Yes, it’s that time of the year again … while the trout and salmon fishing seasons in New Hampshire have long been closed down now, the season for northern pike (esox lucius) never ends, so a few of us have been getting out there lately to pursue the toothy predator.
That’s Nik holding an impressive 37″ Connecticut River pike – the behemoth was turned loose to roam the depths again.
They are ravenous, ambush style feeders, so a lot of casting is involved in order to cover as much water as possible. The closest thing that I have experienced to pike fishing is angling for Atlantic Salmon, where a lot of casting (the fish of 1000 casts) is pretty much a requirement.
Big flies – most in the 6″ – 9″ category, sinking lines and 8 wt. rods are the equipment choices when fishing for northerns, and your shoulder may feel like you pitched a baseball game at the end of your day of endless casts. This fishing is not for the faint of heart …
Our drift boat is the ideal vehicle to pursue pike from – slowly working the edges of the river quietly is probably the best way to go. In lieu of a drift boat, a bass tracker with an electric trolling motor also works nicely. Pike are still gamefish after all, and can be quite spooky if you’re making too much noise or allow the boat to go too close to shore – stealth is the mantra here.
As far as the fish, they seem to materialize out of nowhere at times – you might see them slowly following your fly back to the boat, sometimes right at the boat. At other times, you feel the violent jab of a pike inhaling your fly in the depths. The most exciting take is the gator-like “boil” that a pike close to shore makes when it’s springing in to action to take your fly – heart stopping is all that I can say.
While our boat has had some particularly successful days this fall, fishing for pike is far from “dialed in” as far as we’re concerned. Our debates endlessly continue as to the right conditions, the effects of wind, sun, and every other conceivable factor, the proper fly pattern, color of fly, etc.
We’ll keep working at it, in our quest to pursue northern pike.
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By: bs
Tom Caron dispenses advice, wisdom, and bs in the pursuit of trout and salmon daily for Tall Timber guests.
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See You at the Show!
Salmon Serenade
Upper Connecticut River Fishing Report: 8/25
Connecticut River Flow Update: 8/12
A Glimmer of Hope
C H Longmire
November 17, 2016 — 2:41 pm
🙂
Hendrickson
November 17, 2016 — 5:19 pm
🙂
Chuck
November 17, 2016 — 6:38 pm
Tom looking back on the notes from pike fishing this fall I have accumulated 49 hours of water time searching for ESOX. Would this be considered an obsession?
It seems to me the only common denominator is a little bit of wind.
Let the research continue and strip set.
Jim
January 31, 2017 — 3:06 pm
We fish for Pike on the Sudbury River, I cant imagine what it would be like on a Fly rod. Looks like its something I have to add to my list after learning how to fly fish.