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Finding northern pike in the early part of the open season (2nd Saturday in
May it opens in my neck of the woods) is a cake walk if you understand a few
fundamentals of their nature. First, pike begin their annual spawn when
the water temperature is between 34 and 40 degrees F - shortly after the ice
pulls out. Second, pike love warm water after a winter deep freeze.
Third, the eggs laid by a female pike in her spawn need to stick to vegetation
to help them through to hatching. So the logic dictates that to find pike
after the spawn, you start by heading to the spot where they go to spawn - and
that ain't hard to find.
 In Canada, the first parts of a lake to thaw out and warm up will be those
protected from our northwesterly prevailing wind. These will tend to be
shallow bays and coves, and if they are surrounded by forest protecting them
from the wind, even better. The sun will beat down on these protected bays
and melt the ice faster than other parts of the lake. That cool NW wind
also exerts pressure on the ice, pulling it out of these bays and into the main
lake. Bottom line? The water is a few degrees warmer and it's like a
magnet to pike. In a shallow bay you
will almost always find some weed growth as well, another essential ingredient.
And if there is a small creek flowing into the bay, that is even better.
It will help warm the water up too.
So it isn't hard to find these bays, especially if you know your north from
south, or if you have a map. But what are you gonna do when you get there
to catch these pike?
The basic minnow - It's hard to beat live bait in the early spring, and if
you don't want to spend a lot of money buying tackle, the most expensive part of
using minnows is the purchase of the minnows. A simple hook and wire
leader are the only other essentials that are required. Simply head for
the shallow bays, anchor in 7 or 8 feet of water, and cast your belly hooked
minnows towards even shallower water. I like belly hooking minnows because
it still allows them a chance to swim/struggle with the hook in them, and that
struggle alerts pike that dinner is being served. If you can't find a
leader light enough that allows the minnow to swim a little, gently lifting your
rod tip will get him off bottom. Finally, hooking the minnow through the
lips and swimming him yourself will work well too.
 But much more fun than using live bait is fishing with crankbaits. In
May, just about any will work well, but the ones that work most excellently are
the ones that practically vibrate with action. My favourite two lures for
pike have become the 3" Cotton Cordell BIG-O and a Cotton Cordell
Ripplin Red Fin. Starting off shallow, you can use the Red Fin in about 18
inches of water. Its tight, shallow wiggling action will have pike swimming a
mile to nail it. After scouring the shallows with the Red Fin, I'll work
the water that is deeper than 3 feet with the Big O. It too has a tight
wiggle, and the built in rattle calls the pike in for supper. What I like
most about the BIG-O is its versatility. Even cranking
it super slow makes it wiggle close to the surface. Cranking it hard makes
it dive deep and wiggle faster. Either way, I always seem to be able to
find a speed that matches the mood of pike.
And when the water is glassy calm in the morning or just before dark, is
there anything more fun than tossing a Floating Rapala and watching it get
creamed? Many people think that a steady retrieve is what attracts fish to
a Floating Rapala. I admit I have caught my fair share just retrieving the
bait. But what will really drive them nuts, and add some excitement to
your outing, is letting the bait sit on the water after the cast. Wait even 35
or 40 seconds after splash down, and then twitch your rod tip just once.
The twitch will make your Rapala duck under the water like a real minnow taking
its last gasp. If a pike has been hanging out under the bait trying to
make up his mind what to do, the twitch will be all the incentive he
needs. He'll take it every time with an explosion that will startle you,
and make you laugh your head off while you reel in the fish.
Finally, as the water really warms up in June, all the big ones seem to
disappear off the shallow coves. They haven't gone far though - after all,
they need to eat and the shallows are wear the bait fish are. But they
will be deep. Try the first drop off from the cove with a deep diving
crankbait, or a bucktail jig and live minnow combo. Keep going deeper
until you score.
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