Pike questions!

Greetings! I am new to this site and was hoping to get some suggestions! I will share my story and then hopefully it will make sense!

I recently purchased a home in Ohio that has a small river running at the back of my property. By small, I mean somewhere between 10-15ft wide depending on where you are looking, and a max depth of about 1 1/2-2ft in the center.

I happened to be walking by the river bank one day and noticed some fish swimming around. I ran back to grab my pole with my catfish rig on, tossed some raw shrimp on the hook and cast out. Within minutes my drag was running wild and my line snapped…I was unprepared for that attack.

The next day I went out and was just casting and slow reeling just a weightless hook with shrimp, and after about an hour I had another HARD hit, after landing the fish I discovered it was a Pike around 20in in length. Imagine my surprise to have caught that in this tiny river. So the next day I repeat the same, and I bring in another pike about 30in long. Im elated at this point. Since then I’ve had little luck on raw shrimp. I can now see pike laying in the river, and they take no interest in my bait of choice.

A few more details of this river. The water is very clear when not having rains. I can see the bottom clearly, and any fish swimming around. The issue is, there are many logs/tree branches, among other debris along the bottom. I don’t want to clear this out because it seems to be where the fish and pike tend to linger.

I’ve become frustrated with fishing this with my current set up because I keep snagging this debris and losing hooks. I was hoping some may have suggestions for lures/bait set ups that pike tend to hit, that will reduce snags as well! Anything will help! Thanks in advance!

Spinner baits. Big and plastic tail. Spinner baits are.my go to small river/creek fishing

With the tree’s in the water and little depth you won’t eliminate getting hung up. It’s going to happen, get use to the idea.

Your easiest tactic would be bobber fishing. However thats a good way to kill the fish. Learn how to handle a baitcaster reel and toss Bass size spinner baits near the trees. Pike are aggressive and will strike to kill so you can’t reel to fast. In fact it’s often best to reel fast so they don’t get a clear look at the bait.

As always wet your hands before touching the fish to unhook and release it. Keep exploring your river looking for deeper holes which hold bigger fish. Cast the tops of the drop off where deep water starts.

Have fun.

rubberduck wrote:

Spinner baits. Big and plastic tail. Spinner baits are.my go to small river/creek fishing

rubberduck wrote:

Spinner baits. Big and plastic tail. Spinner baits are.my go to small river/creek fishing

I think this ys good advise! Yellow, white, or chatruese skirts. Cast out snd wind in. Dont stop the lure.

Yeah im new to this site. And had a dumb question. Im in the upper peninsula of michigan. Trying to get a basic pike setup. Was looking at the pfleuger president/ purist. But just cant justify paying that for something that only has 10lb mono capacity. So im at odds here. Any ideas?

Yep-spinners-safety spin style and lite.As soon as that thing touches the water get it moving-you cannot reel it in so fast that they can’t find it and smack it. They at times like slow though-go with a slug-go texas rigged with a leader.

Richard Kalmbach wrote:

Yeah im new to this site. And had a dumb question. Im in the upper peninsula of michigan. Trying to get a basic pike setup. Was looking at the pfleuger president/ purist. But just cant justify paying that for something that only has 10lb mono capacity. So im at odds here. Any ideas?

Welcome Richard.

Don’t worry as much about the line worry more about the drag. 12lb mono with a good drag will likely handle anything you have in Michigan for Pike. Set the drag properly and you will be good.

Well any idea on a particular reel? What do you prefer?

Make sure you put a steel or titanium leader on there. That’s why the line keeps breaking off in their teeth!

Richard Kalmbach wrote:

Well any idea on a particular reel? What do you prefer?

Unless you are full time hunting trophy Pike any reel you are comfortable using for Bass will handle Pike. I personally use Abu Garcia. You don’t need to get big buck ones, $70 to $80 reels work fine. Use a medium heavy 6’6″ to 7′ rod and you will be good to go.

Garage sales are your friend. You can find a good rod & reel set-up for $30 to $50 at a garage sale. Stick a q-tip in your pocket and run it through the eyes of a used rod before you buy it. It will tell you if there are any nicks in the eyes that will cut your line. Avoid those rods.

Don’t be afraid of the Purist. I’ve been running one of the larger series with 12# mono for a few years in Ontario. Buddy runs an older Shimano Sedona with 12#. both of us are pairing with 6’6″-7′ mh fast rods.

We like this type of setup especially for lighter spinner baits as recommended above. Where we don’t like it is when the baits get heavy, say 1oz or more. that may not apply in the river fishing in the example.

Bang for the buck, Pflueger President in the 40 series is a good choice.

Learn to fly fish. You’ll have one hell of a time! Good luck

Johnson Silver Minnow (doesn’t have to be silver) with a plastic twister tail. It’s a weedless (snagless – almost) spoon and pike love them.

Another great option is hooking a plastic worm or paddle tail with a weedless hook. You can cast that right into the thick and slowly work it through without snagging. The hook is buried in the plastic but when Esox bites down he’s toast.

You won’t need a sinker in that shallow water either, just the world and a steel leader. If you start to use this in deeper water, then a bullet slip sinker ahead of it or a split shot will get it down.