Introduction:

Every species of fish seems to have its dedicated legions of anglers chasing it with their own specialized gear and techniques. I admit, growing up I focused on the presentation portion of the fishing equation far more than anything else. I also admit, I own hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of gear and tackle I may never use!

The last eighteen years has taught me some simple truths about trophy pike hunting. Time and money spent learning and doing the leg-work to understand my quarry, identify quality places is far more important than owning a whole tackle shop full of specialty lures. I am also starting to pack fewer, yet more reliable baits for each safari into "gator country". In fact, there are only a few categories of baits any angler needs to catch trophy fish all over the world. Swimbaits belong in a class all their own!

This became apparent to me 4 years ago when confronted with the new experience of fishing largemouth bass in Mexico. I did my homework to identify the location for big bass but had never really fished them before! I went to the tackle shop and perused the mind-boggling variety of hardware and baits. It would seem I was transported back to my childhood as I picked up the prettiest imitation of a rainbow trout jig I had ever seen! In all fairness, I did at least know bass are carnivores and eat fish. They also ate that rubber minnow! I couldn't wait to fish it in northern Saskatchewan; the place where I holiday and guide for pike in the summer!

The Hunt for Big Pike:

A quality, portable fishfinder and polarized glasses are two pieces of equipment that are often overlooked but, I feel mandatory on any pike water. These along with topo-maps of the lake will help you eliminate at least 90% of unproductive water. Look on the map for spawning bays, preferably with incoming creeks or ones draining large swampy areas of "moose pasture". These warm water areas will be where the fish will begin their open water season in May. If it is a very cool year you should actually begin your summer pike search inside each bay and systematically work your way out. First, search out deeper, crispy-green cabbage weeds at least 6 to 8 feet deep in the heart of the bay. Then explore 10 to 15 foot depths at the mouth of the bay. Again, look for cabbage if you can find it. Next, move to shoreline points, narrows and islands closest to the bay. Again, if you can find good weeds on these spots they will be dynamite! Work each of these from shore to the 15 foot level. After that, all bets are off. You may have to power-troll baits to cover the water necessary to find fish. This can often be the case in July and late September. However, as mentioned above, in the North Country, August finds concentrations of fish holding in the cabbage beds or around rocky points closest to the spawning bays.

What's so Special About Cabbage Weed?:

As in spring, pike are actually quite predictably located in mid-summer. As stressed above, cabbage patches are the answer when hot, summer sun and goliath pike enter the equation. The largest pike in the system are available, better said - vulnerable at this time of year, because of unique characteristics that define the basic nature of this species.

The heat of the summer sun warms up the shallows which turn from "hotspots" to "hammer-handle heaven." There are two reasons for this. One is that small "hammer-handle" pike can tolerate the heat in the shallows while large fish have been documented to prefer a much lower temperature range. The other reason, and in my opinion most importantly, is that the forage of small and large pike is significantly different. Large pike live on larger baitfish and must have soft-finned prey in the 12"- 24" range in order to reach maximum size.

As schools of suckers complete their spring spawn in the shallows and retreat to relatively deeper water, their #1 predator follows them. Suckers make a great living foraging among the stalks and leaves of cabbage weeds during summer. Without suckers, or other plentiful forage species, in the cabbage there will be no pike. Therefore, the pike-sucker-cabbage connection is a major predator/prey relationship in North America. Pike need a feeding strategy they can rely on to fill their bellies. This is especially true if they are going to reach mammoth proportions! In mid-summer, their prey is localized and specific.

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