fisherman777

My friends and I have been hammering them the last couple weekends in the creeks out of braddocks. They are there, you just have to keep at it. Its most likely not your smell on the lures that's preventing you from catching Pike because they are more of an "ambush" type predator. I have my best luck on mepps aglia #5's, big spinnerbaits, x-raps, and rattletraps in open water. As the water warms up, don't be afraid to retrieve lures a little faster and more aggressively. Keep experimenting and you will eventually catch fish. Also, how late are you getting out? In my experience, Pike seem to be really turned on early in the morning and later in the afternoon towards sunset. Once the sun gets high they are more difficult to catch but still possible (they just move to different areas). Consider trying live minnows under a float as well; some of my best days ever happened because we couldn't get a bite on artificials so we switched to minnows. Good Luck!

There was an article about this in Fly Rod and Reel a few months back. The lakers in these lakes are causing native bull trout populations to collapse and from what I read, little damage is being done through recreational fishing to lower laker numbers. It said the only effective method to really cut their populations is gill netting which the guides out there are completely against.

Thanks for the welcome Muskybob

Name: Corey Location: Rochester Home Port: Boat Name/Type: I fish for: PIKE, Lakers, steelhead, browns, salmon, bass, and anything else ================== Hey everyone. Mostly been lurking around for a month after being registered and haven't posted. Sorry about that haha. Otherwise, from what I've seen, this is an awesome forum! Been trolling the finger lakes and lots of adirondack lakes with my dad for a few years now and also fish the big lake occasionally and primarily the tribs. But pike fishing is my main passion! Hope to learn a lot more from this site. Thanks!