How to Catch Northern Pike

Northern Pike — Prespawn

Where to fish

Before the spawn, pike gather where the food gathers: bays, connected sloughs and the funnel areas between them — channel edges, points, old weedlines and minor depth changes.
Before the spawn, pike gather where the food gathers: tributary mouths, bays, connected sloughs and the funnel areas between them — channel edges and minor depth changes. Work current areas first: inflows, necked-down spots and snowmelt runoff all concentrate early fish.

What to tie on

Early on, small and slender: a 3½-in soft swimbait on a light 1/8- to 1/4-oz jighead, a small slender spoon, or a 3¾-in minnow-profile crank. For a still presentation, the dead-bait float rig: a 25–30 cm smelt on a #6 treble with a short steel leader, set about 45 cm off the bottom in slack water.

How to fish it

Anchor up, let the spot settle for ten minutes, then fan-cast it before you move — and move only far enough to overlap your last casts. Pike in cold water punish run-and-gun fishing; a big early bay can fish for hours fished properly.
Cold water means a slow, steady retrieve — slow-roll a jig-and-swimbait just fast enough to keep the tail thumping, with the odd dart, and keep the reel turning the whole time.

If it's still tough

When a pike takes a dead bait, it runs, then stops to turn it — freespool until the bobber stops for a few seconds, then set. Rushing that pause is how early-season fish are lost.

Northern Pike — Spawn

Where to fish

Pike are spawning now — in the flooded vegetation and shallow bays — and spawning pike fast more than they feed. The honest pattern is the fish at the edges: pre- and post-spawn fish along the channel edges and the first depth changes outside the spawning bays, where the north ends warm fastest.

What to tie on

Small, slow and close: the early-season swimbait on a light jighead, small slender spoons, or a dead bait under a float at the bay mouths. This is not the season for big aggressive baits over the beds themselves.

How to fish it

Fish the edges and the travel lanes, not the beds. Expect a short window of feeding fish around the spawn rather than a day of them, and give spawning fish themselves a pass — the feeders at the edges are the catchable ones.

If it's still tough

If the shallows are all spawners, move out to the first real depth change and dead-bait it slowly. Post-spawn fish recovering at the edge will take a still bait they wouldn't chase.

Northern Pike — Postspawn

Where to fish

Right after the spawn, look in shallow mud-bottom bays full of cattails — the north end of the bay warms fastest and fishes first. Start in 1–4 ft. Channel edges with vegetation nearby hold the bigger recovering fish.

What to tie on

For the biggest post-spawn fish, go big and slow: a 1-oz tandem spinnerbait with big Colorado blades, or a straight-wire spinnerbait dressed with a 6-in grub, on heavy braid and a 35 cm, 100-lb fluorocarbon leader. Colour rules follow the water: grey-white and brown-gold in clear water, black-chartreuse and green-chartreuse in dirty water.

How to fish it

Slow-roll the big blades through the bay and along the channel edge — post-spawn pike are recovering, not chasing, and the big slow thump is what they answer. Cover the bay in a fan before you move, and overlap your casts.

If it's still tough

Downshift to the dead-bait float rig in the slack corners of the bay. A recovering pike that ignores every moving bait will still pick up a still smelt sitting 45 cm off the bottom.

Northern Pike — Summer

Where to fish

Three summer patterns, and the day tells you which: (A) open water — find the biggest bait schools; if bait is 15–30 ft down, troll it, if it's in the top 20 ft, cast it. (B) deep flats — packs of big pike hold on expansive flats 25–45 ft down by early summer (in young, deep, clear lakes, 25–60 ft), and the thermocline is a wall: the cold layer below it has no oxygen, so don't fish under it. (C) weedflats — on the deep weedline, active fish prowl the outside edge, neutral fish sit on cabbage points and inside turns, on the shaded side of the thickest clumps.
The biggest pike — 30 in and up — visit 40 ft and deeper on warm days, down in the cool layers. Summer is when the giants live deepest.

