With the tourist season well underway in our fine community of Nipawin the amount of boats and fisherman are very visible. Ray , Brenda and Jim are very busy at this time looking after there valued customers. Even as busy as they have been Jim found a day the other day to slip out and do a little fishing for himself. As we were heading to our favorite pike spot I mentioned to jim that his blogs where getting a little out dated and offered to do some when he just can’t find the time. So please bear with me.
This year on the river was slow to get started as we experienced a colder then normal spring. The shallows
just didn’t warm up as they normally do which in turn wasn’t conducive to fishing the big pike in the shallows. This is one of my favorite type of fishing as there is nothing finer then looking down into the 3 feet of clear water and watching as a HUGH shadow appears out of the weeds and follows your hook .The anticipation of the fight builds as you twitch your lure trying to entice the water wolfing into attacking the bait in front of him . Whether you are using a top running bait such as a husky jerk or a spoon it makes no difference in the world . It is still the thrill of a life time to have that 20 pound plus fish hammer the lure and make your reel howl as the line strips from your reel. You have to wonder if she will spool you or will you be able to slow her up enough to turn her before your line runs out. The reel screams for mercy as you put a little more arch in your rod to add some extra resistance to that 40 plus inches of muscle try to put as much distance between it and that boat. If you think once you stop her and turn her that the fun is over you will never be more wrong. As you try to winch her towards the boat she seems to be worn out but don’t let your guard down . Just as you think she is done she will see the boat and run again farther then the first time . This war between you and the pike will happen over and over until one of you win.
Just a note of the type of year we luck people in Nipawin are having goes something like this. Ray Olds , co-owner of Vanity Ventures was out pike fishing for 2 hours a couple weeks ago with his son-in-law and hooked and landed a 32 pound pike. This pike was catch on a jerk bait on surface . It was about 47 inches long and a replica will soon be in cabin number one thanks to Timberline Taxidermy. On June 13 Rob Berday and myself were out at Mouth Bay and we caught and landed 4 over 20 . I caught the biggest fish of my life hooking and landing a 28 lb monster on 6 lb fire line and my walleye rod . Rob caught a 26 lb. Jim was at the bay the same day and a young woman caught her biggest fish an 18 pounder. We also watch at least 15 others over 20 going into boats. The amazing thing of this is with CPR { catch photograph and release} all these fish are still in the water and waiting to be caught again.
Whether you want to troll a Wild Eye Storm shad, flip a top bait or cast a spoon be prepared for the fight of a life time.

Back to the Basics

Over the years, northern pike don't seem to get any smarter. I do a lot of guiding for northern pike and I find that the basics still work after all these years. My personal favourite is a 4 inch rubber storm with a top hook and a treble trailer. I prefer blue or white. Casting these around in shallow back bays has produced many pike over 20 lbs. They are also good for slow trolling at 1.5 to 2 mph.They will run about 4 ft. deep. I prefer 6 - 20 Fireline, which is very strong, but with a 6 lb. diameter. The only down side is that a person is lucky to catch 2 or three before the lure is completely destroyed. A careful shopper can usually find them for under $3.



On a given day, when the Storms aren't doing the job, I will go to a Len Thompson 5 0f Diamonds, red on yellow, or red on white. They have been working for years, and still do. I also discovered that a very large rubber Storm can work very well, even on pike as small as 5 lbs. I have a 12 in. perch colored one that has performed amazingly well. I have a collection of dozens of fancy shapes and colors that mainly are made to lure the anglers, not the fish.

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