Life of a Northern Pike and How to Fish for Pike 

You've summed up many of my frustrations with other channels as well. Understanding the biology of your target species is so important. Much more important than the price tag on your boat or your rod/reel.

great job !!

@@rzambory2938 Thank you - I appreciate the comment

I agree. I get so tired of listening to other channels rave about their sponsors' products.

Awesome, thank you!

Excellent - thanks for sharing. Good luck fishing!

They are awesome fish

@@ML-ks2lj I have snorkeled with pike and have also successfully fished for them while snorkeling! Being underwater with them while they fly around like a bullet is pretty crazy.

@@ML-ks2lj Me too. It's great to be in the fish's world.

You haven't lived until you've witnessed a torpedo coming behind your top-water lure. Fills you with adrenaline.

@@sky1army423 I know that feeling! 🙂

Thanks - I appreciate the feedback!

Glad you enjoyed it - thanks for the feedback!

That sounds like fun to me. I appreciate the suggestion.

@@FishingwithNat no problem. Something like that would make inexperienced anglers (like myself) better informed on what time of year to fish each gamefish and where

Sea lampreys are so nasty. I've seen them on pike, carp, salmon, and brown trout. I can't imagine being a fish with one of those attached to my side.

A Mepps spinner is killer for pike. I use a #3 or #4 for them all the time. I like eating pike too but yes, they can be a pain to clean.

That makes a lot of sense to me. Pike love spinnerbaits!

Thanks - I appreciate it

Thanks

Cool, thanks for sharing your experience from Finland!

Great - thank you for sharing this feedback. Good luck this summer!

Keep an eye on water temperature. Here in the UK they recommend max 20 degrees C. Pike are very aggressive but also very delicate fish 👍

@@leftmono1016 Yes, 20*C is approaching the maximum temperature tolerance for pike, especially the larger ones.

2 years in a row. We were catching pike with these sores. Didn't know till now. Our local lake, nobody fishes it. If so, only from shore. Very rarely do you see another boat. Lake is a horrible, nasty green color. I recommend rinsing off boat shortly after pulling out. If not water will stain color. Lake used to be a great crystal clear lake. Great for muskie, pike, and largemouth. Lake Neatahwanta, Oswego County, Fulton, NY

@@joeellis2692 Sounds like the lake may have a serious nutrient/runoff problem contributing to dense algae/cyanobacteria blooms.

Thanks 🙂

Thanks - I will likely do more of these videos with other species

Thanks

Stay tuned...

Thank you

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Besides being well done, I'd say it's rare too.

@@senatorjosephmccarthy2720 Thank you. I put a lot of time and effort into my videos.

Thank you 🙂

They sure are. Thanks for the feedback.

One of my favorites too!

Thanks

Thanks

Cool, thanks!

Absolutely

Thanks for the suggestion. Musky are tough to capture with underwater video. But I've gotten a few clips of them and I'll keep trying!

Thanks!

More to come

Absolutely. Those names are very common in the Midwest U.S. - not as common in other areas of the world.

Snakes, hammer handles, slime rockets, snot rockets, water wolf, slimers.

@@SavageVoyageur A fish of many names!

@@FishingwithNat "Slough shark" is another one to add to the list that I've heard pretty commonly throughout western Canada

@@19DannyBoy65 I haven't heard that one but it makes sense!

Thanks - you're right - the image was created by Copilot.

Well done! Love it. Ai is insane....see where she goes here soon haha.@@FishingwithNat

Awesome. Breakwalls are nice spots to catch big pike.

Possibly. Lots of ideas for this spring and several people have suggested that this become a series with other species covered. Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate it.

They are awesome

Thanks for the feedback. This is the only video where any AI art was used just to illustrate the tenacity of the northern pike.

Thanks for the comment. Professionally, I'm a lake biologist and botanist with a lifelong love of fish and fishing. You would enjoy a book called Northern Pike: Ecology, Conservation, and Management History. There are quite a few studies on northern pike that can be found via Google Scholar as well. From my experience and understanding, pike happily cruise the shallows under the ice looking for easy meals. They will sit near aquatic vegetation that remains evergreen (more than 10% of the aquatic plant species in Wisconsin remain standing and somewhat evergreen under the ice and snow). I don't think pike have clear staging areas that consistently vary throughout the season like a largemouth bass does, relating to shelves, creek channels, etc. They seem to be very opportunistic and will cruise around looking for good hiding spots where prey items are nearby. Their lateral lines and sensory pores are very sensitive to detect nearby prey.

thanks@@FishingwithNat

Thanks

Their fins are still moving, but maybe they sensed a weird vibration and stopped swimming to look around?

@@FishingwithNat Thanks. That was super cool to see.

Awesome. Pike on a ML rod are a lot of fun.

@@FishingwithNatI legit thought he was gonna drag me into the water lol. I don’t know how my line or rod didn’t break but I finally got over my dry spell!

@@freddyj5845 Awesome. There are some amazing pike in the harbors of Lake Michigan. A couple of them were featured in this video!

Thanks for the suggestion. I had fun with this one and will probably do more.

Pike spend a lot of time just sitting in vegetation waiting to ambush something that passes by.

I see a pike at the exakt same spot in a small lake at my town every year.. he loves his spot

Funny, since they are built for speed, I would think they would roam around a lot.... Guess I was wrong...

