upsata pike

[thebasicfisherman]

just wondering about upsata pike, went out for a couple of days trying to catch them but had no luck. just wondering where to fish for them, what to use, and how deep to drop my bait? any tips would help, thanks.

[Ice Grizzly]

I was wonderin the same thing. I ve fished it but had only success with the perch. Never hooked up with a pike on a tip up there.
 

[timberbutte]

Same here. I don't think they are in there. If pike are notorious for overeating forage fish in small shallow water bodies, how can Placid be full of stunted forage fish? Been that way for a decade, at least. I think there are some huge bass, planted, that don't reproduce successfully. It would be a great candidate for (sterile) tiger muskies. This is one exception to some pretty quality fisheries management by FWP. Time to quit ignoring this lake just because it's not a trout fishery.

[all4elk]

same here. seen where people cut the ice out for spearing and people with tip ups but no pike.all i ever catch is the dink perch and bass now and then.some nice bass but to bad you have to throw them back.but a fun lake to fish.

[justintee15]

I have seen people catch pike in upsata before on tip-ups but never had any luck myself.  Saw some small ones in the ice house while jigging for perch as well. I think they are just hard to catch.

[icebugler]

i have caught one in open water before. tried tip ups and jiggin in the winter with no luck. you would think they should do really well in there! almost fished it again today but decided salmon instead.

[Ice Grizzly]

i have caught one in open water before. tried tip ups and jiggin in the winter with no luck. you would think they should do really well in there! almost fished it again today but decided salmon instead.

Is salmon a good option for pike? lookin for someplace with more pike action. not too worried about the size of them though

[icebugler]

my luck at salmon is not good at all. i usually catch 1 or 2 a trip. never with any size, tonight we caught one on a tip up, prolly the smallest pike i have ever seen. keep checking the salmon lake posts in the other portion of the mt forum, i know people do well up there. depending on your location look into lonepine reservior if you dont care about size. last year at this time we had 2 days in a row of  50+ fish days of pike on tip ups and jigging. all the same exact size, no bigger that 20 inches and absolute snakes.

[montanafishingr]

Salmon is great pike fishing. When i say great I dont mean 50+ fish days great though. But there are some big pike in that lake. And 10-20 fish days can be common.

[justintee15]

Salmon is great pike fishing. When i say great I dont mean 50+ fish days great though. But there are some big pike in that lake. And 10-20 fish days can be common.

So when you fish salmon lake do you fish the shallow weed beds or the deeper parts of the lake?  And is smelt the best bait?

[fishonice]

growing up in michigan we always used dead smelt or live shiners and chubs. but since live bait is no go here I would say stick with smelt suspended about a foot above the weed beds. if you can find the edge of the weeds suspend it about a foot below weed tops out side of them. thats been my luck back home. wind-las tip-ups work great if you have the patience for em.

[thebasicfisherman]

Same here. I don't think they are in there. If pike are notorious for overeating forage fish in small shallow water bodies, how can Placid be full of stunted forage fish? Been that way for a decade, at least. I think there are some huge bass, planted, that don't reproduce successfully. It would be a great candidate for (sterile) tiger muskies. This is one exception to some pretty quality fisheries management by FWP. Time to quit ignoring this lake just because it's not a trout fishery.

there are pike in upsata, i know that for a fact

[MTviking]

There are lots of pike in Upsata, I've caught a few and seen a lot of the Aqua-vu.  Placid however does not have Pike.  Also I do not feel that the perch population in Placid is stunted, I have caught tons of perch over 10" out of there including my biggest at 14".  The perch in Upsata are absolutely stunted though, I've been to upsata probably 15 times and have literally seen thousands of perch caught and probably not a single one over 8".

In fact here is a link to the photo of my 14" from Placid:     http://mtviking.montanacats.yuku.com/gallery/ls/aid/92024

[flyfish59102]

I used to fish Upsata for pike all the time before i figured out how much bigger they are over in Salmon Lake. The best thing to do is to use frozen minnows or smelt on a tip up. Find water about 10 feet deep and set the bait about 4-5 feet off the bottom. Pike have eyes toward the top of thier head and see up better than down. That way when they are swimming on the bottom of the lake they see your set up. I usued to see them on my camera all the time. If you can see them drop a frozen minnow down with a treble hook through the head. That way when you jig it seems like there is a wounded minnow darting for the surface then floating back toward the bottom. That drives them nuts and I have caught at least 10 pike at that lake using that method in the last few years.

flyfish59102