Spring Pike Fishing in the Kawartha Lakes is something I’ve been doing since I started fishing years ago. Targeting these fish during the early spring from ice out up until Zone 17 Walleye opener is a blast! The fish are hot off the spawn, they’re piled up in certain areas and looking to feed! I look for shallow flats that range from 2-8 feet of water and look for any bait fish and available vegetation on these flats. Depth is a big factor of where these fish will be living; once you start seeing or catching them in a certain area or depth chances are other similar areas with that depth and cover will have fish also. If the water temp is below 50 degrees; a twitchbait of some kind is your bestfriend. You can leave long pauses in between twitches and typically these fish will hit your lure at some point when it is suspended and still. Once the water gets over that 50 degree mark and is between 50-55 degrees I start fishing “chuck and wind” style baits. This could be a swimbait, an underspin with a swimbait or minnow like trailer, a swimjig, or a spinnerbait, etc. Different weights of jig heads and colours of lures depend on the body of water and day. One day they’ll like natural colours; the next it’s bright white, the next straight black. It all depends on the day and what the fish want.
So far this season the lakes i’ve been fishing have been lacking healthy vegetation heavily. The pike I have been catching with my clients so far have been caught around areas that have some dead weeds from last season however the fish seem to be fixated on areas that transition in depth. Whether its a slope from the shallow flat out to deeper water or an area on the flat that transitions just a few feet. The depth change is basically a piece of structure on the bottom of a lake. It allows the fish to move up or down in the water column without rising off of the bottom. If you find and mark some waypoints where the pike are following and biting; revisit those areas throughout the day; set the hook a bunch and catch some fish! A Medium Heavy action rod with a high speed reel goes a long way this time of year. You can use it for multiple different techniques and it has the power to handle any pike you’d run into in this area.
Gear Used
Rod – G Loomis NRX 893 JWR (7’5″ MH)
Reel – Shimano Curado DC 151 HG (7.4:1 Gear Ratio)
Line – 50lb Power Pro V2 Connected to a 30lb fluorocarbon leader
Bait – “The Perfect Jig” Underspin paired with a 4 inch Perfect Swimmer, 4 inch Perfect Swimmer on a 3/8 swimbait head, 3/8oz Perfect Swimjig paired with a fluke style trailer, 4 inch white fluke on a 1/4oz Jig head