Winter Pike Wisdom.

Winter Pike Wisdom.
by Mike Seymour

 The northern pike reigns as king among ice anglers, and rightfully so. For one thing, productive pike waters lie within a short drive for most anglers. For another, the public docks and boat launches at such waters offer easy access. Most importantly, however, might be the fact that, unlike other species of gamefish, northern pike remain active and catchable throughout the winter.
 Here's a look at 10 areas that can aid in making anglers more pike-wise when heading to the ice this winter.

Pre-trip Information.
 Acquire charts for all potential fishing waters. By studying the chart, you will be able to identify likely fish-holding locations. If you are planning to fish unfamiliar water, consider making a pre-season trip there. Such a trip allows an angler to check out public access sites, to acquire a familiarity with the lake, and to locate a bait shop. Get the phone number for that local bait shop, too. That way you can call for up-to-date ice and fishing conditions once the season arrives.

Winter Pike Patterns.
 During the early-ice period, pike will be found in shallow bays and along near-shore structures. As winter progresses, though, colder water temperatures, decreased light penetration, reduced oxygen level, and angling pressure result in the majority of pike moving to deeper water. For the best mid-winter results especially for larger fish, anglers should concentrate their efforts on deep-water structures and structures at the outer edges of bays. As late-ice approaches, northerns will again migrate to shallow-water structures and bays where the action remains good until the season closes on March 15.

Pike-holding Structures.
 Both shallow-water and deep-water flats will produce winter pike, but the best action occurs near structure. Knowing the specific locations of structures in a given area is critical for consistent pike action. Weed beds, of course, are the prime pike-holding structure. The most productive spots are openings in the weeds, the inside weed edge, the main weed line, a small flat on the outside of the weed bed, and any drop-off just outside the weed bed. Other quality, and often overlooked, structures include shoreline and island points, shoals, and drop-offs. When any of these structures also has weeds and/or boulders present, the spot can be especially attractive to pike.

Prime Feeding Times.
 Because northern pike are non-night feeders, they become extremely active the first few hours of daylight and the last few hours of daylight. These feeding patterns are especially true for larger fish. Unfortunately for anglers, these times are also the coldest hours of the day. More so than their summer counterparts, however, winter pike are fairly catchable throughout the day.

Water Clarity.
 Clear-water conditions call for ice anglers to use thinly stranded wire leaders or fluorocarbon mono leaders on their tip-ups and jigging rods. Such leaders will result in significantly more action than will the use of thicker, heavier wire leaders. Also, black leaders generally result in more takes than silver ones.
 Murky-water conditions call for anglers to use color, flash, vibration, and scent. On tip-ups, consider adding an in-line spoon such as the Lake Clear Wabbler for attraction. Larger minnows, too, entice more strikes in off-colored water. When jigging, anglers can make their offering more attractive by tipping it with a minnow or by adding a commercial scent. Also, avoid using subtle artificial lures. Instead, select ones that have flash and/or vibration.

Tip-ups.
 State regulations allow the use of five tip-ups so anglers are advised to take advantage of this flexibility by setting rigs on a variety of structures and in various water depths. Since a pike's eyes are positioned so that he feeds best by attacking prey above him, anglers should set their baits three or so feet off the bottom. To make a minnow appear injured and more attractive, clip one of its fins which makes the minnow swim in an erratic manner.
 When a flag goes up, traditional wisdom calls for the angler to allow the pike to stop moving and then to set the hook once the fish begins moving again. However, by using a treble hook rather than a single one, the angler can set the hook initially when the pike is moving.

Jigging.
 While jigging is the standard technique of panfishers, very few pike fishers jig for their quarry, yet jigging can be more effective than tip-ups in putting pike on the ice. Jigging lends itself to mobility on the ice, and the technique allows for a variety of presentations considering the numerous flash lures, swimming lures, and lead jigs commercially available. In addition, anglers can enhance presentations by adding minnows and/or scent to the setup. When fighting jigging-hooked pike, the best advice is to take it easy. Let the rod and drag system do their work.
 Perhaps the most effective strategy for icing pike is to use jigging in conjunction with tip-ups as jigging can attract and activate fish which in turn hit the live minnows suspended on tip-ups.

Active Angling
 Just as open-water anglers rely on mobility to increase their fish catches so, too, should ice anglers be active in their ventures. The degree of mobility, though, is directly related to the presence of other anglers on the ice. By selecting areas with few anglers present or by fishing at low-pressure times, anglers afford themselves the opportunity to stay on the move. Active angling calls for fishers to routinely auger holes throughout the day, to move inactive tip-ups to new locations, and to go from hole to hole with the jigging rod. Such activity can give clues to the best areas, structures, depths, bait size, lure type, and presentation style (subtle to aggressive) for that particular day.

Panfish Clue.
 Experienced pike anglers are familiar with the "perch flag," an occurrence where yellow perch hit the large minnow on a tip-up set for pike. This results in a tripped flag and very little if any line run off the spool. In such cases, the angler can usually remove the tip-up and jig up a number of perch from the hole.
 Well, just the opposite scenario occurs for anglers who are jigging for panfish. When the panfish action suddenly ceases, the cause may be that a northern pike has moved in. In such situations, anglers should consider placing a minnow-baited tip-up or utilizing their pike-jigging setup in that hole or a nearby one.

Selective Harvest.
 Studies as well as personal observations have shown that ice fishing can negatively impact the pike population in a given area. This is especially true during early-ice and late-ice, times when northern pike congregate in bays and along near-shore structures. As a result, ice anglers are encouraged to practice some catch-and-release or to implement selective harvest, a practice where smaller fish are kept for eating and larger ones are released. Releasing large pike is a sound practice especially during late-ice, a time when egg-laden females are extremely vulnerable to angling pressure.
 Mike Seymour is a U.S.C.G. and NYS licensed guide who offers fishing trips on the St. Lawrence River, Black Lake, and other St. Lawrence County waters. A member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the New York State Outdoor Writers Association, he writes a weekly newspaper column and contributes regularly to outdoor magazines. Mike enjoys all kinds of fishing. You might find him fly fishing for native brookies on a small Adirondack stream or trolling for trout and salmon on Lake Ontario. Mike can be reached at 315/379-0235 or fishmike@slic.com.