Anglers have a special affinity for northern pike. This most accommodating of fish bites readily during the daylight hours, sparing those in pursuit of fishing thrills the agony of rising before dawn. Northern pike while similar are far less wary than muskellunge: on average, it takes about eight hours of fishing to hook a northern, while anglers must log nearly 100 hours on the water to get a glimpse of a muskellunge.
Pike are popular quarry of ice fishermen. Though they are primarily pursued with tip ups, baited with live minnows or suckers, they can be taken with rod and reel, either jigging or fishing with bait.
Most fishermen use a fairly large hook, such as a No. 1 or No. 2 short shanked single hook or a No. 1 or No. 1/0 treble attached to a steel leader one to three feet long. The steel leader keeps the northern's formidable teeth from cutting the line.
Tip-ups are the nearly unanimous choice among pike fishermen. Tip-ups rigged so the fish can run with the bait work well during the ice fishing season. They usually fill their spools with heavy braided line in the 20 to 50 pound test range just in case they tie into one of the lunkers they dream about.
Over a year ago a friend of mine told me of a new Muskie lure that I just had to get. The lure was a Squirko from Lungen lures. It looked to me like other jerk baits, but I decided to give it a try.
On the first try on a Muskie lake in central Minnesota,I have to admit it didn't see much water time. Later in the season I went on a fly in fishing trip in Manitoba. We tried the traditional spinner baits, silver minnows and Daredevils with success, but no trophies. We decided that the bigger northerns were deep. Most of what we had been throwing was not getting seen by the big ones.
Pike fishing is a great sport and is enjoyed by so many people worldwide, to make the most of it and too do it safely so that you are not harming the fish; you are going to require a few extras in your pike fishing tackle from your ordinary tackle setups. This article will cover some of the essentials you will need.
There are so many different aspects of pike fishing that you need to think about before you purchase your equipment. You need to think about what is going to be best for your fishing experience and also more importantly what you will need so that these brilliant pike aren’t harmed.
Now a run down of the basics that will make up your pike fishing tackle equipment, you are going to need:
When you are going northern fly fishing with your fly fishing rod, which pike fishing flies and pike tackle you use is not that important. Personally, I prefer to fish with a fiver-sixer rod but before you begin it is important to use a trace. I usually attach a common wire trace of a half-rod length with 0.4 mm. line. There is also a pure kevlar trace on 5 meter reels which is smooth and fine. You will find kevlar steel a bit stiffer because it has a thin wire inside, both of different thicknesses. 90% of the time the pike takes the fly gently and usually gets hooked in the lip. It is then up to you to "steer" the fish so it does not swallow the line further inside the mouth. The flies can vary from smaller streamers to large tube flies. A variant is to use a floating fly and fish with sinking line. It is preferable to use a boat, but keep in mind some lakes have boat restrictions so it is a good idea to first check local restrictions for the lake.
With most people looking for northern pike fishing as their next exciting venture in fishing, it is important to know when you can fish for these fish. You cannot just land up at anytime and start fishing for them because there is always a time and place for it.
Now, northern pike fishing is entirely dependant on the seasonal cycle. The reason I am saying this is because these fishes are migratory fishes and therefore they prefer to move from one place to another during particular seasons. Most migratory fishes love to move into the river for the time of their egg and return back to the sea once this is done. Similarly, these fishes too have such habits.
