Looking for Big Pike

[jpike]

 
    Does anyone know where to catch big pike? Have ice fished High Point and caught 29 incher. Get any bigger there or anywhere else?

[sbfPA_Mike]

jpike,

     Why don't you take some time and surf around the site a bit. You have a grand total of 1 post. A lot of guys aren't going to give up any information to someone who hasn't given anything themself. Fishing is a lot of work and time on the water. The more put into it, the more you get back. Well, I think most of the guys on this site feel the same way. I don't want to put you off from this site, I want to do the opposite, turn you on. Get some quality posts under your belt and see what happens.

Mike

[BCJensen]

Just do a little reading and you will be able to answer your own question...  You will probally learn a thing or to also.

look @ the Kinzua posts.  we always get several nice fish up there..

Brent

[boatnik13]

JPIKE !  What part of the state are you in and how far are you willing to travel? I know a few places but like all of them your going to have to look hard for BIG PIKE in numbers and thats  not easy in  any part of the state. Unlike Canada > we can access almost any waterway with ease and traffic tends to get high as word gets out in this state.

[tomg]

jpike,

     Why don't you take some time and surf around the site a bit. You have a grand total of 1 post. A lot of guys aren't going to give up any information to someone who hasn't given anything themself. Fishing is a lot of work and time on the water. The more put into it, the more you get back. Well, I think most of the guys on this site feel the same way. I don't want to put you off from this site, I want to do the opposite, turn you on. Get some quality posts under your belt and see what happens.

Mike

Come now, just because the guy only has one post doesn't mean we shouldn't help him out. That is exactly what this site is for!

Shawnee has some big ones and so does kinzua.  Actually all of the lakes have some big ones. You just have to put the time in. The bigger the bait the bigger the pike. But I agree with baotnik13 .  The big Pike are out there but they are few.   i started to drop my line only about 3 - 5 feet below the ice.  I am catching more but no big ones yet.  Good luck

[jpike]

JPIKE !  What part of the state are you in and how far are you willing to travel? I know a few places but like all of them your going to have to look hard for BIG PIKE in numbers and thats  not easy in  any part of the state. Unlike Canada > we can access almost any waterway with ease and traffic tends to get high as word gets out in this state.

  Boatnik, thanks for your reply. Im new to ice fishing and got addicted to it. Im from Pittsburgh. I have relatives up by Conneaut Lake and have read about ice fishing pike there but other than that I dont know. Would like to take a weekend trip somewhere. I only have been to high point lake so far. Last year in late February there my friends and I caught a lot of 18 inch pike and  1 small bass.

[jpike]

Come now, just because the guy only has one post doesn't mean we shouldn't help him out. That is exactly what this site is for!

Shawnee has some big ones and so does kinzua.  Actually all of the lakes have some big ones. You just have to put the time in. The bigger the bait the bigger the pike. But I agree with baotnik13 .  The big Pike are out there but they are few.   i started to drop my line only about 3 - 5 feet below the ice.  I am catching more but no big ones yet.  Good luck

Thanks for the info. Are you 3-5 feet in deep water or towards the shore?  Last year at high point we were in about 12ft of water and pulled the shiners about 3 ft off the bottom and had tip ups left and right. Caught a bunch of pike that day. It was late Feb if that makes a difference too. Thanks again
                                                                               _jpike

[WartHog]

Anywhere with pike has potential for a big one.  The biggest I have pulled out of High Point has only been around 25".  I have had big pike bust my line while fishing Lake Arthur for bass and we have taken some decent pike from Conneaut - just over 30".  The biggest pike I have caught in PA have come from Presque Isle - up to 38".  (I am still trying to get one over 40".)

As far as High Point goes, I have always wondered why the PFBC doesn't manage the lake to attempt to grow bigger pike.  Because the lake seems to have such a high density of small pike, it may benefit from a slot limit.  For example, make it so that you cannot keep a pike between 24 and 36 inches.   Keep the creel limit at two pike but only one of which can be over 36".  Just a thought - I am not a fish biologist.

[sbfPA_Mike]

Pike really relate to the weed edges. I like how you tips in 12' and brought the bait up 3', that is good stategy IMO. You should look for long points and run a line up into shallower water as a search until you can pinpoint locations. Don't be afraid to move!

Mike

[jpike]

Pike really relate to the weed edges. I like how you tips in 12' and brought the bait up 3', that is good stategy IMO. You should look for long points and run a line up into shallower water as a search until you can pinpoint locations. Don't be afraid to move!

Mike

Thanks Mike. Its so funny that you said to move because the times I have been ice fishing with my buddies we were stationary all day.  My one friend is stuck on not moving the whole day! Also I remember we were more towards the dam at High point? I read an article about ice fishing last year and it stated that towards the end if winter you can save your real christmas trees or any other tree limbs, and then put them on the ice in a "special spot" so when the ice melts they drop and you have a place for some good fishing. Just sounded like a good idea for anyone like me who loves to fish.
                      -jpike

[tomg]

Thanks for the info. Are you 3-5 feet in deep water or towards the shore?  Last year at high point we were in about 12ft of water and pulled the shiners about 3 ft off the bottom and had tip ups left and right. Caught a bunch of pike that day. It was late Feb if that makes a difference too. Thanks again
                                                                               _jpike

It was about 10-12 feet deep.  I read on this forum that pike cruise closer to the ice about 3-5 under the ice.

[1MOFISH]

i dont target pike but do get my share of them bait stealin' critters big one this year   30"c/r   probally 20 or so this year  thumb still bleedin' ask slider  all one foot off the bottom in shallow water 3'to8' you got to either fish da weedz or the deep basin now or the wallz at kinzua in chappel bay or conneaut my pick kinzua for the really big one     mofish

[boatnik13]

Finding ice is going to get tough as it is staying above freezing.  I can't help you in the Pittsburgh area for I'm out of the S.C.  section.  I do know of a web site that is active in the west side almost every night  and that's  the "BIG DAM FISH" site.  If it wasen't for ice fishing reports I'd know less about the BIG fish that really do exist in these lakes. You know! The big musky that didn't fit threw the 8" hole or the big  freak channel catfish or BIG PIKE being caught  in the lake  yet never seen in summer time. This tells you alot about PIKE and I would (as in the past) KEY in at "ICE OUT".  Also find that the ice pike change there habits for summer and are not in the same area's as the winter in smaller manmade lakes. One more reason your not going to load up on large pike or musky is that they like acting alone as they get up in age ( except for spawning season).

[slider]

J pike Cranberry LAke is a good pike lake last yr pletch eric and i hooked int o some nice ones
 

[Dizzy]

    Does anyone know where to catch big pike? Have ice fished High Point and caught 29 incher. Get any bigger there or anywhere else?

Check out the PFBC website. Somewhere on there you can research where all the "citation size" fish were caught, broken down by species.