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Pike and Muskie Fishing Tips
| Pike and Muskie Fishing Tips |
Tips to help make you a better Pike and Muskie fisher:
* A live fish is the natural food of pike so it makes sense that it will also make a good bait. Any small
fish will catch pike. We recommend fish under 8" in length to preserve fish stocks and to make
presentation of the bait and hooking the pike easier. Some fisheries might not allow livebaiting in
order to preserve their fish stocks.
* Since the late 1950s pike anglers have been using dead fish as bait, but they should not be looked
on as an alternative to livebaits, rather as another method altogether. Some fisheries seem to
respond better to livebait than they do to deadbaits (and vice versa) - so keep your options open.
Pike sometimes show a preference for particular deadbaits so it pays to use a selection of sea and
freshwater fish. Freshwater fish can be used as bait, either freshly caught or frozen, and sea fish also
catch pike. Large deadbaits can be cut in two and both the head and tail ends used as bait.
* Roach, trout and eel are two popular freshwater baits, while sprats, mackerel and herrings have also
caught plenty of pike, as have migratory fish like smelt and lamprey.
* A big chub on a traditional Musky rig is how you catch the big ones. To make a Musky rig, you need
two 12 inch steel leaders and two medium size treble hooks. Clip the hooks onto the two leaders.
Then clip the two leaders together so that you have a hook at one end and a hook where the two
leaders are joined. Tie your line to the eye of the top leader. Next you want to get a medium size float
and put the float about 1 foot above the rig. With the end hook, put the hook through the bottom lip of
the Chub. With the middle hook, hook the Chub at the base of the tail. Make sure you do not hook the
Chub at the end of the tail or the fish will not be able to swim around.
* Northern Pike like to ambush their prey. The perfect place for a big Northern to ambush Walleyes
would be off rocky points, narrow sections of the lake or the mouth of a river. Your rig may be two
heavy to cast. If so, slowly drive the boat over to your chosen strike area and drop the rig in the water.
Unclip your bail and slowly drive away while letting out your line. Now just sit back and wait.
* Pike will play with your bait. It is not uncommon for a big Pike to hit and let go several times before
the bait is taken. With this in mind you have to show some patience. Wait for your float to be under
the water for at least one minute before you set the hook.
* For summer trolling move slowly past sunken weed beds, using live bait, wobbling spoons, or
deep-running plugs. Northerns strike best in early morning and after 4 p.m.; also in midday when it's
overcast or windy. Medium to heavy casting and spinning rods are used with 10-to15-pound braided
nylon line for bait casting, and 8- to12-pound monofilament for spinning. Use a swiveled steel leader
or heavy nylon leaders
* Through the warm summer months you will find musky are away from the shallows and in much
deeper water. To find these fish quickly, set baits in the six to ten-inch size and troll at increased
speeds through productive structure areas - namely off rocky points, over submerged humps and
along sharp breaklines. Varying the depth you run your lures and experimenting with colours may also
increase your chances. Running your lures on short lines directly in the prop wash of the motor can
bring astonishing results, and works wonders on shallow fertile lakes that have an abundance of weed
growth.
* Big Musky gorge on baitfish to put on extra weight for the winter months, and are relatively easy to
catch at this time of year. Big sturdy jerkbaits offer a large profile in the water at a slower speed that
excels in the cold water. Use jerkbaits that are at least eight to twelve inches long for these monster
fish! Healthy green weedlines in water from six to 12-feet will hold the majority of fish that a caster can
reach, as deeper water will call for large trolling baits to be dragged through the area. Stick with
natural coloured baits at this time of the year, and keep those hooks needle sharp to ensure their
effectiveness. Stout tackle is necessary; use wire leaders to land these top predators!
* Some top waters that are effective are prop baits that work best when given a steady retrieve or with
little jerks. And when that ain't working, you should try burning the prop bait back to the boat. The
nice think about burning is that you cover almost all the water very quickly in a dozen or so casts.
When a muskie wants a bait, you'll be hard-pressed to outrun it so don't be afraid to crank hard.
* Try working small crank and minnow baits slowly over the top of the weeds, or I'll fish the weed
edges by twitching the baits alongside or using the shake and bake method. Small buck tails work well
too. They can be worked over a variety of areas, shallow or deep.
* The early season bite can be frustrating because many of the big fish are post spawn. This makes
them slow and weary. But if you do see one that just wasn't quite ready to chow down on your bait,
come back later or the next day. In the early spring, the big fish don't move around much and will
often be in the same place where you saw them. Good luck to all those musky hunters out there and I
hope that this season you catch that fish of a life time.
* Finding a concentration of muskies in one location today does not guarantee a single follow
tomorrow. Migration is truly a way of life for these fish.
* Muskies relocating from one area to another feed on the flats and hold on key areas, often for some
time before moving on. On deeper flats that drop off abruptly close to shore then level out at 20 or 25
feet or so, muskies often suspend near baitfish, usually over the breaklines or edges of the flat. On
tapering flats that run hundreds of yards before reaching these depths, muskies can suspend much
farther from shore over the same depths. Most likely, though, if flats start off shallow and taper
gradually, the corners of the flats are the key areas.
