Typically, many northern pike ice fishing takes place in water 10 to 30 feet deep with your suspended minnow hanging anywhere from near the bottom to a few feet below the ice.
What is the best bait for pike ice fishing?
Best Baits for Ice Fishing Pike
- Large (Not Jumbo) Golden Shiners. While it’s true that pike eat prey items over to half their body weight, they key in on more plentiful food sources that take less exertion to capture.
- Medium-Large White Suckers.
- Large Sea Smelts.
What do you use for northern pike ice fishing?
Northern Pike Ice Fishing Presentation
The most common way to ice fish for Northern Pike is by using Tip-ups. This ice fishing contraption is simple and effective. More Northern Pike have probably been caught using a treble hook and a sucker minnow on a Tip-up then any other method.
Where do pike go ice fishing?
Large bays are some of the best spots to target winter northern pike. Specifically, you are trying to take advantage of a large weed flat that will readily hold baitfish. Diehard ice anglers say while any weed type is good, the best variety is cabbage in 5-15 feet of water.
What time is best for pike fishing?
During spring and fall, fishing between late morning and early afternoon will be the best time to catch pike. Very early mornings and late evenings are your best picks during the summer. In winter, the hours between the later mornings and middays are usually best.
How deep should I ice fish?
For many lakes, the best depth to start ice fishing is in the 8 to 20 foot zone. However, depending on the species, time of year and underwater structure, depths less than 5 feet or more than 20 feet might hold more fish.
Do you need a leader for ice fishing pike?
In order to be able to safely land your ice pike, you either need a strong fluorocarbon leader of about 50-60lb or a titanium wire leader of about 25-30lb. Both leaders have excellent abrasion resistance and will be able to handle the ice hole’s sharp edges, even under hard pressure.
Can you jig for pike?
Because pike is so often found in heavy weed cover, fishing a jig with an exposed hook can quickly become frustrating. Weedless jigs similar to those designed for bass “flippin” in heavy cover are ideal for pike fishing applications.
Do pike bite in winter?
Pike will remain active and feeding during the colder months of the year but have a harder time handling really cold weather conditions. Frosty nights, sudden temperature drops, or a prolonged period of a cold front are all unfavorable weather conditions for pike and should hence be avoided.
How do you catch pike in the winter?
Dead baiting
During the winter months, the water temperatures drop and in turn, this slows down the metabolism of the pike. This makes the pike very lethargic and much less likely to chase a lure. Based on this I believe dead or live baiting is the best winter pike fishing bait for the winter months.
How do you catch a big pike?
10 Best Tips to Catch Giant Trophy Northern Pike
- Bring Heavy Leaders.
- Keep Your Romance At Home.
- Get A Gripper.
- Pack Serious Heat.
- Pick Heavy Duty Assemblies.
- Know Where To Look.
- Learn Northern Pike Reading.
- Use Daredevil Lures.
Where do big pike go in the winter?
Knowing that many of the pike’s preferred forage fish will move into deeper water during mid-winter gives you a distinct advantage. Locating structure adjacent to deep-water holes with soft bottom content usually provide the makings of a good Pike fishing spot.
What time of day are pike most active?
Pike in the morning are more active than usual. Early morning right before the sun rises is an excellent time to target hungry pike. You can either find them in open or shallow water hunting down their first meal of the day.
Where do pike like to hide?
Pike utilise cover wherever possible, be that undercut banks, tree roots, fallen trees or branches in the water. They also gravitate towards manmade structures, such as locks, weirs, bridges, moored boats or anything that can provide shade or cover… Small, slow-running rivers make for great locations to find pike.
Where do big pike hang out?
They will stick to the back of bays where water warms up quickly with the morning sun and they have lots of weeds to hide in. The really large Northern Pike are more likely to hang around points leading into bays, narrows between islands or in river current especially later in the spring.
Is 3 inches of ice safe to fish on?
Ice Fishing Safety Thickness Guidelines
Stay off of any ice that is 3 inches or less thick. Remember that a minimum of 4 inches of clear, solid ice is a requirement to support an average person’s weight.
Is 2 inches of ice safe?
Less than 4 inches: Stay off the ice. 4 inches: Walking, ice fishing, ice skating, or other activities on foot are permitted. 5 to 7 inches: Snowmobiling or riding ATVs are safe. 8 to 12 inches: Driving a car or small pickup is allowed.
How many pounds can 4 inches of ice hold?
about 200 pounds
Ice is not considered safe to walk on until it is at least 4 inches thick. At 4” the ice is suitable for ice fishing, cross-country skiing and walking and can support about 200 pounds. At 5 inches of new clear ice should be enough to hold a single snowmobile or ATV or about 800 pounds.
What colors do pike like?
The ability of slower retrieve along with a softer underwater tone gives you the injured fish action northern pike prey upon. Best pike lure colors: Red/Black or White (sunny days), Chartreuse/Blue (cloudy days).
Do pike like deep water?
Deep water is where big northern pike spend most of their time throughout the year. At times, the shallow water bite can be very good for number and big fish, but most of the time, the better big fish bite will be deeper.
What is the leader for pike?
fluorocarbon line
For fishing techniques where the risk of bite-offs is lower, fashioning an 18-inch long leader from 50- to 80-pound a test fluorocarbon line is a good option. Fluorocarbon is flexible, holds knots well, and has enough abrasion resistance to turn back the teeth of pike and muskie in most situations.