Early Season Pike
The early season is one of the most exciting, and challenging times of the year to go fishing. We’re always eager to get back on the water once winter starts to give way to spring and shows us the first few glimpses of passable fishing weather. For me, I’m hard pressed to endure a sufferfest without the chance for a seriously big fish. And pike offer just that.
I’m well aware that pike fishing conditions are more favorable later in the year, but with the first days of forecasted highs in the 40’s, I usually talk myself into it. Of course a high of 40 means you might see that temperature for an hour or so if you get sunlight. But hey, let’s just tell ourselves that it’ll be 40 and sunny all day. That should be fine, right?
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” is the motto when it comes to buckling in for adverse weather fishing. Sometimes it pays off the way you envision it. And even though it usually doesn’t, those times when the plan comes together are used to justify scores of trips to come. Besides, with a long season of guiding ahead, there soon won’t be much time to get a line wet anyways. So why not?
On a recent late winter pike trip we ventured into snowy and punishing conditions. We were jigging deep water where we thought fish were holding and hopefully willing to eat a crayfish pattern. The biggest problem was fishing bottom without snagging bottom, which we did many, many times. I find that pike eat a fly one of two ways: they either t-bone it with an absolutely crushing take, or they eat it on the follow. When they strike on the follow, sometimes you can hardly tell whether you have hooked a three foot predator or have snagged a branch.
After a fishless first day and countless snags later, one of those snags started swimming. Just like that I was on, and quickly felt under-gunned with a seven weight rod bent like horse shoe as the pike ran under the boat. After a strong fight and a bit of a rodeo with the net, we landed what we went out there for. Two guys, two days, and two fish; one apiece.