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1) find a lake with a population of northerns. Sounds simple, but there are many places in colorado that have very few northerns, not sufficient numbers to fish for. Find a place.
2) get a topo map of the place if you have one. This will come in handy when finding locations to fish at.
3) buy the correct gear. I like tipups when icefishing for pike. Cheap or fancy they all work. Spool the tipup with a lot of 20-50 pound tipup line. I like dacron. The black stuff. It is easy to handle, doesn't tangle, and is easy on the fingers when fighting fish. Buy florocarbon. I prefer 20-50 pound stuff but heavier can be good too. Buy a bunch of small trebles, I like #12 gamakatsus.
4) consider location, forage, and time of year relationships. Colorado really doesn't have any pelagic baitfish like ciscoes, whitefish, or smelt in its lakes, so that is out of the question. Mostly, the pike feed on panfish like perch, bluegills, and crappie. If trout are stocked, the larger pike (30"+) like to feed on those as well. Pike also like carp and suckers if present. A pike's location is consistent of these fish's location. Pick your poison basically. I generally have found pike in early ice to be shallower. 5-15 feet seems to be the best, with 10 premium. Fish bays or a shallow flat w/ an inlet. Find fresh weeds nearby, if there is a weedline set your tipup just outside of it. I like to set the tipup 1 FOOT OFF OF THE BOTTOM, no more, no less. That is personal but I have not caught many pike fishing right on the bottom or fishing suspended, but a lot right there. Later ice will find pike moving deeper, 20-40 foot depths are common. Look for main lake points, dropoffs, and transition zones from rocky to sandy.
5) set the trap. Like stated before, 1 foot off of the bottom seems best. I like tying a 2 ft florocarbon leader off of the dacron using a nail knot. Make a quick strike rig, which is one hook a few inches above the line then tie the other on. Set them on opposite sides of the bait so it hangs horizontally. This is a must. This helps it hang correctly and also helps immensely with hooksets. Set it for a fairly light setting as some pike will just sit there after they take the bait. However, some scream off right away so you never really know.
6) WAIT. This is the biggest thing. Colorado pike fishing can be notoriously slow, but we have some lunkers. Find something to pass the time, perch fish, trout fish, whatever, or just set an extra tipup for your second rod and really be lazy. The pike will hit at any time of the day from dawn to dusk, it doesn't seem to matter much. Although the "hottest" times are around dawn and dusk.
7) FLAG. If it is in shallow water, <8 fow, tiptoe over. Be quiet. If it is deeper, walk or run over. Take the tipup out of the water.
8) setting the hook. If the pike it taking no line, or is just sitting on the bait, do not set the hook. Sometimes, nothing will be there. Wait. Wait up to 5 min before resetting. They will oftentimes come back, or are just playing with it and will hit it again soon. Set the hook when the fish is running line! This causes the trebles to most of the time hook the fish in the corner of the mouth. Do not set the hook if the fish is not moving!!! Set it when it is moving! I can't stress that enough.
9) the fight. Obviously, if the fish runs, let line slip between your fingers. Pike fight on this series: run, stop, run, stop, run stop. You get them near the hole at least 2 or 3 times and they will run more line to the bottom. Be patient. Pull in line when the fish has stopped moving.
10) landing. Get the pike's head vertically in the hole. If the pike is horizontal to the hole, let him take a bit of line down and get him vertical. Once his head his in the hole, grab his gill plate if he is a big one and pull him out gently. If it is a small one, grab his side and pull him out. Photograph if you want, and release. Releasing pike is a necessity in most colorado waters. If they are overpopulated in a lake though, you can keep a small fish or two. Make sure they are less than 24" if you want to keep them. Throw back any larger.
Feel free to add or subtract steps and add any info or comment if you want.
hope this is a productive thread!
2) get a topo map of the place if you have one. This will come in handy when finding locations to fish at.
3) buy the correct gear. I like tipups when icefishing for pike. Cheap or fancy they all work. Spool the tipup with a lot of 20-50 pound tipup line. I like dacron. The black stuff. It is easy to handle, doesn't tangle, and is easy on the fingers when fighting fish. Buy florocarbon. I prefer 20-50 pound stuff but heavier can be good too. Buy a bunch of small trebles, I like #12 gamakatsus.
4) consider location, forage, and time of year relationships. Colorado really doesn't have any pelagic baitfish like ciscoes, whitefish, or smelt in its lakes, so that is out of the question. Mostly, the pike feed on panfish like perch, bluegills, and crappie. If trout are stocked, the larger pike (30"+) like to feed on those as well. Pike also like carp and suckers if present. A pike's location is consistent of these fish's location. Pick your poison basically. I generally have found pike in early ice to be shallower. 5-15 feet seems to be the best, with 10 premium. Fish bays or a shallow flat w/ an inlet. Find fresh weeds nearby, if there is a weedline set your tipup just outside of it. I like to set the tipup 1 FOOT OFF OF THE BOTTOM, no more, no less. That is personal but I have not caught many pike fishing right on the bottom or fishing suspended, but a lot right there. Later ice will find pike moving deeper, 20-40 foot depths are common. Look for main lake points, dropoffs, and transition zones from rocky to sandy.
5) set the trap. Like stated before, 1 foot off of the bottom seems best. I like tying a 2 ft florocarbon leader off of the dacron using a nail knot. Make a quick strike rig, which is one hook a few inches above the line then tie the other on. Set them on opposite sides of the bait so it hangs horizontally. This is a must. This helps it hang correctly and also helps immensely with hooksets. Set it for a fairly light setting as some pike will just sit there after they take the bait. However, some scream off right away so you never really know.
6) WAIT. This is the biggest thing. Colorado pike fishing can be notoriously slow, but we have some lunkers. Find something to pass the time, perch fish, trout fish, whatever, or just set an extra tipup for your second rod and really be lazy. The pike will hit at any time of the day from dawn to dusk, it doesn't seem to matter much. Although the "hottest" times are around dawn and dusk.
7) FLAG. If it is in shallow water, <8 fow, tiptoe over. Be quiet. If it is deeper, walk or run over. Take the tipup out of the water.
8) setting the hook. If the pike it taking no line, or is just sitting on the bait, do not set the hook. Sometimes, nothing will be there. Wait. Wait up to 5 min before resetting. They will oftentimes come back, or are just playing with it and will hit it again soon. Set the hook when the fish is running line! This causes the trebles to most of the time hook the fish in the corner of the mouth. Do not set the hook if the fish is not moving!!! Set it when it is moving! I can't stress that enough.
9) the fight. Obviously, if the fish runs, let line slip between your fingers. Pike fight on this series: run, stop, run, stop, run stop. You get them near the hole at least 2 or 3 times and they will run more line to the bottom. Be patient. Pull in line when the fish has stopped moving.
10) landing. Get the pike's head vertically in the hole. If the pike is horizontal to the hole, let him take a bit of line down and get him vertical. Once his head his in the hole, grab his gill plate if he is a big one and pull him out gently. If it is a small one, grab his side and pull him out. Photograph if you want, and release. Releasing pike is a necessity in most colorado waters. If they are overpopulated in a lake though, you can keep a small fish or two. Make sure they are less than 24" if you want to keep them. Throw back any larger.
Feel free to add or subtract steps and add any info or comment if you want.
hope this is a productive thread!