What to tie on

A big shad-profile crankbait is the core open-water trolling bait. On the weedline: big spinnerbaits, weedless spoons and jerkbaits; for pressured fish, a ½- to ¾-oz single-blade spinnerbait, or go subtle — a weightless 7-in soft jerkbait rigged weedless. On deep flats, a heavy jig with a 7–8 in softbait; a 1½-oz jig head is the right weight to work that depth.
Leaders are not optional tackle, they're pike tackle: tieable wire around 20 lb covers most pike work (13 lb for the lightest presentations); heavy fluorocarbon for the big spinnerbaits.

How to fish it

On deep flats, find the bait on sonar first — no bait, no pike — then snap-jig: rip the jig 6 ft up, drop the tip, and let it fall. Trolling depths matter: a big shad crank on 30-lb mono stays in the top 10 ft; on 40-lb braid the same bait runs 17 ft and deeper; in-line weights of ½–1 oz reach 12–25 ft — but never below the thermocline.
One caution from the books: don't let a lure surprise a pike. If you spot one, set a jig 4–5 ft behind it and barely lift it — a bait that lands on top of a pike spooks it; one that creeps up behind it gets eaten.

If it's still tough

When the pattern won't declare itself, fish the beaver lodges properly: work 75–100 ft out from them first, then move in. And when sucker spawn is on (around 10 °C), switch to wounded-sucker lures — a big slow wobbling bait or firetiger — around the spawning shallows.

Northern Pike — Fall

Where to fish

Fall is the edges season — vegetation edges and rock edges are the most universal fall pike pattern there is. As it cools, pike also slide back toward the spring shallows, and the middle of the day, when the water is warmest, is when they're most aggressive.

What to tie on

The summer baits still work — big spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, shad cranks — fished on the edges. Where bait is spawning (ciscoes and whitefish run the rock and reefs in fall), match it: pike intercept spawning baitfish on rock and reef edges, and that's a feed worth being on.
The summer baits still work — big spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, shad cranks — fished on the edges. Where bait is spawning (ciscoes and whitefish run the rock in fall), match it: pike intercept spawning baitfish on rock edges, and that's a feed worth being on.

How to fish it

Cover the edges with moving baits in the midday warmth. If the wind has blown the same direction for three days or more, fish where it's been pushing into shore — the food chain stacks up there.

If it's still tough

Slow the edges down with a jig and big softbait, tight to the weedline's outside edge, and work the shaded sides of the thickest clumps — that's where the neutral fish sit.

Northern Pike — Midsummer

Where to fish

The hottest water is a pike's worst season — above about 22 °C they feed best down in the cool layers, 25–65 ft, and in thermal extremes they will not chase fast prey at all. The deep flats and the cool side of the thermocline are the whole game now.

What to tie on

Slowly reeled artificials or dead bait — the books are direct that in heat, those are the best odds. Troll the cool layer with a big shad crank (braid gets it to 17 ft+; in-line weights to 12–25 ft) and keep everything above the thermocline.

How to fish it

Slow down and fish deep. Short windows at dawn and dusk, when big pike slide up to feed, are worth more than a midday grind in the heat.

If it's still tough

If you must fish midday, dead-bait the deepest cool water you can find and be patient — a hot-weather pike eats a still meal because it costs nothing to catch.

Northern Pike — Coldfall

Where to fish

Below about 10 °C the fall shallows empty out — pike drop to the deep edges and the first drop-offs near where they'll winter, and some fish eat only every few days. A small fish digests in a day or two in warm water; at near-freezing it lasts for weeks. Fewer meals means fewer chances, but each chance is a real one.

What to tie on

Slow artificials and dead bait again — cold pike won't chase fast prey. The dead-bait float rig over the deep edge, or a jig-and-swimbait slow-rolled just off bottom, are the cold-water pair.

How to fish it

Everything slows down: the retrieve, the hops, and your expectations between bites. Stay on the best deep edge you have and fish it thoroughly instead of sampling five spots quickly.

If it's still tough

Dead-bait it and wait. In the coldest water, patience isn't a virtue, it's the whole technique — a still smelt on the deep edge outfishes every moving bait on the days they won't move.

