Freshwater
Northern Pike
Where to find them, how to catch them and the tackle to use.
01Introduction
The northern pike is a long, dark predator with light spots on its sides and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It's native across the northern half of North America and has been stocked in many waters farther south. Pike are aggressive, hit lures readily and fight hard, and in good water they grow past 15 pounds.
02Where to Catch
Range: native from Labrador to Alaska and south to Pennsylvania, Missouri and Nebraska, in Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, Great Lakes and Mississippi drainages. Many states outside that range stock pike.
Habitat: pike are a cool-water fish of weedy lakes, reservoirs and slow rivers. In lakes, look for pockets in weedbeds and the outside edge of the weedline; in rivers, fish deeper holes, slow water and fallen trees. Where pike spend the season depends on water temperature:
- Spring: tributaries, marshy bays, backwaters and creek mouths where they spawn, then shallow, dark-bottomed bays that warm first.
- Summer: small pike stay in the weeds; big pike move to cooler, deeper water, such as deep weed edges, rockpiles and flats near the thermocline, or suspend over open water with schools of baitfish.
- Fall: main-lake points and weedlines next to deep water, where baitfish gather.
- Winter: weedlines and breaklines at first ice, then deeper hard-bottom structure.
03How to Catch
Spring
Early spring, around the spawn, offers some of the year's best odds at big pike. Fish the funnels leading into spawning bays and the slack water beside inflows. A dead smelt or herring under a float, set just off the bottom, is deadly; so is a slow-rolled swimbait on a jighead. As the bays warm after the spawn, switch to small floating crankbaits and spinnerbaits in 1 to 4 feet of water.
Summer
Big pike don't like warm water. In deep, clear lakes they go down: troll crankbaits along deep structure or over open water with baitfish, or fish a large live sucker or chub on a bottom rig near the thermocline. In shallower lakes, fish the first and last hours of the day along deep weed edges and shaded cover with big spinnerbaits, spoons and swimbaits. As the weeds die back in late summer, blade baits and lipless rattlebaits work well.
Fall
Pike feed heavily as the water cools, and fall is a great time for a trophy. Work main-lake points, deep weedlines and anywhere baitfish are concentrated. As the water gets colder, slow down: slow-rolled spinnerbaits, twitched suspending jerkbaits and large live bait under a float.
Through the ice
Ice fishing is one of the most productive times for pike. Set tip-ups with large shiners, suckers or dead baitfish near the bottom along weedlines and breaks at first ice, and move to deeper hard-bottom structure in midwinter. Keep noise down near your holes.
Live bait
Pike usually grab bait sideways and swim off before turning it to swallow. Give them a few seconds before setting the hook, or you'll pull the bait away; circle hooks help avoid deep hooking.
On the fly
Pike take big streamers readily. Use an 8- to 10-weight rod, a heavy line built to turn over big flies, and a bite-proof leader.
04Tackle
A 7- to 7½-foot medium-heavy spinning or baitcasting rod with 20- to 30-pound braid handles most pike fishing and cuts through weeds. Add a short wire leader or a heavy fluorocarbon leader. Carry spoons, inline spinners, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits and crankbaits. Bring long pliers and a rubber-mesh net, skip lip grippers, and support a big pike's belly when you lift it. Check your state's regulations for size and bag limits.
05Questions anglers ask
When do pike spawn?
Very early. In-Fisherman notes pike spawn as the water warms into the mid-40s°F, sometimes before the ice is fully off, moving into tributaries, bays, backwaters and marshy shallows. That's why early spring is prime time.
Do I need a wire leader?
Pike teeth cut ordinary line. Use a short wire leader, or a heavy fluorocarbon leader if you want something less visible for slow lures and bait.
Why do I only catch small pike in summer?
Warm water stresses big pike. In shallow, weedy lakes the big ones feed only in short bursts in summer; in deeper lakes they move down to cool, oxygenated water, often near the thermocline. Fish deeper, or fish early and late in the day.