Where to find pikes?

[matrixed82]

I'm really new to spearfishing and I've been out only a couple of times. This weekend I spent 4 to 5 hours looking for a pike with no luck. There were a bunch of nice size bass but I was told they have worms at this time of year. There were also lots of perch but only a few good sized ones, not enough for a decent meal. I know there are pikes in that lake since I saw one a couple of years back and line fishermen catch them regularly. I figure I wasn't looking at the right place or my stalking skills just plain suck.

I did not make many dives past 10m since I didn't have my wetsuit and it was pretty cold past the thermocline. Most of the day was spent snorkeling. The visibility was not that great, about 3m. Given the bad visibility I moved very slowly in the water to avoid scaring the fish away.

At what depth and where (places with lots of weeds?) do you usually find pikes?

Any help would be appreciated.
Daniel

[JPPLAY]

I hope your not planning on shoot Pike in Ontario. If you are hunting in Quebec that a different story.
Pike will hide out where they can ambush other fish. High weeds are a favorite place of pike.

They usually aren't that deep. They do hang out around the thermocline. Matters if your lake has one.
If you send me your email I may be able to hook you up with some other spearfisherman in Quebec.

[matrixed82]

Thanks for the quick reply JPPLAY, and yes, I was in Quebec and not Ontario. Real nice picture.

I was looking in areas with weeds but not that thick, I'll keep that in mind for the next time. There was a thermocline but at that depth there were much less weeds, I guess I'll just have to search a little harder for areas like that the next time I'm out. And I'll be sure to bring along my wetsuit to stay down there longer.

[JPPLAY]

The bigger pike are the ones that hang out around the thermo but basically the pike go where the fish they feed on also go. So look for schools of perch then just stop and slowly scan. Until your eyes get used to it they camouflage very well. They are not usually very hard to spearfish once you see them, as they usually don’t have anything feeding on them. I regularly tap them with my spear tip. If you have a drop off with weeds on it try hunting there first.

[matrixed82]

Originally Posted by JPPLAY

I regularly tap them with my spear tip.

Thats good to know since I use a polespear and don't have that much range to work with. I though they would be harder to approach, at least they will be more of a challenge than bass which follow me and come right back to inspect after I push them away with my tip.

[Amphibious]

Matrix, look in shallow areas in lakes or bays in river. along the weedline is a good place to start.

they are very easy to spear, but ensure you hit them well as their soft flesh makes tear offs a problem. I always aimed for the gill plates.

bring down a hand mirror and have some fun with them. they are very curious.

bon chance.

[Ophiodon]

Matrix, also look for key structures, like a stump amongst a weed bed, predator species often establish "homes" that they will always be around.

[spaghetti]

Just for the data base (not many of you will ever come here):

October: it's pike season again on lake Garda (northern Italy): in this period they (Esox Lucius) stay above the weed and not into it as they usually do, easily seen 5/15meters deep. I guess they're basking in the last sun rays before they go -30mt for the winter.
This is a warm lake. From spring to fall thermocline is about +/- 15mt and that's were pikes are found normally, mostly or exclusively into the weed, basically from 12 to 15 meters, no more nor less.

Techniques used in this neck of the woods: for ambush in the weed, dressed with a neutral weight set to stay just one ft above the bottom, we use a 75cm bandgun with tahitian shaft (visibility maybe short due to soft muddy sand bottom) with no reel, since close shot assures good accuracy in the gills area and, being close, you can grab their tail to endure the reaction. Otherwise a 90cm bandgun with a reel is also used for a technique called "caduta" (in english: "falling down"): with slightly negative weight set, you let yourself fall down motionless like a dead leaf, no fin kicking at all, silent, shoot best that you can and half-open the reel friction: they will give a good blow with their tail but won't go very far, as pikes are great sprinters but have no endurance to effort. Even if you miss them, mind that they will not go very far, since they're not long distance swimmers.
They come in shallow water in march for reproduction, but hunting is forbidden until April 1st while they're in love. From April 2nd to the half of the month you can spear them pretty easily in 5 to 10 meters with a 75cm, since they're weary after sexual duty (not very sporty to catch them in these period, indeed). That's it
However, if you ever come to this side of the world, make me a whistle: I might be there.

The following are verses of american poet Ezra Pound about lake Garda, where he lived for several years:
Our olive Sirmio
Lies in its burnished mirror,
and the Mounts Balde and Riva
Are alive with song,
and all the leaves are full of voices
Ezra Pound

Cheers folks! I'll be off line for some weeks.
Spago

[Erik]

Matrix, tap into local anglers' online forums and fishing stores etc to get yourself into an area where there are known to be fish. Nothing worse than searching for hours and seeing nothing (personal experience). At least when you see them you can enjoy the challenge of stalking the local fish. We find here in Alberta that different lakes/ times of year/times of day make for different techniques.
Cheers,
Erik

[matrixed82]

Thanks for the info everyone.

A couple of weeks ago I did end up going to a lake that is known to have pikes and I saw some. My buddy Roberto (rcerdena) managed to get three of them. I only saw one that was worth shooting but I just missed him as he was swimming away. Since this was only the second time I really went spearfishing my reflexes are pretty slow so that gave the pike ample time to start swimming away before I aligned for the shot. The water was murky and there was little sun out so it was hard to spot them. It was a pretty big lake but we got lucky, there were lots of dense weeds near our entry point so we didn't have to do too much searching.

Here's a picture of the days catch, I ended up catching one bass, Roberto caught the rest .

IMG_1769.JPG

[JJ Rousseau]

Hi Matrix,

Where in Québec Roberto and you are hunting?

Contact me next time, I have some "good" spots... I'm not particularly a pike hunter,(just the idea of cleaning them makes me let them alive...) but if you clean them, it could be OK!!!

Seriously, some other guy and me dive the St-Lawrence river (including the St-Francois lake) a lot (I mean A LOT!), so new dive buddies are welcome to join us.

Take a look at what we see here; www.renepotvin.com

[matrixed82]

JJ,

Those pikes were caught at Bernard lake. It's north of Gatineau, about a 45 minute drive. The lakes around here aren't the best but a co-worker suggested I try that lake because he caught pikes there before.

I'll definetly contact you if I go to Montreal.

Daniel

[rcerdena]

Yes, thanks to Daniel we found the pikes and so far I can say that we found nice lakes and nice diving spots around.
What can I say, I shot my first 3 pikes ever! Next time we will look for the ''monster'' pikes that are supposed to be around.

Hey JJ, do you know David Rousseau or Virgil P?
And it could be interesting for the next season to make a trip to the St. Lawrence and don't worry about cleaning the fish.

Cheers,

Roberto

[JJ Rousseau]

Hi again Ottawa guys!

Here's a clip I did couple of days ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Kk9-BP7uE

(they rarely get bigger than this)

Another clip, to proof you that you'll have the choice for the meal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQSkFDciba8

I'm sure you'd beter like to shoot (and eat!) walleyes than pikes

[virgil]

JJ, those videos rock!
And René's site too!
Can you give some details about how the camera is attached to the gun? I tried a few times to film while hunting (camera in one hand and speargun in the other) and neither filming or hunting came out well...
---------------
Daniel, shallow waters in lakes are your best bet for pike and they are fairly easy to catch when you see them. Bass is territorial and also easy game.
Muskies look very much like Northern Pike (on steroids!) but will hang out more into open, deeper waters and you are not allowed to spear them in QC.

Cheers,

Virgil