SUMMER PIKE

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world, so it's no surprise that it hosts big fish. I'm not just talking about huge lake trout, such as the 63-pounder (28.6 kg) caught in 1952. I'm talking about monster pike, many of which have never seen a lure. Superior has pike so big that they inspire campers and anglers to tell tales: like the ones about seagulls and ducks disappearing off the surface; or pike with nicknames such as "jingle bells," because numerous lures hang from their mouths from previous breakoffs.
My childhood memories of fishing near the mouth of Thunder Bay's Kaministiqua River are of seeing pike that looked like pulp logs. I never landed any, but later in life I incidentally caught pike elsewhere, including a 38-incher (96.5 cm) while steelheading near the mouth of the Jackpine River. My first impressive Lake Superior pike outing, however, occurred several years ago while fishing with friend Ed Chaschuk. It was May, and the Thunder Bay area was experiencing an unusually early spring. The walleye season was still a couple of weeks away, so we decided to check out the pike action.

Ed and I fished most of the afternoon with little to show for our efforts. Nearing suppertime, the temperature started to warm up to the point where I almost considered taking off my fleece jacket. We were starting to second-guess our decision to fish Lake Superior, thinking we should have gone to one of the nearby inland lakes. As a last pass we decided to return to a shallow bay where we'd seen a rise earlier in the day. As I cast to the reedy, shallow shoreline and started to retrieve, I saw a fish following my spoon. It hit in an explosion of flying water and turned with the lure in its mouth. Line sizzled from my baitcasting reel, as the pike made a long run. I adjusted my grip to make sure I had two hands firmly on the rod. After what seemed like 10 minutes the pike tired, and almost four feet of fish (1.2 m) with an 8-inch-wide (20-cm) back finned beside the boat. I called for Ed to give me a hand, but he was too busy battling another brute. During the next hour and a half we landed and released more than 15 pike. Six of them were more than 40 inches (101.6 cm) in length. I was hooked on Superior's pike and have gone back for more since that day.

Timing and location
Timing and location are critical if you wan't to connect with Superior pike. Having an average depth of 500 feet (151 m) and a maximum depth of 1,332 feet (403.6 m), the lake is cold and has relatively little pike habitat. The best fishing occurs in May, just after pike have spawned, and again in September and October when pike move back into shallow water. Bays, river and creek mouths and inlets, weedy shorelines, and backwaters can all host pike. Northwest bays with weed and soft black mud are the best places to look on warm afternoons. The presence of weed growth such as reeds, bulrush, coontail, and cabbage is important. It provides cover and attracts insect life and forage for pike. Often, pike seem to just sun themselves in shallow bays and then use weeds for cover when ambushing prey. In spring, also look for small black-water creeks or inlet streams. Pike spawn before suckers, but remain near creeks to prey on suckers.
There's often a window of only 7 to 10 days to get in on the best spring action. Once protected near-shore water warms, Superior pike move to cooler water along the main shoreline and even out into the open lake, where they're tough to find. If there's an inlet or channel to the main lake, pike might return sporadically to shallow water for up to several weeks. If pike aren't in shallow bays, troll contours of deeper channels leading to the main lake. Try prime areas several times during the day, especially if the weather warms or the lighting changes, such as at dusk or if cloud cover moves in. They can trigger pike to feed. If weed growth, gravel bars, or rocky reefs are present, work them with a variety of presentations.
Tackle and tactics
The chances of catching a pike over 20 pounds (9 kg) are good on Lake Superior, so use tackle that can handle fish of this size. I prefer a baitcasting reel, 12- to 17-pound test line with a 12-inch steel leader, and a stiff medium-heavy 6-foot rod.

I've checked the bellies of pike and found everything from minnows, perch, smelt, walleye, herring, whitefish, burbot, birds, moles, mice, crayfish, insects, to corncobs. No wonder a wide variety of tactics will take them. For overall excitement, though, surface lures such as spinnerbaits, prop-baits, buzzbaits, and jerkbaits can't be beaten for working bays and main-lake points when big pike are shallow and aggressive. Surface jerkbaits I've used successfully include the muskie-sized Poe Tail, Awaker, Suick, Stidham Sensor, Ace-In-The-Hole, Reef Hawg, Striker, and Bagley DB08. A wide variety of mid-size to large spoons, however, have long been proven overall pike producers, and weedless models are available for use around cover. Don't head out without some Dardevles, Len Thompsons, Williams Wablers, Johnson Silver Minnows, or the like. I use natural colours for lures in clear water, while brighter finishes such as orange, fire tiger, chartreuse, red and white, and yellow work best when Lake Superior bays silt up from wave action.
When pike are finicky, cast finesse weedless rigs such as large soft plastic jerkbaits, jigs, crawfish, or leeches. Fussy pike will also take dead bait, such as smelt (check local regulations), herring, and suckers, either trolled on a spinner, cast or trolled slowly on a quick-strike rig, or set under a large float. Use stealth when looking for shallow-water pike. I use an electric motor for trolling or I anchor and cast to key shoreline areas. Casting spooks fewer pike, but long-line trolling also produces nice catches by covering more water until you find concentrations of pike. They can gang up in areas as small as a living room.
In northwestern Ontario, many anglers still consider pike a nuisance fish that interrupts their walleye fishing. Attitudes are changing, but this aggressive fighter is abundant in many shallow Lake Superior bays and shorelines where anglers seldom venture. There are lots of pike out there that exceed 20 pounds, and I've seen a few that I estimated at well over 30 pounds (13.6 kg).
Go toe-to-toe with a Superior waterwolf this spring. You won't be disappointed.