Fishing

Fishing Nasty Northern Pike

By Jack Phillips

Finding and catching small northern pike is relatively easy. They spend most of their time in shallow, weedy areas from 2 to 15 feet deep. But catching those nasty monster northern pike is not as simple. They are found among the smaller pike during the spring, but as it warms up in the summer they move into deeper water, 15 to 30 feet or more. Fishing for these big fish becomes more difficult because they are more scattered. Summer angling for northern pike is also difficult if the water becomes too warm. If pike cannot find cooler water they do not eat as frequently or eat very little.

Northern pike are best fished during the daylight hours. They are rarely caught while fishing later at night but it does happen.

The mature northern pike generally stay in one area, hiding in weedy cover waiting for that bait fish or hopefully your enticing lure or bait. Typically northern pike lay motionless waiting in ambush in the weeds or near submerged cover like logs or rocks. Then they like to make short vicious lunges at passing baite fish and again your enticing offering. They can live in almost any freshwater environment.

Inlets and bays on the larger lakes or even the Great Lakes in Canada and the US harbor large numbers of large northern pike. These bays have slightly warmer water and more food than the open water.

Smaller northern lakes of the Canadian Shield can grow trophy northern pike, usually because they do not have the heavy fishing pressure of the southern lakes, they survive longer and grow to trophy size.

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Salmon Fishing

Named by early Romans, the Atlantic salmon (salmo salar), or "leaper," is arguably the most sought-after game fish in North America. Offering excellent table fare, the Atlantic salmon's original range is from Greenland to Cape Cod in the Atlantic Ocean and from Russia to Portugal. In Canadian lakes, resident landlocked Atlantic salmon are called Ouananiche.

The only legal method of catching Atlantic salmon is to use artificial flies. Complete Atlantic fishing outfits range from reasonably priced rods and reels to elaborate thousand-dollar outfits. A decent salmon fishing outfit consists of a well-made 8 ½-foot trout rod with a strong backbone and a reel with a 3¼-inch diameter spool with one hundred and fifty yards of fifteen-pound test backing. Under normal water conditions use a 7½-foot leader tapered to a tippet of four pounds (2X). When conditions are low and clear use a 9½-foot leader.

Wet or dry flies will catch Atlantic salmon, though the traditional patterns for both flies are difficult to tie. The modern patterns, simple to tie and comprising little more than a fluorescent body and bright wing, are more effective for all fly-fishing levels. Small No. 6 and No. 8 flies cast without a tail (in a "butt pattern") are easy to tie and produce under average water conditions. In high and discoloured waters, larger No. 4 flies attract the fish, while in low and clear conditions smaller No.12 flies are successful enticements. Generally, darker flies work best on clear bright days and brighter flies coax strikes on gray days and in murky waters.

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