When I was a kid, there was an “old wives’ tale” that I heard repeatedly. The story went that the reason you couldn’t catch pike in the summer is that the fish lost their teeth. I assume this story came to be because people couldn’t figure out why it was so hard to catch pike as the water got warm. However, I have learned in my many years of fishing that this is not the case. Summer pike not only have full set of teeth, but they’re also willing to use them in the right situation.
Why Are Large Pike Often Tough in the Summer?
One of the key things to understand about large pike is that they are primarily a cold-water fish. Sure, small ones will be up in the reeds when its hot and sunny, biting off your bass worms. Yet big pike are not a creature that likes the kind of warm water musky thrive in. Muskellunge cruise right up into water that’s very warm and are comfortable. Pike, on the other hand – especially trophy sized fish – don’t like warm water. Pike prefer the cooler water temperatures, so this keeps them out of those warm stuff for all but the shortest visits. However, there are conditions and situations where big pike will move and be quite active in the summertime.
What to Look For
One of the areas that I’ll look for in a lake or reservoir is a big rock pile in open water. Preferably that rock pile will be situated in the main basin of the lake. Pike will roll up on the top of a reef where the surface water might be a little warmer, but the deep-water sanctuary is close by. That deeper, colder water is where summer pike will spend most of the time, cruising down near the thermocline. On hot summer days, when the wind whips up, that warm surface water gets mixed with the colder stuff down below. That temperature change allows the pike to feel more comfortable and they will move to the reef and chase perch, sucker and walleye. If there is an approaching storm, and the air cools, so much the better. Anything that cools off the water will trigger summer pike.
The other thing I look for when targeting summer pike is large cabbage beds. Pike love cabbage that is deep as it provides cover and shade from the sun. The pike tuck in along these cabbage areas and feed on the perch, panfish and minnows that live there too. The best cabbage will be located right on the edge of a drop off or in an area where there is quick access to deeper water. This is a good zone for walleye but is also perfect for big pike.
Summer Pike Lures
Now as far as the lures to use for summer pike, there’s a few I really rely on. The #1 for casting is the Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon in a three or four-inch size. Silver or brass spoons both work quite well, and I’ll often put a four-inch white Berkley power bait twister on the single hook. That twister adds a little bit of wiggle and bulk to the spoon. Throw this spoon right into the cabbage and reel it back slowly. It’s amazing how effective the Silver Minnow is at catching big pike.
Another lure that works really on summer pike is the bucktail spinner. The classic pike spinner is the once or one and a half ounce Mepps Musky Killer, and that one is tough to beat. Yet other good spinner choices include the Buchertail, Inhaler and Vibrax musky spinner. Pull these bucktails over the tops or along the edges of weed beds or over rock humps and off main lake points. It’s difficult for a big pike to not to eat a bucktail spinner if he is set up to pounce. I like a silver blade with a black bucktail dressing, but sometimes a fluorescent red or a fire tiger blade works well.
An underused technique is to fish a larger three eight-ounce jig head with a four or five-inch Reaper, lizard or plastic shad, but you’ll want to use slightly heavier terminal tackle than you would for walleye. I use a flipping stick, and a bait casting reel loaded with 20 or 30 lb. Sufix braid for most pike fishing. When fishing jigs for pike, pitch them off the sides of the weed beds or rock piles let them freefall down. Pike usually hit the jig on the drop.
Trolling
Trolling allows you to cover a lot of water when pike are hanging out in the open areas of the lake, like off of drop off or reefs. When pike are aren’t tight to structure, and cruising open water, this is the best way to get them. I first caught pike trolling in the summer using #9 Rapala Shad Raps. These lures look great and wiggle tightly, but any number of different diving crankbaits will work. One of my favourites for trolling deeper water is the Rapala Tail Dancer. Depending on the size of the Tail Dancer, you can get down 20 or 30 feet. The Tail Dancer has a lot of vibration a lot of action and will catch you a lot of big pike. The best crankbait colours are silver, silver and black, and fire tiger. In places where pike eat a lot of perch, panfish and walleye, perch-coloured crankbaits work well.
Summer Pike can be a puzzle, but they can also be super exciting and something different to do during the dog days of summer. Good luck!
~Gord Ellis~