Shore fishing river pike

[manitoubass2]

After a few days of watching pike in a local bay, and missing a few beauties, I'd be interested to see how the OFC'ers would approach this situation.

 

It's a shallow bay, varying between 3ft deep to 15 ft deep. On the left, we have some vegitation and rocks, mainly shallow, with a small amount of current.

 

To the right, we have a a slope, some overhanging trees, a tree half submerged, and a shallow sandbar to exit the bay. Current is a little heavier on this side, and is very close to a walleye spawning grounds.

 

To the center, a drop of from 4ft to 12ft, rock and pebble bottom.

 

Water levels are seasonably high, water is starting to clear, visibility is about 4-6 ft. Water temps are 43 degrees, slight wind from the west, south west.

 

I can see the fish, and many of them are feeding on or just below the surface. I've put in a good 10-12 hours on this spot in the past two days, and just can't get them to take. I've searched the whole water column with different techniques, different baits, different retrieve speeds etc. And so far, not much luck. A few 25"ers but I can see fish in the 40" range, lol.

 

anyhow, any help is much appreciated

 

Submerged tree on the left side

 

 

said bay is in the backround, we take huge walleye right of this bay

 

 

Another beauty

 

[bigbuck]

Try a big sucker minnow 5-8 inches in length on a 3/0 or 4/0 hook and a bobber a few feet up. Toss in and wait. The early pike can be notorious for being finnicky and closed mouthed. Give it a shot, works like a charm for us in Muskoka for the opener.

[manitoubass2]

Try a big sucker minnow 5-8 inches in length on a 3/0 or 4/0 hook and a bobber a few feet up. Toss in and wait. The early pike can be notorious for being finnicky and closed mouthed. Give it a shot, works like a charm for us in Muskoka for the opener.

 

Hmmm. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the input

[manitoubass2]

Can you see WHAT it is they are feeding upon?

 

If I knew nothing about the area I would fish the shallower, vegetated, less current areas.

 

Have you tried big flippin' jigs with a chunk / craw trailer? I've caught more pike than bass with those.

 

No, I can't see what they are eating. It's either some type of beetle, or it's the baby frogs. It's hard to tell since I broke my polarized glasses the other day.

 

I actually did try some different jig/trailer combos yesterday. I was using Berkley craws black/red flake. Tried on a few different flippin jigs, black, black/green, black/blue, white/chart.

 

I also tossed some spinner baits with/without trailers. some 4ft and some 6-8ft cranks, some flat raps, live bait/jigs

[ckrb2007]

Blue Chrome suspending husky jerk has always been good to me when fishing for gators. "jerk, jerk, pause........jerk, jerk, pause" Hmmmmm...I really gotta think before I type! lol

[tb4me]

Id go with the minnow suckers and a bobber. They seem to work best for me in the early spring..I hope to test that theroy this weekend!!

[manitoubass2]

I also used some Gulp minnows on various jigs, chart. and minnow colors. I tried gulp minnows on floating jigs as well for the first time, the action was awesome, I couldn't believe they didn't want it.

 

The few decent ones came on flat rap firetiger, a shadalicious swimbait/jighead and a live minnow on a knuckle ball jig resting on bottom.

 

Today I'll try some new things, see what happens

[Gregoire]

Have you tried topwaters?

[Leecher]

I would try a Jitterbug and Zara Spook since none of the other lures worked I'd even throught a red and white spoon

Edited April 27, 2011 by Leechman

[Pikeslayer]

Dead baiting is my go to for season opener.

 

Slayer.

Edited April 27, 2011 by pikeslayer

[manitoubass2]

Have you tried topwaters?

 

Yes sir.

 

I tried a few frogs (although the water is cold). I see the frogs in the water so it was worth a try. I tried burning them in, tried a jerk/pause, jerk jerk pause, even popped the water, no takers.

 

I tried a few top water crawfish baits I have from Storm.

 

I used a clown subwalk which has worked great on other occasions.

 

I tried a few shallow cranks as well, 1-2ft

[Harrison]

Just a heads up, if you try alot of different things you may just end up spooking them.

 

I like the slip float with a sucker myself, stealth can be key in these conditions.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Harrison

[tipupesox]

Try a jerk shad style plastic bait, Texas rigged. You can work these baits high in the water column with a slow retrieve.

