Author Topic: Can u catch pike just below the ice? (Read 6794 times)

SharkSlayer · « **on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:06 PM »

I always put my bait 1-2ft off the bottom and it seems to work

I read a few websites and they say to start fishing 1-4ft below the ice
Are these guys fishing in 5ft of water?

Have you ever fished just below the ice or used a camera there?
Any success?

Are some pike supsended?

FISHFORPIKE · « **Reply #1 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:13 PM »

I generally fish in 8 - 12 FOW for the pike in Black Lake. 5 tip-ups w/large shiners and one of 'em will be set 12" under the ice. I've caught fish on it.
More if it is over or near a weed-bed.

GAMBELL · « **Reply #2 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:20 PM »

I have caught pike 1' under the ice in shallow bays. Remember pike look up for food. 1/2 way down in the water column also works good for pike in 10 - 15 FOW.

icejunky · « **Reply #3 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:26 PM »

like you I usually set 1-2 feet off the bottom, that being said two of the hardest strikes I have ever had, came a 1foot or less below the ice, one was from a pike and it snapped a st croix rod I was using..the other was a laker

Skipper · « **Reply #4 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:29 PM »

Pike make a habbit of eating dead stuff from under the ice. I have had good luck fishing DEAD bait just under the ice late in the season. Pike is closed here in MN during our late ice, and that is when it does the best. $:-\$

littlesturgeonguy · « **Reply #5 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:34 PM »

yes i agree you can catch them a foot under the ice. i usually set up 1-2' from bottom but sometimes there looking for an easy meal of dead meat right under the ice. i see this was mentioned before and i think there may have been an article about this in the last in-fisherman.

Skipper · « **Reply #6 on:** Nov 27, 2008, 07:45 PM »

I watched a pike grab a dead fish from under the ice on an Aqua-Vu a few years back. We saw the dead fish on the cam as soon as we set up, and it didn't take an hour for a moderate sized pike to grab it.

deadsmelthead · « **Reply #7 on:** Nov 28, 2008, 10:09 AM »

Out of the 5 tip ups Im allowed I never have a tip up set the same unless one particular set seems to get a lot of action. I have come to the conclusion that if your fishing in 3-6 or so fow that it doesn't matter where you have your bait as long as it can't hide in weeds. The only time I know of that pike are strictly stuck under the ice is very late into a very cold winter. They get right under the ice if the oxygen levels drop in the rest of the lake.

Flash_King · « **Reply #8 on:** Nov 28, 2008, 11:47 AM »

When fishing the Charles River(MA) coves,the regulars usually fish in 12" to18" of water right along the shore. Go figure

ChillerThriller · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 28, 2008, 03:00 PM »

In 20 FOW i use BIG smelts (6-8 inch) like 1 foot below the ice. When i fish with my camera i see so many fish swimming near the ice and they tended to be bigger fish. So one day my tip up froze up and i did not feel like unfreezing it so i put it out as far as it could go and put it in. BAM like 2 minutes in catch a 25 incher (keeper here) so i keep doing that now and it works. The big bait makes a big silhouette against the white ice and their eyes are on top of their head so it only makes sense. They see it and come up and slam it. Put it on a windlass to add a little wiggle to the smelt and its deadly.

Haywood · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 28, 2008, 03:04 PM »

3 years ago we were pulling crappies in about 20 FOW and we were on about 7" of clear ice. A few of the crappies we released went down, then came back up and were suspended under the ice where we could see them. Low and behold, after a while, in came a pike and picked a few of them off.

Luffy · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 15, 2008, 11:53 PM »

Like Gambell mentioned, pike generally look up when feeding. Where you put your bait really depends on where you're fishing and what's working there at that time. I've fished an old flooded rock quarry where the overall depth is about 30-40' and the only place you can land one on a tip-up is about 2' off the bottom. In 8-12' depths, about halfway down seems to work best for me. Anything shallower than that really doesn't matter.

The best rule of thumb when starting out is to try and do a little research on what's below you, make your best guess where the pike might be based upon that, and then put your bait a bit above that area. Be prepared to move around or change things up depending on your success.

frydaddy · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 16, 2008, 12:05 AM »

Eating fish right off the bottom of the ice as they float up when they die and bloat is a natural thing for pike to do....at least that's what the experts say. Even when targeting pike in deeper water, you should always have one bait at the surface.

Hando · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 19, 2008, 09:13 AM »

I think this thread shows one thing - you need to fish the conditions you are facing and mix things up on where you are at in the water column. I will confirm that I have had success with baits just under the ice but for me that has been in 5 foot or less. More oxygen, pike look up, etc... whatever it is but as Gambell stated those are the best hits seem to be those just under the ice. It is one of those things you have to try and build your confidence in which always happens after it works!

