# Fishing for Pike in Mid Summer



## RoboMan

Wow - I've been searching forever for a forum about Pike fishing!!!!!

Now that I've found it, I'm looking for some suggestions on fishing for Pike in mid summer.

At the end of July, I'll be spending about 9 days in the Hayward, WI. area and need some suggestions on smaller lakes/rivers to fish.

I have a specially designed canoe which has a wide body and a motor. I bought this thing specifically for fishing - not canoeing. It's very stable and you can stand and cast in it. I fish mostly for Northerns and Muskies - some bass when it's slow.

With that said, in the spring I know how and where to locate the Pike but have never fished for them in mid summer. I know they are deep in cooler waters but I'm not use to fishing deep waters. My favorite way to catch them is a spinner bait or small spoon in the spring. Any tips on where to locate them and the lures to use that time of year would be appreciated.

Also, I've wanted to try trolling for them deep but I can't seem to get the bait deep enough. I know guys that troll alot use downriggers but that seems too much for my set up. Do bottom bouncers work?

Thanks Again,

RoboMan

I'm a catch and release guy.


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## lvmylabs

Do you have Electronics on your Canoe? I would start off looking for under water humps adjacent to deep water. It is great if there is a weed line on this hump. We have had good luck swimming large jigs and or soft plastic swim baits, working the edges of the weed lines. We would generally position the boat in the deeper water and cast up on top of the hump and fish the baits down the sides. The big pike will come up for a nice meal. We have also trolled for them in open water during the middle of the summer. Although this may be hard with a canoe. We look for the bait fish suspended in deep water the big fish have a tendency to hang out just below the bait balls. Pull large cranks at the same depth and hang on. Have fun, and good luck.


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## RoboMan

I have an older fish Finder that takes batteries but I stopped using it because its so unreliable. It has a suction cup style device that I place as far as I can under the boat but every little wave or ripple that rocks the canoe will throw it off.

I have been thinking about getting a better one before I head up there.

As far as trolling - I do have a 55lbs thrust trolling motor on this canoe. The problem has always been that even if I use deep diving cranks the don't seem to dive deep enough while trolling. Ideally I would like to be a foot or so above the bottom but can't figure out how to get my bait to stay down that far. I have seen bottom bouncers but not sure if that will work or not


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## lvmylabs

I have a Lowrance M56 Sonar/GPS that works great in a canoe, and currently it is just sitting here in my desk drawer. for $100 plus shipping you can have it I don't use it anymore. Just mount the transducer to the bottom of your trolling motor. As far as getting your baits down there. You could try dipsy divers or leadcore if you have that available to you. Or you could clip on a snap weight in front of you crankbait that will also work, just be sure to use a big enough weight.

Good Luck, and PM me if you are interested in the Sonar.


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## boondocks

How deep are the lakes your fishing?


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## RoboMan

I'm very interested in that Lawrence. I'll just have to figure out how to PM on this site and we can discuss it further. I could do it tomorrow if everything checks out.

Thanks


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## RoboMan

I'll be fishing lakes beteen 20 - 50 ft. There's about 5 of them I'm hitting up during that week. Most average between 20 - 30 range


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## RoboMan

LOL -I guess that would be the little PM button under the post. I'm an idiot!!!!


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## pikeman1

You can also use rapala deep tail dancers for trolling they get down pretty deep. I plan on trying them out on little bay de noc this summer.


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## RoboMan

I'll have to check out those rapalas. Do you know if Gander carries them?


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## pikeman1

I'm sure they do, if not you can try fleet farm or sportsmans wharehouse.


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## pikeman1

You can get those rapala tail dancers down to 35ft with 10lb test, even deeper with a braided line. I use a 30lb pro power thats has a 8lb diameter. I usually have an assortment of deep diving lures for summer like the rapala deep divers, reef runners, and the larger hot n tots, all in firetiger color. And always use a steel or titanium leader, doesn't take much for those pike to cut through your line. I like the titanium leaders because they don't kink but they cost 7 bucks apiece its also good to have a long pair of jaw spredders. I looked up hayward on the map and I see some nice lakes to the south and east of there, that lake chippewa looks like it has lots of nice bays in it to try. You should get out in the fall late sept or early oct, best time to catch big pike up in the shallows. And if you like eating fish you should keep a few of the medium size ones and fillet them up they are great to eat, just takes a little longer to fillet out the y bones.


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## RoboMan

Hey thanks Pikeman. I think I'm going to order these through the bass pro shop. Our Gander Mtn. here is notorious for being out of stock. Besides I doubt they have the Reef Runners.

Anyways, south and west of Hayward is exactly where I'm heading at the end of July on Big Sissabagama lake. I plan on fishing that lake a bit but mostly want to hit up some of those smaller lakes in the area. I can't wait!!!!

I just installed some really nice swivel seats in my canoe and reclined them back for extra comfort ( Get R Done). This way I can stay on the water even longer without being crippled after 8- 10 hours.


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## RoboMan

Just curious what colors you guys like to use the best for the reef runners


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## snow123geese

A lot of the things I use for northerns are perch colored


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## pike king

I live in ny and fish on lake ontario. During the summer I fish spoons in 10- 30' of water inside bays off of southern lake ontario, with exceptions. Somtimes i fish in a small bay wich i will not name. its deepest part is ten foot. I fished with a spoon and within a half an hour i cought a ten pounder and a 15.


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## Southwest Fisher

We were on a central MN lake this weekend, water temp was as high as 74 in the shallows, and yet the pike still all bit on Husky Jerks (blue-silver or white) and spinner baits, and not on my deeper Minnow Raps. All the fish that were below 10' were not being aggressive, but there were plenty biting in the 6-10' range, on a very hot, bright day no less.


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