St Lawrence Fishing

Late Fall Northern Pike
By: Tyler Dunn

November reminds most anglers that winter is just around the corner. Snowmobiles, ice shacks and winter gear are all being prepared for the long ice season ahead. Ontario is blessed with world class size and populations of the northern pike. Pike from the Toronto waterfront to Kenora’s Lake of the Woods Ontario offers world class pike fisheries that are easily accessible to any angler. Pike can be caught using many different methods throughout the season but during late fall pike retreat back to the shallows and other predictable areas where they can also be found in early spring during spawn.

Locations
Sight fish the shallows and concentrate your efforts in 15 feet of water or less. This is the most productive pike water during this time of the year. Search the water body you are fishing for any green weeds because pike will relate to the last remaining green weeds available until freeze up. Rocky shoals that attract lake trout, walleyes and other game fish present an easy meal for giant northern pike to pig out on. Fall is also the time of year whitefish spawn. Mouths of rivers and shallow bays that hold concentrations of whitefish almost always have trophy northern pike in the area. Watch your electronics through the area where the whitefish are spawning. Look for the first break line adjacent to the spawning grounds. This area will be a high traffic area for pike. The pike will be coming in and out from the shallows to feed on the whitefish. Either work the drop off by casting or troll right along the break line.

Casting
Big oversized baits excel in November. Pike are looking for a large, high protein diet that won’t use a lot of energy to purse. Big soft plastic such as a texas rigged Sluggo’s are a highly effective, yet very easy bait to work. Using the same technique as in the spring, cast out the Sluggo and work the bait back with a set of two twitches followed by a pause, letting the plastic fall to the bottom. The quivering action produced from this bait on the slow descent, is usually to tantalizing for northern pike to resist. Subsurface baits are also very effective in the cold water. Rapala’s sub walk and gliding rap are exciting baits to catch fish on. A 7 foot medium to medium heavy action bait casting rod spooled up with 20 pound braid or 12 pound monofilament is usually heavy enough for most pike fisheries. If you are fishing trophy waters 40 pound plus braid better suits the situation. A black steel leader or #50 pound plus fluorocarbon should be attached to your mainline for extra protection against a bite off from a trophy.

Trolling
Weather conditions in November are rarely warm. It takes a dedicated angler to pursue pike in these cold, windy and often snowing conditions. Using large body baits in late fall is key for landing northern pike in these cold conditions. Don’t bother covering water but concentrate on trolling specific areas, spending most of your time watching the electronics for baitfish. The biggest husky jerks, x-raps and bomber long A’s you have in your tackle selection would all good baits to begin with. Large spoons are another highly effective technique on pike throughout the entire season. Speeds from 1.5- 2 mph have been productive with the big crank baits. The over-sized spoons I keep at 1.5mph and under. Speed bursts and neutral drops are always incorporated in every troll. I like to use a 7- 8 foot rod for trolling and 20-30 pound braid or 12-14 pound monofilament are good choices for trolling applications.