Pike Power Hour

[Skunk City]

Well I had the kayak still on my car from yesterday's brutal Two Bridges to Little Falls skunk cruise, so I decided to hit the river again today at a different spot for about an hour after work until the sun went down. Figuring while it seems the artificial bite has slowed in favor of bait, I brought a dozen shiners out with me and planned on anchoring up and bait n' waitin. Brought both rods out though, so I went back to casting lures, very glad I did. Got back to back Pike on a shallow diving minnow plug. Both fought impressively for the water temps. First went maybe 27", while the second was what I believe was a fat female holding eggs. Incredible weight and girth for a fish its size. Didn't have the GoPro, so crappy cell photos it is. Had one lost fish on a shiner, off the water by 6pm.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h252/QuikSilverSRT4/20130225_163957_zpsb5d98389.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h252/QuikSilverSRT4/20130225_164752_zps26b9f93b.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h252/QuikSilverSRT4/20130225_164708_zps2b2bd187.jpg

[AndyS]

Damn fish are SO HEALTHY LOOKING. You could put that photo up and say you caught it in Canada and people would beleive you. I love the markings, pike are cool looking fish, great report !!!!

[shucker]

Just what i wanted to hear,what was the water temp?

[Buschwacker]

Nice catch ... congrats!

[buzzbaiter]

River is going up starting tomorrow night. At least it will break all the ice in the side channels and backwaters. Fish will be on the move soon as well so this event may be the trigger getting them to move to those spawning areas.

http://water.weather.gov/resources/hydrographs/pinn4_hg.png

[Skunk City]

Did not have time to bring out the fishfinder, so no temp., but the USGS chart says 38 degrees, up from 35 last week. These 40+ degree days should get them into the spawning spots I believe. I've fished some flooded backwater spots the passed two days and there were no fish, so still prespawn.

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice Fish!!

[Skunk City]

Damn fish are SO HEALTHY LOOKING. You could put that photo up and say you caught it in Canada and people would beleive you. I love the markings, pike are cool looking fish, great report !!!!


Andy I agree about these fish looking good. I watch these shows on WFN and ours are pretty damn comparable. We might not get the mammoths like Canada does, but I'd say they're thriving here for sure.

[basspilot]

I posted a report on another site but went yesterday and hooked up with a descent one throwing a swim jig with chigger crawl trailer. The fish was super aggressive actually got airborne and went under a brush pile and away it went. Be careful out there skunk water temps are still really low. The pike bite is definitely starting to turn back on though!

[stevejordan]

sweet fish

[njbassman]

nice report skunk... looks like you are anchored down there in the slack water... near the home depot/old county line pub... good spot to pull off for a hot dog and a six pack to go

[GetANet]

Two sweet fish!!! You were rewarded for your efforts for back to back days. Gotta be on the water to catch them! Shaking off the fever!!!!! Way to go, hopefully I'll get there someday to fish it too.

[njfish4life]

Skunk, once again you are dialed in on those toothy critters. I need to get my kayak out on the water soon.

[saxmatt]

Nice! This is the time of year those females are at their heaviest. Gotta love fat girls.

[Skunk City]

nice report skunk... looks like you are anchored down there in the slack water... near the home depot/old county line pub... good spot to pull off for a hot dog and a six pack to go

I fish that area too, but this spot was very much downstream of there ;) .

[tycomps]

less than two weeks til daylight savings time and only three weeks til spring!

[antgogz]

Great Job Rob.....The pike fishing should only be heating up from here on out. Awesome they hit the lures.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Great fish bro. They sure are fat this time of year. AWESOME CATCH!!!

[Skunk City]

Anyone have any experience with these fish during the spawn? Do they get picky? I'm sure I'll have to try some different approaches to prevent a skunking.

[saxmatt]

Anyone have any experience with these fish during the spawn? Do they get picky? I'm sure I'll have to try some different approaches to prevent a skunking.

I'd leave them alone during the spawn. They won't eat much anyway. They'll be up in the marshes in vegetation, very shallow water. They don't all spawn at the same time so you can still catch some. The big girls don't want to waste energy or damage their eggs before they spawn so moving baits or live bait don't work well. Try 8-14" dead baits in shallow water by the spawning areas. After they spawn they will be very hungry and hit almost anything.

[Jigman13]

I was going to ask the same question as Skunk. Are they like LMB w/ lockjaw unless over enticed or hassled? Does their spawn usually put the kibosh on targeting them for the month of march (or whenever conditions are perfect)?

[Skunk City]

From what I have heard, they will, like most stocked species in this state, "go through the motions" of spawning but are not successful. I don't remember catching any that I specifically thought were spawning last year, but last winter was pretty screwed up, so who knows :confused: . Thanks for the good info SaxMatt.

[AndyS]

Go back in time and read all the posts from this time of year, 2012, 2011.
Best bet is to keep a log book.

[Wilson]

Go back in time and read all the posts from this time of year, 2012, 2011.
Best bet is to keep a log book.

Is that your boss I hear coming down the hall:p

[SaltLife1980]

Beautiful fish!! Nice work!!