Saturday, October 18, 2025

Muskie strikes for XL pike


After almost 20 years of guiding for each trophy pike and muskie, I’ve realized invaluable insights into the habits of those members of the esox household and methods to fish for them. Whereas there are similarities within the method to pursuing these apex predators, there’s additionally distinct variations value noting.

Successfully concentrating on giant pike calls for the instruments and mindset of a muskie angler. Nonetheless, the technique for constantly discovering huge pike differs considerably from that employed for muskie — and even smaller pike.

XL pike, XS pike

One of the vital notable issues I’ve realized is that huge pike and little pike are two very totally different creatures. Little pike are considerable and have a tendency to high school collectively in similar-sized teams. That is effectively and good when you’re searching for motion and a enjoyable day of casting and catching. There’s an opportunity you’ll come across an enormous pike whereas catching numbers, however to routinely contact huge pike, a elementary shift in method is required.

Large pike are usually lone wolf creatures. They hunt alone, or in very small teams, and occupy the very best cowl and construction obtainable. Their very presence makes these areas undesirable for smaller pike.

Temperature test

In the course of the spring’s pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn phases is a singular time the place huge pike and little pike share frequent habitats.

Throughout this time, pike of all sizes search out the warming water of shallow bays, creeks, sloughs, and tributaries. Discovering areas the place water temperatures are within the mid 40s, whereas the basins are nonetheless within the 30s, is essential for finding spawn-phase pike.

That is the one time of yr the place I don’t depend on muskie baits for catching huge pike. Spoons, small-to-medium suspending jerkbaits, glide baits, and minnow-imitating smooth plastics are all go-to displays for pike in the course of the spawning levels.

Transferring into summer season

As spring offers technique to summer season, water temperature performs an enormous function in separating huge pike from little pike and muskie. Muskies and smaller pike tolerate hotter water, the place huge pike don’t. Whereas I routinely catch small pike and large muskie from very shallow, heat water in the course of the warmth of summer season, huge pike aren’t as prevalent there.

As soon as water temperatures heat above 70˚F, huge pike search cooler, deeper water. Studying to focus on deeper water in the course of the summer season months will significantly enhance your possibilities of finding trophy-calibre pike.

Searching on humps

fishing humps

Concentrating on humps in important lake basins is a profitable technique I take advantage of. These spots usually maintain walleye or bass, however they’re additionally a scorching ticket for large pike.

Jigging is likely one of the finest methods to contact huge pike on humps. I take advantage of a trolling motor to zigzag over it, and across the perimeter. Jigging from 15 to 30 ft beneath the floor is the norm.

Pike usually droop off the sting of humps, over deeper water. Sonar is useful for recognizing these fish.

Baits

The Bondy Bait is the champion of jigging deep summer season construction. It’s not unusual for everybody in my boat to be jigging totally different variations (sizes/colors) of a Bondy Bait. They’re heavy, with a spinning blade that provides vibration and flash, and match the dimensions of pelagic baitfish equivalent to ciscos. They simply work.

Different baits value jigging embrace extra-large lipless crankbaits and muskie-sized tube jigs.

How you can spoon a hump

I found a method that works for fishing humps utterly accidentally. A shopper misplaced a walleye rod over the aspect of the boat. We tried to retrieve it by dragging the underside with giant spoons. Because the spoons had been being introduced as much as the floor, their ascent saved getting interrupted by aggressive pike.

I’ve since modified this method by positioning the boat on the shallowest a part of the hump and fan casting spoons away from the boat. When the spoon lands, let it sink to backside on a slack line. Then reel it in with a medium-to-fast retrieve. This mimics a fleeing baitfish and triggers highly effective hits.

Open water (sonar required)

Concentrating on pike in open water looks as if a needle-in-a-haystack proposition, however the rewards are well worth the effort. Aspect-imaging and forward-facing sonar play an enormous function in open water success. I run devoted models for each.

The largest pike spend appreciable time in summer season in big-water basins. Not on particular buildings, however merely cruising round in quest of huge meals. Large baitfish like ciscos can be in cool, deep water.

Discovering baitfish is essential. Use your electronics to identify them whereas trolling huge crankbaits across the basin. Chances are you’ll often luck out and hook an unmarked pike, however your important focus is pinpointing particular person fish. When you mark fish, relying on the depth, swap to casting or jigging.

Baits

Shallow fish (15 ft or much less) are prone to chase a forged bait like giant smooth plastic swimbaits or tubes. Waterwolf ’s Shadzilla and Chaos’ Poseidon swimbaits are go-tos that come straight out of my muskie field. Fish positioned deeper than 15 ft are finest focused with vertical jigging techniques. Once more, the Bondy bait will get the nod most of the time.

My XL pike gear

• 8-9′ ft extra-heavy motion muskie rod
• Dimension 300 to 400 baitcasting reel
• 50 to 80 lb braided important line
• 130 lb fluorocarbon chief (9″ lengthy)
• For jerkbaits, walk-the-dog, and different presentations, I generally use a 174 lb single-strand wire chief
• Trolling leaders are 150 lb fluoro, 60″ lengthy
• Dimension 3 or 5 Stringease Keep-Loc snaps

Fall fishing for large pike mirrors almost each facet of fall muskie fishing, together with equipment, baits, areas, and methods. These apex predators behave very equally to every different right now of yr — greater than any different time.

Present pinches

My primary go-to location for large fall pike is present pinches. My dwelling lake of Lac Seul in northwestern Ontario is a big reservoir with fixed stream all through the system. The present is extra pronounced the place the water is pressured via any form of narrows or pinch level. These areas are gold mines for pike and muskie. The present acts like a conveyor belt that feeds baitfish via.

Jigging

I take advantage of my trolling motor to slowly work into the present. Bondy baits and 10-inch tube jigs are prime producing displays.

My jigging entails protecting my rod tip simply above the floor, whereas looking for the underside with my jig. As soon as I hit backside, I reel up a couple of ft. My jigging movement is a gentle carry of six to eight ft, a short pause on the prime, then dropping again down. On the drop, observe the bait with the rod tip. The bait will foul on slack line.

Trolling

Trolling is pretty simple in present areas. Muskie baits within the 9 to 12-inch vary trolled 25 to 75 ft behind the boat will produce. My all-time favorite trolling bait for large pike is the nine-inch Grandma. Baits this measurement are by no means too huge for trophy pike. Even small pike routinely hit muskie-sized crankbaits trolled throughout fall.

Range trolling speeds between 2.5 and 4 miles per hour.

Rubber on rocks

One other prime fall sample for large pike. Merely put, this entails casting a wide range of muskie-sized smooth plastic baits to numerous rock construction.

Prime areas embrace distinguished factors and reefs which are adjoining to deep water. Give particular focus to transition factors. These separate giant bays from deeper basins and are distinguished on any giant protect sort lake.

Fish construction that the wind and waves are crashing into. You’re much more prone to discover lively fish versus fishing the calm aspect.

Baits

Commonplace smooth plastic muskie baits will work. Some go-tos embrace Waterwolf ’s Shadzilla swimbait, Chaos’s Medusa, Musky Improvements Bulldawg, and Purple October’s 10-inch Monster Tube.

Except swimbaits, I fish these with a pull-and-pause retrieve. Use quick pulls and brief pauses to fish shallower, whereas sluggish pulls and longer pauses can obtain any desired depth.

Strive taking a web page from the muskie playbook, whereas recognizing the variations between muskie and small pike, to assist on the hunt for XL esox lucius.

Initially printed within the June-July 2024 situation of Ontario OUT of DOORS

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