IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Northern Pike => Topic started by: Fishinut on Dec 05, 2002, 02:12 PM
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How Deep are pike? just under ice or down deeper? please help :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
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it all depends. i fish some flats that are around 15ft on the tops. i put my lined off the edge and on the flat. i have also dropped them at a huge dropoff like 5ft-23ft. i drop them down around 15ft. just try different spots. thats the fun of it!!!
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fishinut, I have found during the early season most pike like to stick around the shallow water area where you can see bottom standing up! 3-5 ft. deep. As the ice forms, the fish tend to migrate deeper. They are still weed huggers and look for cover for cruising but not to deep. The deeper water tends to have a lack of oxygen which keeps them consentrated in the shallower 10-20 ft. of water. *note* In Alaska we do get winter kill quite often from lack of O2 in the water. Low Oxygen forces them into a lithargic state. So what I would suggest is to lay your lines out in various depths until you find the one that has a healthy populace of fish. Usually I do this by going from shallow to deep on my sets. Works for me but others may try something different? That's the neat thing about this site, SOOOOO many different techniques something has to work!
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Fishin nut,
I think your question was on the lines of where in the water column are pike. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I fish for pike ALL year. During ice time the pike are on the bottom. I run my baits about 6"-12" off the bottom. I generally have very little luck fishing pike in over 15' of water in the winter. In the winter the water cools and can hold more oxygen. This allows the larger pike to come up into the shallower water and into the weedbeds as the baitfish do. In the spring the pike will start moving (in large #'s) to the shallows...less then 4', and get ready to spawn. As the water warm in the spring, the big pike will start moving out to find cooler water that has more oxygen. In the summer you will find the pike in or just bellow the thermocline.
Probably more then you wanted to know, but I like pike and I tend to ramble...lol
In
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thanks for the tips. i was fishing too deep last season. thats why i didnt have too much pike action. thanks for the help. good luck the season and many flags to you :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
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hi just 2 cents worth i fish a ten ft deep bay put the bait down 18 inches i think pike feed upward if you look at thier eyes they are made to look up i do very good but am tiring of releasing the 42 s i want a50 so am thinking of going to deeper water this winter i keep only 2 or 3 fish a winter want the grandkids to have it happen to them caught a 28 32 and 40 today the 40 had me going as the ice is clear and i could watch the fight as well as feel it i thought it was bigger thanks jr
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8)I usually fish my pike tip ups about a foot off of the bottom in water rarely deeper than ten feet. However, last year I had a couple of days on a local lake where the pike where crusing about a foot under the ice(saw a few swim past the hole) I was the only one who noticed this and therefore the only on to catch any Pike! It was pretty cool. That of coarse was the exception not the rule. I would venture to say(from years of experience) that 90% or more of the pike caught are on or within a foot or so of the bottom. :'( :'( :'(
Eric
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I fish deep clear lakes in upstate new york, for big pike. I always find them on 10-20 feet deep flats, that have good weed growth. It is important that deeper water, that perch use, is nearby. I set out my tipups, with the minnow about 1 foot above the weed tops. also catch a few lake trout doin this.
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Hey fishinnut- try adding a chartreuse or gold spoon to your tipup setup. Add it where your leader is attached. This adds some "flash" to your presentation, attracting fish from a greater distance. It also alllows you to use sucker minnows which tend to stay alive a little longer than shiners do. Also, snip the top of the minnows tailfin off, and hook him behind the dorsal fin. Pike go nuts for a minnow that struggles down ward for some reason. Just speaking from experience of course. Happy fishing-Whitey.
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I fish for pike in shallow water(3-7) were there is usually 18" and 2' between the tops of the weeds and the ice. i set my tip ups down right below the ice. I consistantly outfish my friend who likes to fish deeper. the lakes I fish are really shallow though.
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i catch most of mine in 10 fow but usually only little ones i catch the bigger ones in about 20fow and u need structure or u will get skunked
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i caught a 32" pike while catching perch in 2 fow
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as i posted on another similar issue-i found that the aggressive feeders are predominantly shallow feeding and the larger northerns are found in deeper water and more of an opportunistic feeder-(they didn't get big by being stupid) :'( ::)
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IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE WATER YOU ARE FISHING. I GENERALLY LIKE TO FISH IN LESS TAN EIGHT FEET OF WATER IN SECLUDED BAYS ON SMALLER LAKES. HERE IN SOUTH DAKOTA WE CAN USE FOUR RODS SO I SET ONE AT ABOUT EVERY 2 FEET. IE IN A 6 FT DEEP PART ONE ON BOTTOM AND THE REST UP FROM THAT. WHEN I FISH ON THE RIVER I OCCASSIONALLY PICK UP PIKE DOWN TO 20 FEET WHILE FISHING WALLEYES.
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In most lakes, fish near the bottom. BUT if the lake you fish has a lot of vegetation, the pike are still low, but they are probably looking up for suspending bluegills and crappie. I've actually had a lot of luck suspending my dead bait right at the beginnings of the weeds, even though the pike are near the bottom.
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The body of water you're fishing dictates the depth of the pike. I've found most of the smaller pike hang in 5-10", but the monsters I've seen caught on the lakes I fish all have been in 15-30" not sure of the oxygen, but they were there. I personally would rather set traps in deeper water to catch 1 big pike then catch a bunch of smaller ones. The theory is these fish will have to travel across the deeper waters to get to different areas of the lake. They don't just hide in the weeds all winter.