Northern Pike on the ice — Early ice

Where to fish

First ice carries the fall locations — don't rush shallow. Work the weedbeds that held fish in fall: broad beds of cabbage or coontail around 6–18 ft, bordered by deeper water, and set up on the deep edges. Some of the biggest fish are still deep at first ice.

What to tie on

Dead bait on a quick-strike rig under a tip-up is the trophy method — every 25 lb pike in the old pro accounts came on it. Fresh dead ciscoes, suckers or smelt where they're legal. The rig: 14–18 in of 20–30 lb wire, two #4 trebles about 2½ in apart, hooks no more than 4 in apart even on the biggest bait, the front hook no farther forward than just above the bait's dorsal fin.
For the jigging rod: a live bait of 6–8 in on a single hook, 20-lb fluorocarbon leader (a #6 Kahle for a 6-in bait, #4 for an 8-in).

How to fish it

Set the tip-ups on the structure tops and jig the edges, 20–40 ft of water within reach of the set lines. When a flag flies on the quick-strike rig, sweep-set immediately — the fish took the bait headfirst and the rig is built for a fast hookup.
An alternative to trebles: a barbless 5/0 circle hook (4/0 for smaller baits) on 18 in of 30-lb tieable wire — safer for the fish and the angler.

If it's still tough

If the shallow weedbeds are quiet, believe the depth: the big fish may simply still be deep. Move a set line out to the deep edge of the bed before you move lakes.
If the shallow weedbeds are quiet, believe the depth: the big fish may simply still be deep. Move a set line out to the deep edge of the bed before you move.

Northern Pike on the ice — Mid ice

Where to fish

Mid-winter pike pattern like they stage for spring: from mid-February they follow the deep edges toward the spawning bays, shallower as the season runs — with the biggest fish in the bays at the season's edges and on main-lake structure in between.
Mid-winter pike pattern like they stage for spring: from mid-February they follow the deep edges toward the spawning creeks and bays — around 18 ft outside creek mouths late in February, shallower as the season runs — with the biggest fish in the bays at the season's edges and on structure in between.

What to tie on

Dead bait on quick-strike rigs stays the trophy play, jigging a live bait on the edges stays the active play — same rigs as first ice.

How to fish it

Work the travel lane: set lines along the deep edge pointing at the bays, and jig the edge while they soak. Mark what produces — staging routes repeat every year.
Work the travel lane: set lines along the deep edge pointing at the creek mouths and bays, and jig the edge while they soak. Mark what produces — staging routes repeat every year.

If it's still tough

Slide shallower before you slide deeper. Late-season pike are moving one direction — toward the spawn — and the staging fish can be in 1–2 ft of water under the ice.

Northern Pike on the ice — Late ice

Where to fish

Late ice is staging season: pike crowd the edges outside the spawning bays they'll enter at ice-out, shallower every week. Set up on those edges and in the mouths — this is the biggest-fish window of the ice season.
Late ice is staging season: pike crowd the edges outside the spawning creeks they'll enter at ice-out, shallower every week. Set up on those edges and in the mouths — this is the biggest-fish window of the ice season.

What to tie on

Big dead baits on quick-strike rigs for the trophies staging outside; jig the edges with live bait to find the active lane.

How to fish it

Fish it like the spring pattern arriving early — the lanes into the bays, the first edges, and check shallower water than feels right. These fish are feeding up ahead of the spawn.

If it's still tough

If the edges are quiet, the fish are all the way in — go shallow into the bay mouths themselves before you give up on the spot.

Manitoba Master Angler

A Northern Pike of 104 cm (41 in) or better qualifies for Manitoba's Master Angler Program.

Northern Pike — Prespawn

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Spawn

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Postspawn

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Summer

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Fall

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Midsummer

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike — Coldfall

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike on the ice — Early ice

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike on the ice — Mid ice

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Northern Pike on the ice — Late ice

Where to fish

What to tie on

How to fish it

If it's still tough

Manitoba Master Angler

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