Confessions of a Closet Pike Hunter

Author Bob Chochola with a nice Canadian pike. Write him at esoxhunter@bobzilla.tv.

A few years ago, on the road to the promised land of Esox, destination way north of the Canadian border, kicking-off another typical hype-heavy muskie hunt somewhere in Ontario, a pit stop was made in a little town called Virginia, for gas, food, beverages, and, well, certain other necessities of life.

Don’t know about you, but I like to read when I’m – indisposed. So there I was, without a good book, opting to peruse some quips on the walls of this roadside oasis’ bathroom, thoughtfully left behind by traveling angler-prophets-past, in order to accommodate said desire. Scribbled in assorted marker colors just high enough and just coherent enough so that they could be enjoyed without straining too much, I found myself indulging in some rest stop prose whilst I took care of business.

One very clever author seemed a little troubled and took a condescending jab at the quality of fishery that one might experience in the region, while in the same breath fIred a snarky remark aimed at the state’s fishing motto:

“Minnesota… Land of 10-thousand lakes… 10-million boats… 10-billion fishermen… 10-trillion mosquitos… and only ONE walleye!”

Pat Elza with a huge Canadian pike.

Ouch! That had to hurt?

You know, had I been a Minnesotan, which I am not, and had I more time at the time, which I did not, and maybe even if I’d have had a marker color of my own, I may have defended her honor – Minnesota I mean. But my crew was in a hurry, so I had to leave it by the side of the road – as it were. We were on a muskie hunt, and had no time to even think about those “other” species.

This brings up another good point and great motto:

“Muskie – the fish of ten-thousand casts.”

I have no way to confirm it statistically, but the folks who write these mottos have all got to be math teachers, accountants, statisticians, or something along those lines of work. How else do you explain all the numbers and counting and stuff like that? It just makes sense.

Nice one, Spanky Joe!

I have done extensive research on the subject of how many casts it actually does take to catch a muskie and it is quite clear that these data collectors may have over-estimated the figure a bit. On one trip I calculated number of casts per minute, times minutes on the water, times four guys in two boats, and it came out to about six-thousand casts before we boated our first muskie. Of course, that number went down quite a bit when we boated four more muskies in the next few hours. But I will leave the braggin’ alone – for now.

Either way, let’s just agree that it takes “a lot” of casts to bag a muskie. Okay?

What’s any of this got to do with northern pike?

Well, I’m about to tell you a little secret – my little secret – and it may not bode too well with some folks in the elite northern pike in-crowd.

You see, there are more than a few “out there” who will try to convince you that catching a northern pike is as difficult, maybe even more difficult, than catching an elusive muskie, or a stubborn old walleye. I read an online article a few days ago that claimed northern pike to be “one of the most difficult species on Earth“ to catch. Really?

I don’t think so!

Daddio gets in on the action.

And here’s why I don’t think so…

If you were to ask, “What’s the best time of year to fish for northern pike?” I would tell you that spring, summer, fall, and winter are all “best times” to fish for them.

If you then asked, “What water temperature is most conducive to pike eating activity?” I would respond to let you know that you can catch a northern pike through a hole drilled in a foot of ice. And you can catch a northern pike when the water is so warm even the fish are sweating. And you can catch them at every temperature in between. It’s all good!

Ask me about bait. Go ahead! “What bait would you use?”

I have caught northern pike on live bait: minnows, golden roaches, blue gills, suckers, night crawlers, red worms, wax worms, leeches, and crawfish. I have used most of these in a post-mortem condition and it didn’t seem to matter too much. I have used bait like spawn and salmon eggs. A buddy of mine caught a 40-inch northern pike on corn (while fishing for carp). Go figure!

Wait! There’s more…

Always catch & release.

Artificial lures are a no-brainier where pike are concerned. You got spoons in the box, use them. You got X-raps, go forth and fish. You got beetle spins, spinners, tube jigs, top water, rattle baits, crank baits – you name it. Just size your lures to the pike in the lake and remember, they will try to eat a meal up to half their own size.

