The hottest summer tactics for walleye, bass, trout, pike & muskies

PIKE

Northerns spawn early in the spring, often when ice still blankets much of the lake, so the period between the pre-spawn and pre-summer can extend for months. The summer peak, on the other hand, can be compressed into just a couple of weeks, especially in southern parts of the country.

Right at home in 17°C to 18°C water, trophy pike have much lower thermal requirements than younger sub-adult northerns. So, when the water temperature rises with the onset of summer, the fish must make a decision—either move to the cooler, deeper parts of the lake where they can feed and achieve optimal growth, or get trapped in warm, shallow water where they’ll stop eating until autumn.

The summer peak, therefore, is a time of transition, when pike move to thermal niches where they can prosper throughout the hot summer period. The best places to catch them at this brief interlude are main-lake structures—underwater points, sunken reefs and rock piles—that lie as close as possible to the weedy bays and coves where they spawned in the spring, and to the deep water where they’ll spend the summer.

On my favourite summer peak pike spot, for example, I can look into the lush, weedy, finger-shaped bay where the fish laid their eggs in April, then look over my shoulder at the wide open expanse of the main lake. There, on moderately deep structures (25 to 35 feet down) surrounded by water as deep as 80 or more feet, the pike will lounge away the summer. For the two weeks or so of the summer peak, however, the shallow, four- to 12-foot-deep zone on top will be crammed with big, prowling toothy critters on their way to the summer cottage.

To catch these pike, I’m a firm believer that bigger is better, so my two favourite lures to cast are Water Wolf’s Shadzilla and the Bondy Royal Orba. I also like bright colours—especially mixtures of orange, yellow and chartreuse—and I retrieve the baits aggressively back to the boat in a fast lift-fall-pull sequence.