[manitoubass2]

Just a heads up, if you try alot of different things you may just end up spooking them.

 

I like the slip float with a sucker myself, stealth can be key in these conditions.

 

Yeah, for sure. Keep in mind this is over a period of a few days

[Pikeslayer]

MB,

I'd be careful about advice from competing team members . You never no who you can trust right? Looks like you're getting some good solid advice from your fellow team mates so you might want to ignore the other teams. Might just be 'misinformation' thrown out there to get you off your game (sorta what I posted).

So now I feel genuinely guilty . Seriously, there's no such thing as dead baiting. I just made that up in my head (I've never even caught a pike). Even if there was, it only works in England.

 

Good luck with all the other reliable suggestions. I'm sure one will work out for you.

BTW, Leechman has no clue what he's talking about either. Right Jacques??

 

Regards,

Perchslayer

Edited April 27, 2011 by pikeslayer

[manitoubass2]

MB,

I'd be careful about advice from competing team members . You never no who you can trust right? Looks like you're getting some good solid advice from your fellow team mates so you might want to ignore the other teams. Might just be 'misinformation' thrown out there to get you off your game (sorta what I posted).

So now I feel genuinely guilty . Seriously, there's no such thing as dead baiting. I just made that up in my head (I've never even caught a pike). Even if there was, it only works in England.

 

Good luck with all the other reliable suggestions. I'm sure one will work out for you.

BTW, Leechman has no clue what he's talking about either. Right Jacques??

 

Regards,

Perchslayer

 

This is the best post of the day

[johnnyb]

LOL @ pike/perchslayer

 

Manitou....if the sucker option is an easy one, that'd be the #1 choice. If that's too much hassle, then my #2 choice would be a super slow moving jerkbait. Hard bait or soft plastic...either way...sinking/suspending is key....just twitch it in place and leave it there....and tell the wife to grab you a new pair of polarized lenses!!!

[Pikeslayer]

This is the best post of the day

 

 

Glad to see your taking it seriously.

[manitoubass2]

Glad to see your taking it seriously.

 

lol, its a tourny. No different than the others I've fished in, lol.

 

Well, 2 hours before I head out, hopefully we can land some today. Weather kicked up pretty good, might be a good thing

[GBW]

don't forget these...

 

[craigdritchie]

don't forget these...

 

Uh huh!!

 

Pike in shallow water can be crazy spooky at times. Small, subtle stuff sometimes works best. Little jigs, or a little Mepps spinner, can work wonders when they ignore everything else. Fish as slowly as you can without hanging up.

 

Also try a wide, thin spoon that you can also work slowly. A smallish, thin-model Johnson Silver Minnow is good, or a Williams wobbler (change to a weedless hook if you need to).

Edited April 27, 2011 by Craig_Ritchie

[manitoubass2]

Thanks for all the input OFC community, always appreciated.

 

I'm heading out in 30 minutes, and the wind has picked up considerably. We are now looking at a storm front moving in later tonight, so.... Might be a good thing, might be a bad thing.

 

But it's all apart of becoming a better pike angler, right? lol

 

I've landed lots of big pike before, but always either bass or walleye fishing. Whenever I target pike (which is rare until this year) I never seem to seal the deal on those darn toothies

[Dozer]

Blue Chrome suspending husky jerk has always been good to me when fishing for gators. "jerk, jerk, pause........jerk, jerk, pause" Hmmmmm...I really gotta think before I type! lol

 

x2!

[fishindude]

x2 on the soft plastic jerkbait (Slug-go). I would deadstick it if there are no follows or else work it using a real slow retrieve with rod tip between 9 and 11 reeling in the slack. Work it back to the boat/shore. Also, if you aren't already, try fishing the north shore first as the water will be warmer and possibility of more active fish.

 

Cheers

[manitoubass2]

husky jerks are hard to fish in this cross current area, so I don't use them there.

 

Anyhow, it was unproductive for pike. A bunch of sturgeon moved into the bay, which was still pretty fun to watch. Look like a bunch of 6 ft sharks swimmin around the shallows.

 

All I ended up doing is sitting and watching, never had a camera with me either. I'm going back tomorrow to try and get some good pics