I have boated 34-36 inch pike on 14-inch crank baits. I had a 40-inch pike swallow a one-pound plastic bait that was about 16-inches long counting the big flutter tail. Gone! I mean completely down its throat wire leader and all, bitten-off and swallowed. (We actually retrieved that bait from deep inside the pike’s mouth, when a guy in the next boat caught the same fish a few dozen casts later and noticed the swivel end of a wire leader and a couple of inches of line dangling out from between its teeth.)

What about color choice? Are you kidding me?

I have not found a color yet that a northern pike won’t eat. I personally stick with pink if I am targeting pike, but you just try to keep them off your black and gold spinner bait, or that natural shad jerk bait. I have had to pull those away to keep from releasing pike number twenty-five, while searching for a single interested muskie.

Yeah! Color makes a difference – to you. The pike don’t care what color you use.

So, why don’t northern pike have a slogan? They are fun to catch. They fight like there’s no tomorrow. I can honestly say that I have been fooled many times, by big pike that I thought were big muskies, until I got them to the boat, or they jumped to reveal my mistake.

Way to go, Bob!

Well, excuse me! I thought you were a…

And don’t even go there if you are one of those sassy walleye fishermen laughing at me for thinking my pike was a muskie. That time you were drifting the deep channel with a leech, hooked-up with a nice chubby walleye, then got bit-off. What do you think did that? It wasn’t Nessie, because you weren’t fishing in Scotland. It was a toothy critter – probably a pike.

I have a friend who brings his dad north from time-to-time. Daddio really gets into the whole muskie versus walleye rivalry thing.

Although what all the fuss is about I certainly cannot say for sure. Everyone knows that…

“MUSKIE: other fish are just BAIT!”

(Pause for applause and boo’s.)

Anyway, my friend’s dad has also picked up on the fact that northern pike don’t exactly get the respect they deserve. He joins in the chorus every chance he gets – calls them “Slimers!” and accompanies the less than flattering term with a nasty screech voice that you might imagine would go with such a term.

“Slimers!” Hmmm?

I am from the school that enjoys a good battle, even if it comes at the hands (or shall I say “fins”) of a fish that I wasn’t expecting – that I wasn’t specifically targeting. Hey, I was carp fishing long before carp fishing was cool. So, there you go! Slimer, or not, I dig the fight and northern pike certainly bring it when the time comes.

That’s why you’ll not see me pack for a trip north without including some sort of pike rig. I do use lighter tackle to increase the challenge, but that’s because I know I can count on this toothy critter, when the other toothy critters come down with a case of lock-jaw, or play hide and go seek for four days.

I’m all for coming up with a catchy pike slogan though. In fact, send me your suggestions. I will share with you down the road, if I get any worth bragging about, that is.

Until then, sharpen all your hooks, because we’re gonna dive deeper into some of the specifics of the Esox Hunt. Yeah… Yeah… I know. I said it was easy, right? No, I said you can count on a pike when all other species fail you. But there’s still much to learn. There are still “preferred” strategies that will turn a good trip into an “Oh, my God! I can’t believe we…” kind of trip.

I’ll leave you with this story about my great-grandfather.

My mom’s side of the family is from Estonia. Now most folks don’t even know where Estonia is, but I will say that it borders Russia and is a port to the Baltic Sea.

Among the many stories my grandmother told me about life in the “old country” were tales about her father going fishing and bringing home these huge 4-5 foot long fish that were “very scary looking” because they had big teeth “just like an alligator” and big black eyes.

Yup! Sounds like northern pike to me too. In fact, they were pike. Big pike. Big European pike. And my ancestors depended upon this species for survival during many years in war-torn Europe.

So, while they may be “Slimers!” to some, they are a part of family history to me. And I am very proud to be a part of Esox Hunt for just that reason.

Fish On!

(Reporting for Esox Hunt Magazine. January 2012.)