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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Summer Pike Fishing
By Mike Guarino Well, as many fishermen know, catching northern pike in the summer can be challenging to say the least. There's even an old wives tale about the fish loosing their teeth when the water's surface temperature hits around 70°. I'm not sure if that's true, but sometimes I start believing in that sort of stuff! The fact is, the pike are still in the lake and they do still feed, but they don't feed as often. So consequentially, it can seem like they are non-existent. However, persistent anglers who put their time in and are willing to go the extra mile are often rewarded with big fish. Fishermen have a couple of schools of thought when it comes to trying to catch summer pike. First there are the trollers; second are the live bait fishermen; and last are the spin casters. Let's address each option and you can make your own decision on how you want to fish for them next time out. Trolling is always a great choice when you want to try and hook up with Mr. Toothy. As the water warms, the bigger pike will slide out into deep water and many times trout trollers will report catching a huge pike by mistake while looking for brown trout and salmon. Last year on Great Pond, we had a pike hit our dodger! It was an amazing strike and the teeth marks across the sticker on the dodger proved that pike meant business! Another advantage to trolling is that in addition to catching pike, you might hook a few suspended smallmouth bass or white perch. If you are willing to put your time in and target big pike, you'll want to find rock ledges like the one just north of the sunken island on Great Pond or the one on North Pond. These ledges hold lots of bait and offer cooler water, which makes a perfect spot to find a lazy pike. Trolling big split-tailed rapalas is a really good choice because the pike love them and so do the bass and trout. It's always fun to troll lures that can catch multiple species. Live bait probably accounts for more northern pike in the Belgrade Lakes Region than any other method of fishing. I know lots of anglers who fish giant live minnows on North Pond, slowly drifting over sunken weed beds, hoping for a big bite. North Pond is interesting because the natural bait seems to run bigger than on Great Pond and Messalonskee. A conversation with Scott Horne, owner of Wild Things Bait Shop in Oakland ( The last option is my personal favorite — spin fishing. Personally, I love run and gun fishing for northern pike. You better bring some Advil because you arm is going to get sore and tired! But moving quickly around weed edges and sunken structure is a fun way to hunt down summer pike. Put your trolling motor on auto pilot and cruise down the edges casting into ever nook and cranny. You'll catch a lot of smaller fish, while you search for the big guys, but it's a blast. Keep in mind that most of the big pike have moved out deep, but they do move into shallow water to feed and can be caught casting. Dusk is certainly prime time to find a cruising pike and casting weedless spoons and spinners just might draw the strike of a lifetime! Good luck! Mike Guarino can be contacted at | ||
