Pike & Muskie

Northern Pike Fishing on the St Lawrence River

Fishing on the St Lawrence River for Northern Pike is exciting all season. Starting in the spring, the Northern Pike moves into the shallow bays 6 to 8 feet deep and prepares to spawn. They look for weeds on which to deposit their eggs. Unlike Bass, several males will court a female and several males will fertilize one female's eggs. The spawn usually takes place when the water temperature is between 42 and 48 degrees. We fish near Massena, NY and the water temperature is now 50 degrees. The spawn is now done, but there are still several northerns left in these bays. The big females have dropped down a little bit deeper. So to catch them, you should try jigging deeper weed beds around 17 feet deep. Jig on the side of the weed bed that faces upstream or into the wind. We have had success with bucktail jigs tipped with a minnow. We have also used paddle tail soft baits. The key is to keep them on the edge of the weed line, and then hang on when the northern's explode out of their cover and nail your bait!

In the bays, cast with spoons! Our two favorite colors are hot pink and orange. Both sport the 5 of diamonds design with silver on the back of the spoon. We start with big 5 inch spoons. If nothing hits, we down size and "match the hatch" by using 3 inch perch colored spoons. Remember to retreive your lures slowly in the spring. You can increase the speed of your retreive as the water temperature warms up.

Go to www.letsgofishin.us to check out some of our videos and other photos. We'll be happy to answer any of your questions.

Captain Ed