pike fishing questions

[ice sled]

I am a trout fishing guy! Curious about pike fishing ?now that I have never fished for this species was wondering whats the depth of water to fish? sandy or rocky bottom? what bait works best? where to position the bait in the water and were to put the hook on the bait? what lakes in ct are best to go for them? I guess any general info would help thank you!   

[fishoninct]

Most pike waters are open. Large shiners. Near or in weeds. In my part of state, lake lillinonah, bantam, and Winchester. Use heavy leader or you may lose them.  Lotta sharp teeth.
Usually do best in 10’ of water or less

Fishon.

[kpd145]

Wetherfield cove has pike and Mansfield hollow have pike.

Big pike.

I've caught them on both large and small shiners. Mostly shallow but I have vmcaught them in deeper water, but rarely

I target points, weed lines or brush piles if I can find them.

I always start with live bait. I set some traps with huge bait and a few with medium or small baits.

I never use steel leader and I use a smaller hook than most pike fisherman. I have regretted not using steel leaders just once.

[saxmatt]

I've had the best luck around weeds using 8-12" dead baits on or just off the bottom. Dead goldens and fallfish work the best but suckers, sardines, herring, smelt and other oily baits will work. I like to use 60lb floro for leaders but I've been cut off a few times, 2/0-4/0 J or Khale hooks depending on the size of the bait.

[ice sled]

this is great information for a starting point thank you! if anybody else wants to contribute much appreciated.

[Patb41982]

this is great information for a starting point thank you! if anybody else wants to contribute much appreciated.

make sure you wear gloves for your first time pike fishing. 20 pounders will cut you up if not careful. good luck

[ImmovingtoMaine,OUCH]

Come on guys.... dude, the basic information you are asking is all over internet, bookstore, blogs, magazines ect...dude I’m sorry but if your looking for handout information now then what type of effort will be put on on the ice, Read, plan, practice, execute....tip up!

[cutler331]

I’ve caught my fair share of pike. We caught our biggest 39 inch on a medium shiner at pachoug on a very small hook with no crazy leader. Take it for what you will.

[Patb41982]

Come on guys.... dude, the basic information you are asking is all over internet, bookstore, blogs, magazines ect...dude I’m sorry but if your looking for handout information now then what type of effort will be put on on the ice, Read, plan, practice, execute....tip up!

Maine really??? why you have to be such a prick!!!

[octanehi5]

Ice sled, you came to the right place,to ask your ?s, Most guys & girls on here will steer you in the right direction,You will find out the ones that will not,Disreguard the negative nellies,all sites have them. Iceshanty was formed to do just that.I would add that we need ice. I'm sure once we get it someone here would take you out and show you.Good Luck

[imsafanct]

Yes all the above info. is available online. The thing about online info. is that it my not be specific to the region/area one will be fishing. So coming here with questions about what works here makes sense, especially considering the people here are successful and have been for a while.

A place for us to talk about what works is what this board is, right?

Ask away my man. I’m pretty sure most here will be happy to share and will try to answer any question you have.

-Eric

[Hammertime-IceCube]

Come on guys.... dude, the basic information you are asking is all over internet, bookstore, blogs, magazines ect...dude I’m sorry but if your looking for handout information now then what type of effort will be put on on the ice, Read, plan, practice, execute....tip up!

Dude, don’t be a stiff. Sites like this are meant to be informative for all levels of expertise.  Offer up a tip instead of being a know-it-all.

[ImmovingtoMaine,OUCH]

First, I’m not a know it all, still learning everyday, second, there’s a difference on pegging a question based on an experience, trial and effort, or failure and a question to further your effort or attempt to be successful ice fishing. The basic information requested could of been found with a little more work. I am not a prick,actuallly quite the opposite, however,  I think there should be a respect for what and how part of the skill part of fishing is attained or earned. My two cents....quite frankly I thought I’d have a little support on here based on some of the high level of experienced anglers in here. ....Oh yea, one more thing, my tip....be mobile and once set up make it easy so if you don’t raise a flag within first 90 minutes(assuming for fishing early mornings) you can pick up and move rather efficiently

[ESOX FIX]

never move your spread, stay off the ice and let um find u. always do best when fishing solo.

[NateD]

Come on guys.... dude, the basic information you are asking is all over internet, bookstore, blogs, magazines ect...dude I’m sorry but if your looking for handout information now then what type of effort will be put on on the ice, Read, plan, practice, execute....tip up!

This site is for talking fishing, and a resource for information just like any other site he would go to. Tips from locals is always better than the YouTube experts.

[jebra]

After reading through this post it's clear to me that we need a lot more of what we don't have right now....good ice.

Where's that "arctic blast" 

And a note to ice sled: keep asking away...95% of IS members will offer advice without any push back.

