"Slow Tactics" for Pike?

[Rich]

I'm really pretty new to open water pike. Spare for days smashing them on fast lures on the bay, I've never put full season's effort into catching them. So far the only things that ever seem to catch them are fast moving baits. Spinnerbaits, bucktails, spoons and jerkbaits, namely. Tossing these baits is fun and semi-productive for now. But the water is heating up.

 

In all my time bass fishing I have never incidentally hooked very many pike slow crawling or drop shotting soft plastics. But there must be a way to catch inactive pike!

 

Looking for any ideas or suggestions others have for when the pike really slow down. Preferrably not live or dead bait.. i have experience with that, I know it can be a surefire method, but there must be imitations available?!

[BLOO KANOO]

In the summer try tossing a weedless spoon into weed beds. You can pull it back real slow, or jig it back to the boat. I pfrefer the Johnson Silver minnow.

You can tip it with plastic if you want, but they work well without. Just remember to sharpen the hooks on silver minnows as they are not the sharpest out of the package.

[Rich]

Interesting tip, and much appreciated!

 

I imagine you let it sink into heavy weeds and rip jig, almost as though for walleye?

 

I can see this being very deadly where I fish!!

Edited June 13, 2013 by Rich

[snagged]

 

Big tubes always seem to work for pike when the bite slows down on reaction baits.

[Rich]

Big tubes always seem to work for pike when the bite slows down on reaction baits.

How big of a tube do you like? Do you think a 4" would be big enough?

 

Sorry, noob questions. I just like to know if I'm on the right track, haha

[BLOO KANOO]

Yep. You can work it as fast or slow as you like. You will catch a lot of bass this way as well. Just like Pickeral, they will hit on the drop most times.

[Gnote]

Hi rich. In the summer the pike will go deep to tolerable water so unless you want hammerhandles i would try to find that magic 60 -65 degree water. On simcoe i troll cranks and heavy spoons sometimes as deep as 30 ft. Weedlines drops and points can all be productive. On really hot days i go carp fishing, hope this helps.

[DRIFTER_016]

Soft plastics work well for slow retrieve.

Also the Silver minnow with a split double tail trailer works well too. The trailer enables you to slow down while giving lift to the spoon.

The best thing I have found for inactive pike are flies.

I run large rabbit leeches that have a very slow fall rate. It drives the poikes wild!!!

 

This fly

 

 

Produced this fish in cold water when they wouldn't chase faster baits like the silver minnow/trailer combo

 

[JoshS]

If they've gone deep in the warm water temps, I think speed is what triggers the bites and trolling fast with big cranks like the rap magnum works. If they're castable and you want to try to slow it down, rigging a big swimbait weedless or on a bullet head. I bet they'd eat a big tube too.

[Old Ironmaker]

I second the motion to try a drop off closest to shore that drops to at least 25'. There is a method I remember reading an article authored by Gord Pyzer, he called it the "do nothing" method. He worked the weeds with large plastics and let the thing sit for 30 seconds minimum. He also dragged it down the drop off with the same do nothing approach for Northerns.

[lew]

 

Now THAT'S a pike !!

[Rich]

Excellent suggestions and a huge thanks! Will be trying some of this stuff next time out for sure.

 

And obviously the results prove success but fly fishing for pike is a step a few years ahead of me I think!

[troutologist]

Depending on what type of lake you are fishing might dictate where they are, on Lake of the Woods the biggest pike are caught (in summer) off walleye reefs 20-30 fow. Deep diving cranks work best for me.

 

In shallower situations a big sluggo will work well. Let it nose down into the bottom and shake it...especially if you can see the fish you are after. You can also cast big bunny leech flies with a spinning rod, just get them wet 1st...they hold alot of water. Along with some split shot these will get down deep. Right now we are catching better pike around the 1st points with deep water on the way out of spawning bays....water temps ranging 60-67F.

[OhioFisherman]

Crawl a heavy football jig with a frog trailer along deeper weed edges. Same with slow rolling a heavy spinner bait in deeper water.

[snagged]

How big of a tube do you like? Do you think a 4" would be big enough?

Sorry, noob questions. I just like to know if I'm on the right track, haha

4-5" is a good size

[Old Ironmaker]

I second the motion to try a drop off closest to shore that drops to at least 25'. There is a method I remember reading an article authored by Gord Pyzer, he called it the "do nothing" method. He worked the weeds with large plastics and let the thing sit for 30 seconds minimum. He also dragged it down the drop off with the same do nothing approach for Northerns.

Rich, I should have said a drop off in relative close proximity to a weed line or reed covered shoreline. I guess they move to their ambush points back and forth with using as little energy as possible. Fish are lazy to save calories. Like some of us.

[bandito]

5-6" plastic swim baits, with a jig head or rigged Texas style with big hooks. Killer!

[shimano19]

Bandito what depths and structure would you be fishing those swim baits for big gators?

[JoshS]

Depends on the type of forage in the lake too. If it's a cisco lake for instance, I'd stay away from weeds and look for steep breaks/open water for bigger pike in the summer. In the lake I've fished a lot in the summer, I'd never see a big pike near the weeds, even the best looking deep edges jutting out to open water wouldn't hold big pike anymore come summer. It's a cisco lake and all about the rock reefs or plain open water trolling in the summer.

[Rich]

Okay, well I am fishing weedy (very weedy) shallow lakes. One has a max depth of 20 feet, and the others top out around 16. I know for fact they can be found in the deepest spots in the summer, but have only had success with live or dead bait fishing deep. I hate still fishing if I don't absolutely have to do it. Lol

[danc]

Toss out a dead bait with a quick strike rig. I don't spend a whole lot of time targeting pike, but when I do, this never fails. Something stinky and oily like a smelt works best. If regs don't permit certain natural oily baits where you're fishing, a strip of raw bacon will do the trick. I remember spending an afternoon when I couldn't keep the pike off of my line with a strip of raw bacon laying on the bottom. It was so effective in fact, that I vowed not to ever use it again.

[fishindevil]

It was mentioned above rich but just even dragging a 4-6 inch swim bait along and just shake it and lift it !!!!! Along drop offs and deep water flats you might even pick up a few walleyes as later on when the pike go deeper they will be found where you would fish for walleyes !!!!i catch a fair amount of decent pike fishing for walleyes from June till September in around the 30ft depth and I'm usually bottom bouncing for walleyes and I am only trolling at 1.3-1.8mph so for a pike that's pretty slow speeds but we catch them a lot using that method !!!! Also drifting an Erie dearie with a 4inch white grub accounts for lots of pike every spring and summer !!!!! Just experiment and good luck

[bandito]

Bandito what depths and structure would you be fishing those swim baits for big gators?

With a jig head for deeper water but most luck in shallow water (3-8ft) rigged Texas style. Those baits are pretty heavy so they cast far and just switch up your retrieve to find the pattern.

[Rich]

Toss out a dead bait with a quick strike rig. I don't spend a whole lot of time targeting pike, but when I do, this never fails. Something stinky and oily like a smelt works best. If regs don't permit certain natural oily baits where you're fishing, a strip of raw bacon will do the trick. I remember spending an afternoon when I couldn't keep the pike off of my line with a strip of raw bacon laying on the bottom. It was so effective in fact, that I vowed not to ever use it again.

Funny, I had a local tell me to use chicken livers on bottom. He had apparently had similar results.

 

All I caught was catfish.. though using frozen shads seems to work well for the pike.

 

Like I said, I'd rather not use bait, live or dead.. but i do always keep a rod rigged for it just in case.