Pike Question

[Waylander The Green]

Are pike as big in the spring as they are in the winter? When would be the best time to try and catch a really large northern? I fish Conesus a lot and plan on going even more next year and would like to know when they are at their biggest. I caught some close to 40 inches in the summer but none of them weighed over 10 pounds. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks everyone

Waylander

[Legacy]

fall is the best time of year to catch a giant and september tends to be a great month. forage is the biggest in fall and once water temps start to cool down, pike really put the feed bag on. fishing can be as intense as early spring fishing but with larger fish. aggressive tactics and big baits (spinnerbaits and large inlines) are the way to go.

[GAMBLER]

Ice fishing the South end of Conesus just before ice out or the season ending is a great chance for a slob. The females will be at their heaviest weight of the year at this time.

[NitroMusky]

I agree with Legacy. Sept/Oct offers the best combo of size and odds for open water action- I saw little action over the summer but couldn't keep em off the line there this past fall. Bulking up for winter puts them on the prowl and biting, and by Oct, they're well bulked up. The water temp is a bit higher in the fall than spring, so they're more active too and liable to chase a bait.

Later spring- once the H2O warms into the 50s should be good too, but once the water gets warm around midsummer, the bigguns go deep to find cooler temps and are harder to get at.

good luck - see you out there. I'm in a white/Tan Nitro Fish/Ski.

[Fish Junkie]

Ditto what Gambler said. Pike continue to feed all winter long and prior to ice out, the females are about ready to explode literally (with roe).

[SinDale]

from personal experience, the largest pike I've seen are in the spring too, the best was a 52" female (damn scale was rusted up ) caught on an orange rapala I left out coming into Sandy Creek in Hamlin, but the fastest action was fall around heavy weedlines on drops.

I think I'm going to target them more at ice out as recommended above!

[JR]

Shane a 52" pike is in the 37 - 42 pound range, Nice catch

If you ice fish February is a great time to catch several Big pike, They start coming in from the the bays from the Big-O in February to feed and get ready to spawn and you can tell if it just came in from the lake by it's tail, I don't know why but for some reason they will have a big circle on their tail that disappears a few days after they come into the bay .

For bait the best i have ever found to use is Red Finn Shiners over any other shiners, Red Finns are super Hyper and they never stop moving around and if you use them on tip ups you will want to check them about every 1 1/2 hours because they will swim in circles and twist your line so bad that they will be just below the ice instead of where they belong near the bottom .

Once again Nice Catch

[web-fisherman]

Agree with Nitro NitroMusky.

Summer time the big ones are not in those warm water bays etc... I find them in 20 - 30ft shoals on Lake Ontario. Brown Deer-haired Jig works for me.

[33canuck]

JR, just curious where you are having success with pike. I have been looking for a spot to hook up a few and so far have drawn nothing but blanks on Sodus, I-bay and Conesus although I know they are there jsut didn't have the luck that day. I never had a problem nailing them up norht but can't seem to get them around here. not looking for a secret spot just a body of water that holds some good gators around here

[GAMBLER]

33Canuck,

Conesus is the best lake around the area for big pike. The North end has been on fire this winter. Look at this link from Fish Junkie. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9144

This is only a couple days on Conesus. Conesus is a great fishery but is heavily pressured. You may need to change your presentations to make them different from everyone elses. PM if you want some more info.

[JR]

33canuck this time of year i would fish the west side of Leroy Island at sodus bay, Braddock's bay or Conesus lake is a good place also for a big one this time of year. Myself i have not done any tip-up fishing yet this year for i have been looking for the perch and have not stayed in one spot vary long and have been moving all around the bays i have been fishing trying to find some good one's with no luck so far, Anyways if you get out let us know how ya did and good luck .

[SinDale]

Thanks JR! Nothing fights like a big toothy! That's still my PB! She was ready to burst!

I was out at Sodus on Feb. 7, west of Leroy Island, on the west edge of the deeper hole there in the center, lined up with the North tip of Leroy and the north tip of that smaller island. We had a smaller pike thru, along with a bucket and a smallmouth. The perch we found around there were on the bottom, where the larger species liked the presentation about 2 ft. up. Larger pike minnows did nothing, smaller niagra's only caught perch. The Medium bass minnows that were a bit more active than the bunch caught the bass and pike.

[Finders Keepers]

SinDale - I hammered the pike this past weekend in the same area as you mentioned, only on the east side of the deeper water. Iced 10 pike and had over 20 on. Check out my post in the "Ice Fishing and Panfish" forum for more details. They are there, all you have to do is get a shiner in their vicinity!!

[SinDale]

SICK! Thats awesome Tim. Unfortunatly my wife's Bday is on Saturday maybe I can 'cough, cough' make it out Friday or Monday....

[rapala88]

can you guys that live in the states use bass minnows to fish? can you buy them anywhere? thanks, i might try fishing in buffalo