Summer Pike

I have never caught a pike before and would like to try this weekend. Where are the best places to try (I live on the northshore)? Any other pointers would be great. ie what to use, where do they hold in the middle of the summer, is the Charles a good option?

The charles holds some good ones.I got a buddie who caught a 41" in the twin cove section in waltham.If you want your best shot at a BIG pike,its hard to beat live bait.Namely big suckers and golden shiners.They cost though.If your not into livebait,big in line spinners,big swim baits,big jigs..do you see the pattern,BIG.You definately want a steel leader,I like 12".Youll find a better selection of pike baits in the bigwater dept. vs. the bassin aisle.Of course you should have some stout gear as well.A flippin stick or similar will fill the ticket.Most trophy size pike and musky for that matter come through the ice.Basically anything that catches a bass will catch pike,just upsize.

also try out the concord / sudbury. boater in a tournament i was in caught one well over 4 pounds off of a topwater frog.

He was lucky to land it on bass gear.I experimented with using 65# braid without steel(ice fishing) and had a four pounder on the ice take one flop and he cut it faster than scissors

Cool, thanks guys. Now on the charles. Are they everywhere, or do you need to be on a certain side of that dam in waltham, i think it is? What other waters have pike? Oh and I saw your post about the Concord River Sam, thanks.

they are in the newton / waltham stretch of the charles. i fish it all the time. basically you want to stay around the norumbega (spelling?) area from the kayak rental place to the Woerd Ave. dock / boat launch. check out one of my trips and you'll get a good idea of the area. lots of slop and pads around. i've actually never caught a pike but have caught pickerel in there. i've heard northerns are in there though.

Ya, you cant beat braids' stregnth, but it sheers so easily. I won't even use it at places like Spot Pond with lots of rocks, you get broken off sooo easily.

Ok. I'm still learning all the stuff you can do on this website. I didn't even know you could check out peoples trips.

They are sam,some beautys too.If your willing to travel the state has alot of great pike waters.It would be easier to tell you to check out the masswildlife site for the info.I will say this though we catch several pike an outing at the oxbow.Before i fished here it was the norm to fish many times for a bite...a bite,here we catch several on a decent day,not all monsters but some are.They actually have a breeding population of pike here

nice. i've been all over but haven't really actively targeted pike or pickerel. the pickerel i've caught were pretty random going for bass. i even caught one on a jig and craw trailer. i might try it out sometime though and i've checked that site out for all the different places for specific types of fish.

Cool, Ill check out that website. Are you refering to oxbow on the conn. river in northampton (or maybe so.hampton, one of the hamptons)? I went to UMass Amherst for college. I wish I knew that oxbow lake had fish like that!

Yes,its east hampton I believe.That spot has some great fishing...bass,pike,channels,you name it.I fish it mostly through the ice and have caught some sweet bass there on bait you'd think would choke it.8"-10" suckers and goldens the size of your hand.I was targeting pike,but bass are some serious predators in their own right

Eppinger Dardevle Daredevil Midget Red White spoon in the 3/16 or 1/8 oz. size.


Caught my biggest pickerel on it. (4lbs or 5lbs)

Must be good for muskie and pike too...

http://www.gofastandlight.com/images/pi_520.jpeg

ABSOLUTLEY!I forgot spoons,and that red and white daredevil that Riderer linked is an all time classic from before alot of us were born.I dont know the stats but I'd venture to say that has accounted for more pike than anything short of livebait through the years

lots of good info here:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/pike