A Pike Kind Of Weekend
Last weekend Darrell and I had planned to make the drive to Belwood and take part in the annual Belwood Lions Pike Derby. However, as often seems to be the case these days, we got busy doing chores around the house and it was mid-afternoon on Saturday before we were even able to leave. By that point we decided it would be better to stay closer to home and try searching for pike in some of the local lakes.
While I voted for heading back to our main lake here, the one we hadn’t visited since we were last there breaking ice with the boat, Darrell had other ideas and wanted to check out some new lakes he had found online. Since we hadn’t been exploring for some time, I agreed to try the new lakes and off we went.
Hmm…are we supposed to be here?
Trying to find access to these lakes proved that you really can’t trust what you see online. On Google Maps it looked like there were two roads that would take you the water. The first one we tried ended up turning into a small dirt lane with a tunnel through the trees, clearly a road allowance that isn’t meant for boats. We eventually turned around when it became clear the road would never turn down to the water like we hoped. Thank goodness for a 4×4 truck and a small boat that fits just about everywhere. The second apparent ‘access point’ turned out to be a private laneway. We finally gave up and headed for our main lake.
The main lake is one that we normally fish for brook trout and panfish in the spring, and bass in the summer and fall. But on our last visit to the lake another angler mentioned he had caught pike in the lake for the first time last year, so we set out on a pike finding mission.
The best sight.
Finally having clear, open water at this lake was a nice change, and the motor was appreciative of having a nice run to start out. So was I. I love feeling the boat race along the water, having the wind in my face, and watching the scenery fly by.
The first couple of casts landed some smallmouth bass. Being out of season they were quickly released without taking them out of the water, and we realized that we would have to adjust our plans. Many of the areas we thought looked prime for pike also happened to be active spawning areas for bass. We stopped casting in the real shallow areas, or anywhere we saw a dark shadow. We did, however, venture close enough to have a look at some beautiful fish without disturbing them, then move on our way.
It was a windy day on the lake but we were able to get into some pike by visiting quieter water in the bays and casting along the drop-offs. This tactic kept us away from the bass but landed us some fun toothy-critters. The best part about the fishing was that we were landing the pike on hard-bodied swimbaits, lures that had never really produced for us before. The pike were just inhaling them.
Toothy-critter!
On Sunday we were able to get going earlier in the day and headed to a group of lakes we had previously fished only through the ice. With road-side launching and easy access for shore-fishing, the lakes were a popular destination that day. We setup in the first lake and again found that the bass were actively spawning. The deep water and lack of weeds left us thinking that there may be better options for pike than that particular lake, so we boated to the back and moved along into the second lake.
The second lake was more what we were looking for: weeds, less steep drop-offs, and some quieter water. We tossed around the swimbaits without success and I switch up to my white chatterbait. The chatterbait, one of my go-to pike lures, was lucky once again and landed me a small pike. I actually saw the little guy swing at the lure twice before he finally took it. That turned out to be the theme of the day.
The turkeys were out for a walk.
Moving on to a smaller lake attached to the second one, we found an ideal area for pike. It looked like it should hold several of the toothy-critters and we were not disappointed. Throwing chatterbaits to the drop-offs, we consistently pulled in fish every few casts. Almost all of them would swing at the lures a few times before hitting. Some would follow back to the boat and scamper off when they got too close, only to hit on the next cast. It’s almost more of an adrenaline rush to see the fish swimming boatside, waiting to pounce, than it is to actually land them!
We each caught several pike over the course of the weekend, got some rust off of our open water skills, and finally got much needed time on the water. By the looks of the spawning bass, we should have a lot of fun trying to find those monsters when the season opens at the end of June. Until then, we’ll keep busy with toothy-critters and continue our search for Big Momma pike.
argosgirl
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one of those great days where you get steady action. those are so hard to come by. good job.
Thanks! It was so much fun!