Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

Hey guys,

Since losing my job reccently, I have been spending alot of time by the water. I have been focused on trying to catch pike in the GTA.

I have managed to get really good at locating the fish, but I am having real problems getting them to bite.

I found an ideal spot full of pike. With a good set of glasses you can see them a few feet from the top of the water during the day. The last time i was out i counted about 10 good sized pike.

The problem appears to be they have no interest in any lures or spoons I throw out. I work them at various speeds all without any strikes. I use a real varity of lures, jointed cranks, spinners, mr grubbs on jig heads...pretty much you name it and I have tried it. I prefer to use spoons, as that has caught me pike before.

Its becoming more than a little frustrating to be able to sight fish for these guys, think you have hit a honey hole and then have everything rejected.

Most of my fishing is done during the day, and I wonder what effect that has, as I suspect later (or earlier) would provide more action. What is really getting to me is that I KNOW they can be active during the hot days. Video evidenance online and many good posts by the likes of Blair on here confirm that.

Mostly I am fishing in the top 10 feet of water, and I wonder if I need to go deeper and slower. The only reason I havn't is because I can see the fish swiming higher than that...

Any advice would really go a long way..

Thanks guys

G

They will definitely bite during the day but they are more spooky as the water is at its clearest point. I've heard people having luck with suspending swim baits. Swim it right by the pike and let it just sit, no twitching, jigging or reeling, just sit. I've had luck with the same method, seems that Pike strike at dead baits pretty well, and they will strike with he same intensity, try it out! One more tip I picked up while chatting with a pro angler at the Toronto Sportsman Show, try using buzz baits, Pike hate the sound they make and will often strike to kill. Try it out, it might just work!

Good luck.

Sounds like the pike are sunning themselves. These may be pike that are less active. If you see a lot of this happening, try fishing later in the afternoon and evening when the water temperature is at the highest and the fish are at their warmest.

I would try a large soft plastic lure...something like a Slug-go or similar...and just slowly work it in front of the pike just inches under the surface. Another option is to fish a swimbait just under the surface.

Or, you can simply ignore these inactive pike and look for active fish hunting along the weedlines. To me, it's silly trying to get these fish to bite when there are more active ones that you can target. It's like people fishing all day for carp that are sunning themselves just because people can see them...but it really is the ones that are on the bottom (and sometimes feeding in the weed beds) that will most readily bite.

Is there a reason why you are not using live bait? A 6-7" live minnow set a couple of feet under a large float presented in front for these pike...don't see why they would not bite it as long as you are patient enough to out wait the pike...

swimbaits mon chum, swimbaits.

How about trying deadbait, on the bottom?

(05-30-2013 08:30 AM)john20000 Wrote: [ -> ]How about trying deadbait, on the bottom?

Pike won't likely eat from the bottom.

(05-30-2013 12:03 PM)Giuga10 Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-30-2013 08:30 AM)john20000 Wrote: [ -> ]How about trying deadbait, on the bottom?

Pike won't likely eat from the bottom.

I've caught pike with deadbait laying on the bottom before.

If slow isn't working you might also try burning (real fast) a few different lures past them, or from the bottom up.

When pike are not biting aggressively, I love using a drop shot rig with a live minnow,

They do bite off the bottom...


~Jeremy.

Lots of great things to try have been suggested. I'd try a live minnow! Kudos for finding a spot with plenty of pike!