Try your hand at shallow water spring pike! As it does every year, spring creeps across central Canada, slowly but surely, a stronger sun melts ice, creates runoff and water temperatures raise. After a winter on ice chasing fish the change is welcome, a new arsenal of gear is brought out of storage and anglers can start casting. One of the first fisheries of the open water season is shallow water pike. Not only can fishing be had in super skinny water, but you have the chance at GIANT fish. Watching the bow wake of a big northern as it tracks and chases your bait will make even the most seasoned angler’s pulse quicken; there is something about a 4 foot fish in 12 inches of water that does this!
Where to look
The pre-spawn movement begins under the ice long before open water. Pike begin migrations to staging areas in front of bays and river/creek mouths. They hang out on the first drop off doing the last bit of feeding before the vigor of the spawn taxes their energy reserves. The first places for ice to recede are inflows of creeks and rivers and south facing, dark bottomed shallow bays. Pike seek these locations out year after year, so a good bay this year will likely be a good bay next year if you make the effort to release fish with care.
Spring Location
Not all bays are created equal though, look for a soft, silt bottom, the kind where you drop a lure and a puff of silt comes up. Bays with some type of narrows or rock shallows separating it from the main lake will warm quicker and attract the first shallow pike of the season. Clear water bays seem to attract more fish than stained bays, but it depends on the system being fished and the overall water clarity.
Backwater areas of creeks and rivers hold spring pike as well, this means a lot of opportunities for urban angling as tributaries that get too warm to hold big fish in summer are perfect early spring hotspots for big pike.
Though most of the spring action takes place in the bays, be sure to fish your way into the bay, casting or trolling the mouth, especially when wind is blowing in. Big fish tend to hang out on the edge and to not carefully fish the entrance will having you missing some of the biggest pike.
What to Use
The most important tool you need to be a successful shallow water pike angler is a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. This allows you to quickly asses a location and visually see big fish. It also opens the underwater world to allow you to see these fish chase and eat your bait, arguably, the most exciting aspect of this angling.
Shallow pike can act like they haven’t ate in weeks or stare down your offering with disdain, from inches, as you shake with anticipation of a strike. It pays to have a versatile tackle selection with you to cover their moods.
Traditional pike fodder, spoons and spinners, have certainly accounted for their quota of fish over the years. They can be fished on a straight retrieve or any number of stop and go variations.
Most recently, I have turned to soft plastics as my go to option for big pike. 7-10” plastic worms in black, brown or green texas rigged on a 5/0-8/0 hook and also paddle tail swimsuits 4-6” on the same hooks are deadly on pike. Their rigging makes them weedless and not likely to accumulate debris, which can spoil a well thought out cast to a big fish… they didn’t get to that size without being suspicious. Particularly on the swimbaits, ensure the hook gap is large enough for the plastic body to compress, leaving the hook exposed for a solid hookset, otherwise the fish may hold on only to spit the bait boat side. A hook with a screw-lock attachment will help your baits last more fish catches before replacement.
Shallow pike are also prime targets for sight casting with a fly rod. Books have been written on the subject and provide much greater insight than I can so I will simplify. Eight or nine weight rods in the eight to nine foot range will cover most applications. Floating fly line tied to a tippet of 20 -30 pound mono and a two foot section of titanium leader to prevent bite offs is perfect. Spend the money on the ones you can tie a knot in! You can also tie an Albright knot to the end of your fly line. This prevents having to use a swivel and much easier to get through your guides if needed.
Fly Patterns
Flies are most often some variation of a rabbit strip leech in black or olive. Some days the neutral buoyancy of a fly and the subtle action will turn lookers into biting. On the dream days where pike are charging from every angle to slam baits retrieve doesn’t much matter, however when fish are neutral or negative slowing down and fishing baits like a jig will turn a few more on.
When casting to visible fish, cast past its head and bring the bait across its vision. Cast far enough away that the lures entry will not spook the fish. Stopping the line just before it hits the water will soften its entry less likely to result in a dust cloud of a spooked fish. Remember to keep the boat well back from the target fish. Try to wear light coloured clothing so you blend into the sky. Also scanning a bay with the sun at your back will give you a visual advantage in spotting fish.
This spring check out some new bays local or exotic and try out this shallow water pike fishing. I can think of no better way to kick off the open water fishing season than to battle these big predators in skinny water.