MUSKIES and PIKES..!

Monkies_Butt,

If it were that easy! You really should read up on those species. It will take you a while to figure them out and know where, when, and what to fish. Most people think Pike and Muskies are easy to catch due to them being top of the line predators. It is true that they must consume vast amounts of fish to be as big as they are. People catch them all year long, through the ice, from the shore, from boats.

Esox Agnler is a good magazine for Pike and Musky. Buy some books or videos on the subject. You will find tons of information on the web as well.

The most important things are fining a body of water that holds good numbers of fish, being there at the right time of year (Spring or Fall), and determining the mood of the fish, which will determine what type of lure and presentation to use. Lots of time you can throw out any bait and a pike or musky will attack immediately, but other times you can sling all day and not a thing. You may even see fish in the shallows, pull a bait infront of its face with not even a turn of the head. Muskies are said to be the fish of 10,000 casts. I could chat all day about the subject and I was in your shoes a few years ago, but you really have to read up on Pike and Musky, watch videos, and put some time on the water. You will figure them out.

We all have seen the awesome fishing shows where people go far up North and catch tons of Northerns, but those are places that don't get pressured at all and the waters are teaming with pike. It is a different story here in Colorado. These fish are highly pressured by fisherman on a daily basis and they are smart. A lot of the time you will hear of a big pike or musky being caught by an agler fishing for Walley, Perch, Trout or some other type of fish using small baits.

There are some great Pike and Musky fisheries in Colorado, it will just take some time on your part to find them and figure them out. Once you hook into a 40 inch pike or a 50 inch musky you will be hooked for life. Good Luck!

The Next Bite is a great show and great site. Pete Maina is one of the best when it comes to Musky and Pike. Also check out www.muskyshop.com, they have all the baits you could ever want for Pike and Musky.

I think here in Colorado the main forage base for Pike and Musky is trout so rainbow colored baits are a good choice. Water clarity will determine the colors you use. If clear water, use more natural colored baits (Black, Blue, Rainbow) and for stained water use brighter colors (Chartruse, Orange, White). When fish are sluggish and not feeding heavily the presentation tends to be slower (dead bait, jig & pork, or fly). When fish are more active you can use a faster presentation (jerk baits, spinner baits, in-line spinners, crainks, spoons) or even topwater (buzz bait, Zera Spook, topraider). There are so many different approaches it just depends on the conditions and mood of the fish.

Roadkill is right in that Pike will tollerate water temps up to about 60 degrees in the shallows, but once they go above that they will seek deeper water. Most fisherman only fish for them in the shallows, but during July & August Pike can be found as deep as 50 feet and will generally hang between 20 and 50 feet. They will move up into shallow water again in the Fall and is another great time to target them. I think muskies are more warm water fish and the optimal temperature for them is around 72 degrees so they will hold in shallower water longer or close to it. Muskie and Pike can be deep, suspended over open water, holding close to structure, or in as little as a couple inches of water. Most important thing is timing and hitting the bite right.

Pike and musky are probably the toughest fish to catch here in colorado. (musky are harder than pike). You hear about how aggressive they are in other places...and that's great, but they aren't aggressive anywhere in the state really besides the rocky mountain arsenal, and I hear every once in a while they get picky there too. They are tough fish to catch, here in colorado we have a fairly low density of pike in most fisheries in comparison to other places (due mostly to anti-pike management), that coupled with extremely clear water and extreme fishing pressure,, our pike and musky are just simply hard to catch.

We have some bruisers though...monsters in fact in comparison to many places.
Good places for big pike include elevenmile reservoir, williams fork, crawford reservoir, and the yampa river.
Good places for numbers of pike are supposedly spinney, rifle gap is starting to get a decent population, crawford, and rio blanco.
Places to watch out for that used to be good that aren't any more due to drought coupled with anti pike management are: harvey gap (almost none), the yampa river isn't as good as it used to be due to the USFWS euthanizing a lot of pike in there (but it still arguably as the largest average pike in the state), spinney (not sure on the numbers there anymore), and paonia (its a mudhole now).

The important thing about catching pike here is to keep one or two small ones (under 24" or so) and to throw the rest back. We want to save some of these marvelous fish because they help fisheries stay balanced, are good table fare, and are probably the hardest-fighting freshwater fish around.

Good things to use for pike are 4" curly tail grubs in deeper, more rocky areas, as well as big daredevil spoons, rattle traps, and big panther martin spinners.
Good things to use in lakes that are more shallow and weedy include zoom superflukes, floating rapalas, and spinnerbaits. There are other lures as well. The main thing about pike is to keep casting and casting and you need to remember you usually aren't going to catch very many in a trip...the thought of a nice one though keeps you going!

good luck in your search of the elusive northern pike!

I am sorry but I am going to have to disagree with a lot of information on this thread. Please don't take that wrong because I mean no disrespect to anyone on this site. I have caught over 200 lbs of pike in one day in the shallows in 67 degree water. I have also had many many 100 pound days. Also the pike at eleven Res. are hardly touched in my opinion. I started out just like you monkies-butt. What I did was take a entire year fishing for pike on Elevenmile 3 days a week. (Open water only) It took me a month to catch my first Pike but by the end of the year I was on them good. Pike are nomatic which means they move all over the lake following the food. One year one spot will be unbelievable the next you can't buy a fish there. Frankly the pike at elevenmile like water in the 60's.(at least in my experience) I don't remeber who said it on this thread but it is true that pike will go deep (even 50 feet) when the water warms. ( past 68 for me) My favorite bait is a suspending jerk bait in perch or rainbow pattern. I also love a spinnerbait when they don't want a jerkbait. They are tough but if you want any pointers on Pike at Elevenmile let me know I will try to help.

PS As far as I am concerned Spinney sucks for pike at least it has for the past two years.

All of my Pike experience comes from minnesota, but they are one of my favorite fish to catch because they are very aggressive and have really cool sharp teeth, kind of like a dinosaur with fins.

anyway...A lot of the info here is good. Small pike are very easy to catch (we used to call them 'hammer handles' in MN) they can be found in the shallows in weedy areas almost all of the spring, summer, and fall months. They are very aggresive and you can fish for them in much the same way as largemouth bass. Pike are opportunists and ambushers so they will wait in a hole in the weeds or behind a log for something that dares to come close enough. In the weeds, they will hang in an opening or right on the edge of a weedline waiting to ambush prey.

Large pike are a completely different story. Large pike are more sensitive to higher water temperatures and are stressed out during these warmer times. In the summer, Large pike will stick to very deep water near structure such as points or steep drop offs. A deep submerged weedline near a steep dropoff with access to cold water is ideal for large pike. In the dog days of the summer, a good way to catch large pike is with live sucker minnows set very deep around these structures.

Pike can eat a fish half of their size and like to pick prey that is 10-25% of their body weight. Large lures will catch large pike ( and small pike) My favorites were large spoons, Inline spinners and spinnerbaits with the occasional crankbait to get down deep. trolling deep diving crankbaits along submereged weedlines works well too.

It's been a while but that's some of what I remember....be sure to use steel leaders If you are going after pike or muskies, they have incredibly sharp teeth and will slice through line like a razor. NEVER put your hand in a pikes mouth...I have the scars on mine to prove it. always use a pliers to unhook them. good luck.