big pike habits in mid september

[jay]

I am heading to the upper region of NW Ontario (severn river area)Sept 13th for a week of pike fishing. My problem is that i don't fully understand pike behavior during this time period. Will big pike (38" plus) still be deep? will they be in the remaining green weeds? rockpiles near deep water? weed edges near deep water? in the river mouths feeding on spawning ciscoes?...etc. Once I understand I can better select my lure linuep. Any advice is, as always, most appreciated. thanks..

[Great Water]

Search for weed beds that are located between the main lake islands. The big fish will be venturing in from the deeper waters during this time period. The wind is definately a factor to watch.

Good Luck!

Jeff

[divani]

my experience is that in hot weather in late august the big pike suspend over deep open water and they are usually between 3 and 6m deep. I took my biggest fish trolling around shoals of baitfish at 3m deep. They were suspended over 9m deep at a deep sharp drop-off. The depth went from 6m to 9m in only 5yards distance so that must have attracted the baitfish.

[Georgianbay Packer]

My experience at this exact time of year each of the last several seasons is to troll the breaklines, where 30+ feet of water from the "main basin" joins reefs/islands & flats at 15-20 feet depth. Troll a deep diving crankbait, such as Believers or Depthraiders 80-100 feet behind the boat so they occasionally make contact with the bottom of the breakline,ledges, etc. Your bait should be running 15-20 down, near the bottom. The biggest pike should still be transitioning "in" and will still prefer the cooler waters.

We routinely put 36 to 45 inch pike in the boat this way in mid September.

[LungeHunter]

Hello read your post and your other responses, the most important factor to keep in mind is the weather, cooler temps wil keep the big fish , in the 10-15 foot range adjacent to rock piles and weed beds, whlie warmer temps will keep the fish suspended over deep water or in deep water relating to sunken islands and shoals.
Troll your crank baits , at a good pace , and remember to locate the schools of bait fish on your graph, when you locate bait , generaly you locate big "hooks" , do not be afraid to use some shadtype baits
ie.... bagleys monster shad or dbo8, and try running willeys in natural colors , the nat muskie and natural pikie drive fall fish crazy, and finaly DO NOT FORGET about the number one pike killer of then all , Daredevil in the famous 5 of diamonds color , troll them deep with led about 2 feet from the leader , or shallow with no weight, most of my big Canadian pike have come on that color , the model and size didn't matter , to make things interesting pull the trbels on the daredevil's and replace with a weedless straight hook , and tip the hook with a whole fat Canadian night crawler , and give it a slow troll over the deeper weed beds , you may be surprised, good luck and let me know how things work out for you