JCaughtem · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 19, 2008, 09:16 AM »

Some of the biggest pike i ever seen were caught by salmon fishermen with 1/2/3 inch baits just under the ice ,

MrMarty51 · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 19, 2008, 09:26 AM »

Reeled a minnow up into the spear hole.The ice was about a foot thick.The minnow was about an inch or two below the waters surface.
Had a pike come right up to the surface to get that minnow.Too bad I moved and scared it off.

REEL DeiL · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 04, 2009, 09:03 PM »

if the water i am in is 12 feet or less i usually have my minnows down only 2-3feet pike look up all day every day so that is where i put the bait

spoxick · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 08, 2009, 08:26 PM »

yesterday when i was fishin bout 12 fow i was lying on the ice staring down the hole and i blinked and a head started to pass buy my my hole right right against the ice as he went past the very tip of his tail actually popped up just a bit so it was touching the ice .... so i would say yah

flagguy83 · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 14, 2009, 10:05 PM »

ALL DEPENDS ON THE WATER. IF ITS CLOUDY LIKE THE LAKE I FISH FOR PIKE I WILL FISH 6 TO 8 INCHES UNDER THE ICE AND LIMIT IN A HOUR. NOW IF YOU ARE FISHING ON A LAKE THAT IS CLEAR I LOOK FOR WEEDS AND SET UP JUST ABOVE THEM. GL

sodaboy33 · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 15, 2009, 07:09 AM »

most generally I fish in water that is 12' deep or less. And generally I set my tip-ups to be between 1-3' below the ice.

michianafisherman · « **Reply #20 on:** Jan 15, 2009, 07:19 AM »

I use my camera to see the location or depth the Pike are hanging out. The set my tip-ups at that depth or a little higher. I have seen large Pike just under the ice plenty of times, but never able to catch one at the top. Perhaps to skittish from the activity?

TimmyWill · « **Reply #21 on:** Jan 18, 2009, 03:03 PM »

I Was fishing a 10 foot deep weedbed edge last yeaer and had my tip-ups 3 feet under the ice and caught 3 nice pike.

famou55TAR · « **Reply #22 on:** Jan 31, 2009, 07:49 AM »

we were on white bear lake last yesterday. as soon as i dropped my line in the minnow was right under the ice. a little northern hit it.
my first northern.

gasman707 · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 03, 2009, 08:09 PM »

The biggest pike I catch are always in less then 5 feet of water about 10 feet from shore. Just pulled one in this past weekend with tippup set in only 1-1/2 foot of water that measured 32"

FondoFishin · « **Reply #24 on:** Feb 04, 2009, 10:44 PM »

Early in the season I like to set bats in shallower water about a foot or two under the ice. As the winter progresses, the big pike move into deeper water, and then I'll start running mainly dead bait closer to the bottom. You can catch pike shallow all winter, but the real big ones almost always will be in over 10 feet of water, unless you can find a shallow flat or bar thats directly adjacent to a nice drop off, then sometimes those big ones will wander up shallow to feed, knowing that they can get back to that deep water with a couple flicks of the tail.

Water Wolf · « **Reply #25 on:** Feb 11, 2009, 08:44 PM »

Pike can defiantly be caught just below the ice. I saw one the other day at the surface and have caught them there.
I usually have one set line near the surface.

Like others have said they like to look up and the darker silhouette of the prey against the brighter ice is easy for them to spot.
They also tent to scavenge any prey items that are dead and floating against the ice, it saves energy and they still get a meal.

WW

33Canuck · « **Reply #26 on:** Feb 12, 2009, 11:49 AM »

For sure, we typically set our bait about 18-24" below the ice in 6-8' and have great sucess, I'm not acostom to depper water but I would think 2-3' off bottom is a good bet although fish might be cruising at any depth so you never know

jacksmelt71 · « **Reply #27 on:** Feb 18, 2009, 10:09 AM »

we get all our muskie 6-10ft. under the ice in up to 100ft. of water! my biggest a 21lber was caught at this depth in 70ft. of water. this lake is really just a wide part of the river so oxygen isnt a issue but we have a large smelt and y. perch population . both of which like to suspend. i think muskie use thier eyes more than pike too. funny the lakers in this lake are caught in the same places at the same depths.

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Author Topic: Can u catch pike just below the ice? (Read 6794 times)

FISHFORPIKE