Warm Fronts
Warm fronts can help improve the fishing during the early spring. As waters begin to warm, northern pike will move into shallow bays to spawn. The pike fishing can be incredible during this time of year. Once water temperatures warm during the summer, a warm front can bring air temperatures into the 90s, which will usually send pike seeking for cooler water temperatures in deeper water.
Warm Fronts in the Spring Are Awesome
A good warm front in the spring can really get these fish going in the shallows. Pike will spawn early in the shallows, but when the warm fronts roll in, the other fish become active and start moving into the shallows too. This allows the pike to go on a feeding spree in the shallows until the waters warm too much, which will then force the bigger pike into deeper water.
Warm Fronts in the Summer Can Make Fishing Tough
The hot summer temperatures will push big pike into deeper water. If you don’t learn to fish deeper, you’re going to catch mostly smaller pike when the water temperatures get hot.
Cold Fronts
Cold fronts don’t affect northern pike nearly as much as other species of fish. Unless it is a drastic cold front, you can expect to catch northern pike in similar areas and on similar baits that you were using to catch them before the front. If the fishing is slow, try targeting the same areas that were fish producers before the front, but just fish a little deeper and you may need to downsize your baits a little.
Fish Deeper
If you get a severe cold front, this may move some pike out of the shallower water down deeper. Try fishing weed lines, points and shorelines that offer deeper water. If the bait fish move deeper, you can bet that the northern pike will follow them into the deeper water.
Downsize Your Lures
If you are having problems getting these fish to bite, try down-sizing your lures. Bigger pike will still hit a smaller lure and if you can’t get any big fish to bite, you can at least get plenty of action from smaller to medium-sized pike.
Use Live Bait
Sometimes, you just have to go to live bait to get more bites. Even northern pike can be finicky at times, but it’s hard to pass up a big minnow. Large shiners, creek chubs, redtail chubs and suckers will catch plenty of pike after a cold front.
