was going to say the same thing. I would sooner cast,then troll for them.

[solopaddler]

Was going to say...if you're after bigger pike in the Muskoka area in the fall I'd be fishing a large sucker minnow on a jig over deep structure.

 

Connie already mentioned that in his very informative reply.

[solopaddler]

Forgot to mention, but if you want to fish hardware try an oversized white spinnerbait tipped with a large dead sucker (do you see a pattern here?). Obviously you'd need to use a stinger as well..

 

Slow rolled over deep submerged weeds or structure it's always worked for me in more pressured waters.

[steverowbotham]

Troll 8-10inch Believers