[Doeslayer]

Heavy line and big baits.... If your jigging i like to run a deadstick with a big shiner on it and then run a rsttle trap or chubby darter 2 feet away and jig very aggressive so it makes noise.... Sometimes they hit the jigged bait but usually it just calls em in and they eat the deadstick

[jebra]

I mostly agree with "staying put"...spreading your tilts out and letting the pike find you.

If you need to "relocate" , sometimes just moving a trap a few feet will draw a flag. 

[saxmatt]

I agree with staying put. Do your homework and find the good spots before you even get to the lake. Also, make sure you have everything you need with you when you get a flag: pliers, jaw spreader, tape measure, camera etc...I’ve seen too many people let fish flop around the ice way too long because they are unprepared. I saw a group of people let a small muskie flop around on the ice for over 6 minutes last season before releasing it because they had to go back to their sled for the gear they needed to unhook it. I wouldn’t use trebles either unless you are planning on keeping them. I’ve seen many trebles and quick strike rigs get swallowed by big fish.

[ice sled]

well I was aggravated at first by immovingtomaines post 2 days ago so I stayed off the site. so to you I put no less than three hours of
working on my gear . Cutting leaders off, twisting my backing line straight ,putting new leader line on every time .  l Look over navtronics of contours for every trip and plan from there. the reason I asked questions is for what works in the area. what works here may not work so well in nh,or maine. book info doesn't give the little details. but I do look info up. so to everyone who offered advise thanks. just waiting on ice like everyone else. hopefully soon. good luck to you all 

[Papa Sly]

Ice sled I use 60# fluorocarbon line, never tied but always crimped,  as a leader with a small Colorado blade and a couple beads. Seems like the pike really like the flash. I am normally fishing in under 10 feet of water and vary bait size. Some say very large bait but I fish in Tupper New York every year for pike and the natural alewives are only the size of medium large shiners. We try suckers and jigged perch every year and still catch the pike mostly on medium heavy shiners. I have gained so much knowledge from people here on Shanty so don't listen to guys like immovingtomaine, they are grumpy guys that don't want to help or share. You could spend time reading info from guys that may not even really ice fish or come here and chat with a bunch of guys who for the most part love and promote the sport.

[river rat78]

I don’t target pike much. Just remember they are the top predator in most lakes. I would find where the panfish are and set up in that area. Where there is smaller fish chances are a pike won’t be far away.

[sploke]

I agree with staying put. Do your homework and find the good spots before you even get to the lake. Also, make sure you have everything you need with you when you get a flag: pliers, jaw spreader, tape measure, camera etc...I’ve seen too many people let fish flop around the ice way too long because they are unprepared. I saw a group of people let a small muskie flop around on the ice for over 6 minutes last season before releasing it because they had to go back to their sled for the gear they needed to unhook it. I wouldn’t use trebles either unless you are planning on keeping them. I’ve seen many trebles and quick strike rigs get swallowed by big fish.

Not specific to pike, but THIS x100.  If you're keeping it, dispatch it quickly.  If not, have your crap together to unhook, take a quick pic, and release as quickly as possible.  In a pinch with a smaller fish, you can grab the tail and just keep the head and gills in the water if you are waiting for someone to bring you something.  CnR is pointless if the fish is 95% dead when released.

[jebra]

While we are on the topic of taking care of iced pike here is a fact:

A vertical hold on a pike (for a more impressive picture) is bad for the fish (spinal column, internal organs).

Unfortunately I see this done season after season.

So if you're taking a photo hold the pike horizontally, i.e. parallel to the ice, then back into the hole ASAP.   

[Phishing.Hacker]

I catch all my pike on regular sized baits, whenever I hang big bait or dead bite I get nothing. I catch more fish in general on regular shiners vs pondies/fallfish/yellow-perch etc.

[saxmatt]

Live shiners work fine but you’ll catch mostly small pike and pickerel. If you pay attention to the guys who consistently catch 40”+ fish most of them are using dead bait.

[Stickhick86]

Dead trout works great if it is legal in your area

[Global Warming in CT]

I try to mix it up for pike depending on what's available. Suckers are great but tough to find. I was against dead bait for a long time after several skunkings, until I got a few on dead bait when that's all that was available (smallish pike will take big dead baits too). I try to jig up some tiny perch or gills and use them too. If I have 10-12 tipups out (with a buddy obviously), I'll use 3 or 4 different kinds/sizes of bait if I can.
All that being said, my biggest pike was caught on a $3 tipup that only held about 30 yards of line, with a small shiner more fit for perch fishing. That's all the bait shop had that day. The guys around me were cracking up about the setup I caught it on.

[Stickhick86]

Could also try hotdogs. cheaper the better

[ice sled]

just another question do they seem to bite at some particular time of the day or not?