How to catch Northern pike

Northern pike feed in 33–76°F water and bite best at 50–68°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 32 waters; in October they are at their peak in Ohio fresh water, Indiana fresh water, Illinois fresh water and 28 more.

20 pts · trophy at 36"Feeds 33–76°FBest 50–68°FIn season nowLakeReservoirRiverPond / pitDock / pilings

About

The water wolf: a long, green, duck-billed ambusher of the northern weed beds, with a mouth full of teeth and a habit of hitting anything that moves. A 40-inch pike under the ice is the North's great winter trophy.

How to fish it

Weed edges and shallow bays. A wire or heavy fluorocarbon leader always. Under the ice, tip-ups with a dead bait on the weed flats; at ice-out, the shallow marshy bays where they spawn.

What it eats

spoons and spinnerbaitsbig jerkbaitstip-ups with dead smelt or suckerslive suckers

Live bait for it

Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.