* A live fish is the natural food of pike so it makes sense that it will also make a good bait. Any small
fish will catch pike. We recommend fish under 8" in length to preserve fish stocks and to make
presentation of the bait and hooking the pike easier. Some fisheries might not allow livebaiting in
order to preserve their fish stocks.
* Since the late 1950s pike anglers have been using dead fish as bait, but they should not be looked
on as an alternative to livebaits, rather as another method altogether. Some fisheries seem to
respond better to livebait than they do to deadbaits (and vice versa) - so keep your options open.
Pike sometimes show a preference for particular deadbaits so it pays to use a selection of sea and
freshwater fish. Freshwater fish can be used as bait, either freshly caught or frozen, and sea fish also
catch pike. Large deadbaits can be cut in two and both the head and tail ends used as bait.
* Roach, trout and eel are two popular freshwater baits, while sprats, mackerel and herrings have also
caught plenty of pike, as have migratory fish like smelt and lamprey.
* A big chub on a traditional Musky rig is how you catch the big ones. To make a Musky rig, you need
two 12 inch steel leaders and two medium size treble hooks. Clip the hooks onto the two leaders.
Then clip the two leaders together so that you have a hook at one end and a hook where the two
leaders are joined. Tie your line to the eye of the top leader. Next you want to get a medium size float
and put the float about 1 foot above the rig. With the end hook, put the hook through the bottom lip of
the Chub. With the middle hook, hook the Chub at the base of the tail. Make sure you do not hook the
Chub at the end of the tail or the fish will not be able to swim around.
* Northern Pike like to ambush their prey. The perfect place for a big Northern to ambush Walleyes
would be off rocky points, narrow sections of the lake or the mouth of a river. Your rig may be two
heavy to cast. If so, slowly drive the boat over to your chosen strike area and drop the rig in the water.
Unclip your bail and slowly drive away while letting out your line. Now just sit back and wait.
* Pike will play with your bait. It is not uncommon for a big Pike to hit and let go several times before
the bait is taken. With this in mind you have to show some patience. Wait for your float to be under
the water for at least one minute before you set the hook.
* For summer trolling move slowly past sunken weed beds, using live bait, wobbling spoons, or
deep-running plugs. Northerns strike best in early morning and after 4 p.m.; also in midday when it's
overcast or windy. Medium to heavy casting and spinning rods are used with 10-to15-pound braided
nylon line for bait casting, and 8- to12-pound monofilament for spinning. Use a swiveled steel leader
or heavy nylon leaders
* Through the warm summer months you will find musky are away from the shallows and in much
deeper water. To find these fish quickly, set baits in the six to ten-inch size and troll at increased
speeds through productive structure areas - namely off rocky points, over submerged humps and
along sharp breaklines. Varying the depth you run your lures and experimenting with colours may also
increase your chances. Running your lures on short lines directly in the prop wash of the motor can
bring astonishing results, and works wonders on shallow fertile lakes that have an abundance of weed
growth.
* Big Musky gorge on baitfish to put on extra weight for the winter months, and are relatively easy to
catch at this time of year. Big sturdy jerkbaits offer a large profile in the water at a slower speed that
excels in the cold water. Use jerkbaits that are at least eight to twelve inches long for these monster
fish! Healthy green weedlines in water from six to 12-feet will hold the majority of fish that a caster can
reach, as deeper water will call for large trolling baits to be dragged through the area. Stick with
natural coloured baits at this time of the year, and keep those hooks needle sharp to ensure their
effectiveness. Stout tackle is necessary; use wire leaders to land these top predators!
* Some top waters that are effective are prop baits that work best when given a steady retrieve or with
little jerks. And when that ain't working, you should try burning the prop bait back to the boat. The
nice think about burning is that you cover almost all the water very quickly in a dozen or so casts.
When a muskie wants a bait, you'll be hard-pressed to outrun it so don't be afraid to crank hard.
* Try working small crank and minnow baits slowly over the top of the weeds, or I'll fish the weed
edges by twitching the baits alongside or using the shake and bake method. Small buck tails work well
too. They can be worked over a variety of areas, shallow or deep.
* The early season bite can be frustrating because many of the big fish are post spawn. This makes
them slow and weary. But if you do see one that just wasn't quite ready to chow down on your bait,
come back later or the next day. In the early spring, the big fish don't move around much and will
often be in the same place where you saw them. Good luck to all those musky hunters out there and I
hope that this season you catch that fish of a life time.
* Finding a concentration of muskies in one location today does not guarantee a single follow
tomorrow. Migration is truly a way of life for these fish.
* Muskies relocating from one area to another feed on the flats and hold on key areas, often for some
time before moving on. On deeper flats that drop off abruptly close to shore then level out at 20 or 25
feet or so, muskies often suspend near baitfish, usually over the breaklines or edges of the flat. On
tapering flats that run hundreds of yards before reaching these depths, muskies can suspend much
farther from shore over the same depths. Most likely, though, if flats start off shallow and taper
gradually, the corners of the flats are the key areas.