Late Ice Pike

I continue to get emails from people that want to know more about tip-up fishing pike late ice.  Tip-up fishing pike late ice is very popular because it is by far the best opportunity on ice to tie into the biggest fish in the lake you are fishing.  Most of these fish are females that are full of spawn and are hungry.   Most Northern Pike will be at their maximum weight toward the end of March and thus the trophy potential is excellent at this time of year.

Big pike prefer big bait!  No matter what your choice of bait is, when you are after big fish, you better have big bait.  Since water under the ice is still cold, large female pike are looking for a big easy meal.  I prefer to use large dead bait on quick strike rigs but others use large sucker minnows.  Generally I let the fish tell me what they want to eat that particular day.

For dead bait, my choice is smelt.  Whole, frozen smelt is an excellent choice of bait because they are available in many different sizes and hold together well when hit by a pike.  Smelt give off plenty of scent, which is really what attracts large pike.  Occasionally I use very large sucker minnows hooked on a quick strike rig, but late ice it is tough to beat large dead bait.  Despite nature telling those large female pike they need to feed to support their eggs, they still do not like to exert the energy needed to chase food.

The set-ups I use have been covered on the blog already but they are pictured here again.  This quick-strike rig is homemade by me.  I have tweaked my quick-strike rig over the years, but this is the best overall version.  You can buy ready made rigs from the stores, but most include 2 support wires, which I do not care for.

When fishing dead bait late ice you are usually fishing shallow, sometime very shallow.  It is very rare that I fish deeper than 12 ft when targeting pike late ice and usually like to find 3 ft of water under the ice.  Big fish are accustomed to feeding shallow late ice as that is where the big prey are usually found.  As long as there is a foot of water between the bottom of the ice and the bottom of the lake, I will give it a try if the area looks good.

Since I am fishing very shallow late ice, it is not uncommon for me to lay 1/2 of my baits on the bottom or withing 6 inches of the bottom.  Despite most fish preferring to "feed up" late season pike will comb the bottom looking for an easy meal.  Laying a few baits on the bottom is a must when fishing late ice.

When looking for spots to find late season pike they are pretty easy to locate, any kind of flowage or culvert with moving water is an great starting spot.  However, outside a large shallow bay or river is where I usually start.  The later it gets in the year, the shallower I will fish.  Of course it always seems the closer you are to that dangerous open water the better the fishing.

The best pike fishing is right around the corner for most of the Midwest.  I won't start chasing trophy pike for a couple weeks yet.  I leave for a trip to Canada on Thursday so look for some live blogging from the Sioux Narrows, Ontario area with hopefully some trophy Lake Trout, Crappies and walleye. Get those tip-ups ready, that trophy pike is waiting for you.