Adam Johnson Outdoors • Reading Outdoors

Pike on the Rampage

By Adam Johnson

Towards the end of September when everyone is cleaning their shotguns after a successful grouse hunt I'm in the shallow weed beds taking advantage of the phenomenal shallow-pike bite.

It happens every season. The shallows cool and the northern pike move into the vegetation to chase the bluegills and perch that have hid there all summer long. These pike are eating machines right now and this is one of the best times of the year to get into some very big fish.

Those big pike seem to disappear in the mid-summer period, but actually they are either on the deep structure or suspending near a school of forage in deeper water. Those big northerns like the cooler water they find in the depths of the lake in the summertime and can be hard to target when they're there. Now the shallow water is cool and the big fish find it not only comfortable, but also teaming with the food they crave.

I seldom use topwater lures when fishing for these shallow pike, even though I often catch northerns when I'm fishing floaters for bass. Instead I like to use the long-thin crankbaits with the small lips that will wobble right above the tops of the vegetation. It's a wonderful sight to see a big northern pike come out of nowhere and crush a crankbait as it's slowly zig-zagging just a foot or two below the surface. What's really exciting is when you see the bulge that's created on the water's surface when a big pike is following the lure. You know any second that fish is about to attack.

Spinnerbaits are a great option when the pike are on their fall rampage. On lakes that have those big cabbage beds you can still bounce a spinnerbait through those stalks of vegetation without getting hung up. To add some bulk to the spinnerbait body, which adds some enticement to the lure, I like to tip the hook with a long plastic trailer. Those big pike like a bigger profile and if you use a trailer that has some scent incorporated into it that's one more variable that will trigger a bite.

Too often these days anglers fail to take advantage of the outstanding potential the plain spoon has in catching big pike. Where the vegetation has settled, which allows the pike to roam over the top in open water, there's a big advantage to simulating a wounded prey-fish. That is what the spoon does. That flash from the back and the streak of color from the front of the lure as it wobbles back to the boat stimulates a sense in these pike and ensures a bite. That old red and white spoon or a five-of-diamonds is a good option on the end of the line when the conditions are right as they are at this time.

The pike rampage lasts right up until turnover. Then the fish spread out and it's hit one here, catch one there. You have a couple of weeks so get into it while it's hot.