@@robohippy They're built for short bursts of speed to ambush their prey like a bullet.

Another thing to consider is if you catch a fish with an obvious lymphosarcoma sore, don't use a net to land it.

@@FishingwithNat good point right there. Would I have to dispose of the lure?

Pike are great. 44" is a beauty!

Thanks for the suggestion. I had fun with this one and would like to cover other species too. Lots of ideas for this spring and summer!

Those were generated with an AI (Copilot)

Pike are excellent eating!

Yeah a big pike will bite through anything but steel/titanium if it lines up in their teeth the right way.

I think it depends on what you’re using. You can probably get away with something like a spinner bait without a leader

@@liltimothy8109 nope

@@liltimothy8109 Or an inline spinner with a snap swivel works well too, since the snap swivel acts like a short steel leader.

Absolutely

When pike are introduced to new waters, they can have this effect on the native species and they are considered invasive species in some parts of the world have they have not naturally occurred. Around here, they are native and co-occur with smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, sauger, musky, crappie, yellow perch, and more.

I use 6lb braided line all the time on my light and ultralight rods, typically with a few feet of 4-6lb monofilament or fluorocarbon leader at the end.

is the line at the end necessary?@@FishingwithNat

@@askakas1834 I like to have a few feet of leader at the end because I'm usually fishing realistic lures or live bait with that light line, and the clear mono/fluoro leader helps with that more natural presentation.

During the pre-spawn period, females will have very large bellies, which can be a pretty good indicator. The surefire way to distinguish them requires a really close look and that is by examining the size, shape, and color of the fish's vent. These traits are different between the vents of males and females.

Ouch - yeah that was a quick lesson learned! I had a pike clamp down across my thumb broadside this spring - it was torn up and sore for several days afterward.

Just played around with AI image generators until one of them spit out an image that represented what I wanted to illustrate.

@@FishingwithNat do u remember what you looked up?

@@justin.fisherman No, I don't remember exactly

That's a good plan. I do a lot of unhooking boatside too.

Thanks 🙂

I generally use 20-30lb fluoro or mono leaders for smaller pike, but I had a big one bite through 50lb fluoro last summer.

Maybe 20-30lb mono leader material, but pike can definatly cut 30lb mono line. I used 40-80lb Big Game mono leader material with good success, but due to the bulky knots tendancy to pick up weeds, I generally switch to steel once the weeds come in.

@@FishingwithNat don't swim in that lake, I thought 20-30 mono was sufficient to stop bite offs, guess not, steel leaders will slow the bite

@@timothyroche6445 20-30lb is good for the smaller pike, up to maybe 30". Bigger pike than that are incredible in what they can bite through.

Glad you enjoyed it. That was a beautiful pike.

The pike and walleyes got along fine before humans became so abundant around them. They know how to find their own balance.

Very nice!

Thanks for the tip

They definitely like to squirm around and risk hooking you or biting you!

Yeah they're not everyone's favorite!

not sayin they are not fun to catch just saying I try and avoid them I caught an 11 pound 6 oz pike on my browning ultra light with 4 pound trilene XL it took a LONG time to get it in the pike was under the boat staring at the fish basket full of sunfish n crappies when it grabbed my bait Fun day there great video thanx @@FishingwithNat

@@scoop-pm7lk Sounds like a blast. But yeah, they are slimy, and they are good at stealing lures, so they can be pain too.

Yep, that's a good comparison

I can see them striking that! Nice and shiny!

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate all of it.

Swapping often can be a good way to be efficient on the water. If you know you're in a good spot and the fish should be there but you're not getting any action, give something else a try.

The thumbnail image was AI-generated but it does a good job representing the intensity of the northern pike and the topic of the video.

@@FishingwithNat Fair point!

Not everybody likes them

The thumbnail image was AI-generated but it does a good job representing the intensity of the northern pike and the topic of the video.

I just thought the small pike in the mouth of the big pike was funny@@FishingwithNat

@@EarthshakerOnamazu I thought it was pretty good too

The thumbnail image was AI-generated but it does a good job representing the intensity of the northern pike and the topic of the video.

I love the the thumbnail@@FishingwithNat

Yep. It's pretty nasty when you catch a fish with one of those big growths on it.

@@FishingwithNat on tv saw a tumor removed from a pet white 2/yo rat...was touch &go for a bit, (but the rat pulled through)...

@@clickbaitcharlie2329 nasty!

@@FishingwithNat don't get pike here (European carp..yes), they sound like catfish, and armoured catfish, look like sturgeon?...you did a good job of making it look edible..

4 hg Find a place to work where you feel comfortable and comfortable. Make sure the area is free from distractions. ug

After watching the video, it looks like you had plenty of stock footage to use, and that footage was great. To be honest, you really only needed to use that for those brief clips that used AI and it would've not done the video any damage, if not only improved.

I agree, whenever i see AI it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Yeah couldn't agree more man

I appreciate the feedback. I wanted a thumbnail photo that represented the speed and ferocity of the northern pike. The only part of the actual video that was AI-generated was the illustration of the pike and the duck, since it's obviously a one-in-a-million shot to actually capture a real photo of a big pike eating a duck.

I don’t think its too bad. I do agree its a little lifeless though.

That's about right!