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by Russ Warye, Outdoor Writer Lake of the Woods northern pike grow quickly with ideal forage of yellow perch and cisco. Witch Bay Camp clients have noticed the excellent size range in the last couple of years, and this will only get better, with the recently imposed slot size limits. With northern pike spawning early, often by the first weekend of May, expect topflight action by the 3rd weekend of the month, on the walleye opener. Bait casting gear is suggested with reels spooled with 12 to 14-pound line, in combination with a medium action rod designed to handle lures of ½-to 1-ounce. Make sure the rod has enough backbone to effortlessly cast the lures. New weeds are always the key�not rocks, reefs, humps or boulders. The story is weedlines, weedlines and more weedlines. But there are a couple of keys. Look for bays off the main lake to hold post-spawn fish that are ready to eat. These typically are the ones with protection from the prevailing winds, often protected by a narrows from the main lake. Witch Bay's "Hayfield" is typical of this situation as is Witch Bay itself. Water temperature is everything. As waters warm into the 50's and then 60's pike will have completed the recuperation process from spawning. Moving in and along the newly emerging cabbage and coontail, active pike are looking for yellow perch and shiners. The best weather is always steady with gradually warming days. In summer, move to the deepest weedlines, working presentations parallel with the cabbage. When water temps exceed 70 degrees quality pike will move deeper, often 10 feet or more. The lures of spring are basically the same as summer. It's the retrieve that is different with spring best with erratic ones better than steady. Spoons are important as are in-line spinners (Mepps, Blue Fox) in #5 and the Musky Killer sizes. Silver, red/white, and gold are excellent blades. Try tipping the hook with a 3-inch Twister in white or yellow. Use a steady retrieve for spinners, letting the blade do the work. Use your Polaroid glasses to determine weedline edges. Twitching minnowbaits is great fun�and productive. Large Husky Jerks, Rogues, ThunderSticks, Rebels etc. are excellent examples of this class of lures. Just be careful unhooking pike when they have a mouthful of trebles. Nickel, clown color, fire-tiger and blue/silver finishes are excellent choices. The retrieve is "twitched" that is, pausing the lure during the retrieves. Spoons are always a good choice, including Dardevles and Cleos. Johnson Silver Spoons in silver are always productive, especially in the thick cover. Remember, that sunlight is a positive factor. Northern pike apparently don't have eyes that see well in low light conditions. After walleye fishing in the morning, try pike fishing when the sun is high in the sky - late morning through mid-afternoon. They will strike in the early evening hours, after dinner, but clearly afternoon hours are best. Pike are great fun, and a trophy fish may be but one cast away.
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