Hey EL,
Quality over quantity is what makes pike fishing in this area of the province tricky. These are just my recommendations, but if you are looking for big pike you want to look for water that
1) Stays cool enough in the summer - and that usually means deeper water on a lake that doesnt stratify. Big pike need cool water and oxygen -- most of the lakes around this area develop a thermocline around 15 feet in the summer with oxygen PPM dropping to unacceptable levels underneath. This is why the Ottawa River and St Lawrence are good choices - the current keeps the waters mixed, and they are cool enough for big pike. I think its pretty rare to find a large ( > 8 lb) pike in 70 + F waters. Of course there always are exceptions -- we used to catch nice pike in the 10 -15 lb range in Northern Ontario in cool but sunny days in June/July by scanning the backbays on sunny days looking for them sunning.
and more importantly
2) Soft Finned forage base. Good populations of fish like Mooneye/Goldeye, suckers, cisco, smelt. It seems that if the lake doesnt have a good population of these fish in the 1-2 pound range then the size of the pike in the system seems to be much bigger. Pike that have to feed on sunfish and perch dont seem to attain the same sizes.
Im not sure about Big Gull pike fishing - never fished that area at all. Similarly for Quebec, although I would guess that across the river up around Mackay/Rolphton there mioght be some decent pike water.
Calabogie Lake's Grassy Bay has pike - but again they seemed to me to be very similar to the pike on the mississippi system. Lure theiving little snot rockets
Pike like that make me nostalgic for the days of pike fishing in Northern Ontario. Personally, I find the bass fishing in the Ottawa area a decent substitute though - dont really chase the pike around here.
Hope you find something.
Fox
