Season ending river pike

[CG_Fishes]

Well, before our rivers completely blew up last night I had my best day of pike fishing yet. I have been fishing for pike 2-4 days a week since mid-October and for the early portion I was catching an average of one fish a month. Starting about a month ago I started to get one pike a week, then one pike a trip and finally multiple pike on one trip. Not only did I catch multiple, quite beautiful, pike, but I caught my second biggest pike yet at 32". I am sad that the season is effectively over for me, but I am very happy with how I finished it. I can't wait for the summer season to start, hopefully that will be full of pike and maybe even a musky. As a diehard swimbait bass guy these fish have presented me with a great challenge and have forced me to become a much better fisherman over the past few months. A lot of the gear that I have used for these pike is crossover from my bass stuff and it works great, I do plan on getting some more esox-specific baits now that I have become obsessed. I will be chasing bass once my lakes ice out until esox open back up, but it's definitely going to be hard to leave the rivers. This will be my first year dedicating serious time to esox in the warmer months, but I'm excited, it's going to be hard to pick the bass gear back up as it is.

[Prof T]

Congratulations on your success. Your persistence is to be commended.

 

If I could be so bold, I'd like to offer some unsolicited advice. First, if you don't already, start keeping a detailed journal. Pay attention to water levels, temp and clarity. Pay attention to what's not working as well as what is. I only started a few years ago, and regret how much I don't recall from great trips in years past.

 

The second is a tip I got from one of the best fishermen I know who is a frequent poster on this site. He'll say that "patience is one of the most overrated qualities in a fisherman". If it's not working , change it up. Don't beat a dead horse. We've all got hundreds of lures we don't go to unless the old favorites aren't producing. Get them in the water. Be unconventional and don't be afraid to experiment. You're going to nail a fish or two that's learned to ignore what everyone else is doing.

 

 

[CG_Fishes]

15 hours ago, Prof T said:

The second is a tip I got from one of the best fishermen I know who is a frequent poster on this site. He'll say that "patience is one of the most overrated qualities in a fisherman". If it's not working , change it up. Don't beat a dead horse. We've all got hundreds of lures we don't go to unless the old favorites aren't producing. Get them in the water. Be unconventional and don't be afraid to experiment. You're going to nail a fish or two that's learned to ignore what everyone else is doing.

 

 

Thanks for the advice, I do actually keep a "journal", it's more so just pics with dates and times so that I can look up the conditions of that day, if I don't remember. I can usually remember conditions very well, but dates are hard which is why I make sure to have dated pictures.

 

This second tip is a great one. My background is in swimbait bass fishing, talking 6-10" lures for bass, so I'm definitely not afraid of trying something different. I was 1 of 7 guys on this 500ft stretch of river, and as far as I could tell I was the only one catching other than one guy with a small walleye. My approach to river esox is definitely unconventional especially compared to most guys locally. The last thing I will throw is something like blades or a medusa which is pretty common stuff around here, I just don't have confidence in that stuff. I do plan to branch into the esox specific baits more, but probably more of the soft tail glides, paddletails or topwaters as they are styles I have confidence in coming from oversized bass gear. I love experimenting with new lures though, 3 of my favorite pike lures are baits that just sat in my box when I targeted bass, but I finally found a use for them with pike. 

[Ivan]

Nice work and persistence.


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[bettieanne]

Great job out there! The best way to learn is how your doing it! I started walleye fishing 20. Yr ago and had to figure it out.., well still really haven’t tho.., burned a lot of fuel and time but that’s the best way.. anyone can follow the pack or do what the guy at tackle shop heard.. but what satisfaction is there in that? Keep on keeping on and you get out what you put into things!


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