pike fishing

[frankt]

hi
been fishing black lake for about 8 years every summer for a week and a couple of years 2 weeks. have always fished for bass and pan fish. have caught a few pike over the years but not on purpose. we practice catch and release and eat only a few fish we catch.this year i was going to try throwing out a line with a live sucker or big minnow on it. any advise you could give would greatly be appreciated. size of bait and type, where good spot to try this and how long to wait when setting hook and anything else that would help. thanks

[Bob-O]

I really can't help much with using minnows, however I always say the bigger the bait the bigger the fish. If you want to really have some fun, I would drift the bays around the weed line and throw daredevil (five of diamonds) or Johnson silver minnow (weedless) and feel for the bump bump of a hungry pike chasing dinner. when you reach your boat with the retrieve dangle the lure for a minute and watch for the kill. fun stuff...

[Phil]

I don't do this but know several folks that do.
While drifting/fishing, hang a large shiner on a treble hook a few feet down (above the weeds) under a float. When the float (bobber) disappears, set the hook.
Pretty much ice-fishing on open water.