Upper Red Lake has been known as a great lake for catching big northern pike and it remains that way today. There may be some better lakes in Minnesota for big pike, but there aren’t many. If you’re looking for a chance to go out and catch multiple pike over 30 inches and an occasional pike over 40 inches, Upper Red Lake is a lake you may want to fish. An ice-out trap net was done by the Minnesota DNR in 2012 and they captured around 1,000 northern pike. The biggest fish was right around 46 inches and 7.3% of female pike were over 40 inches. This lake isn’t known for big numbers of pike, so don’t expect to go out and catch lots of pike here, but if you know what you’re doing and you put in some time on the water, you will get some bites from big pike.
Best Baits for Northern Pike
Northern pike are known for eating just about everything they can get the mouths on and there is definitely some truth to that. For the most part, if it swims, pike may eat it. There are some baits that definitely will catch more pike than others though. Spinners, crankbaits, spoons, swimbaits and soft plastics are some of the best lures for targeting pike. Live baits such as minnows and perch are great baits too.
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Best Rigs for Northern Pike
There are many different rigs you can use for northern pike, however, since pike are so aggressive, you really don’t need to use as many of them as you would if you were trying to get good at largemouth bass fishing. For most situations, you can keep it real simple with a jighead and a minnow or soft plastic bait. To learn about some of the rigs that you can use, take a look at our best rigs for northern pike page.
Best Techniques for Northern Pike
Anglers catch pike with many different techniques. Casting, trolling and drifting are most popular ways to target pike, but there are some other methods that also work well too.
To learn more, take a look at our best techniques for northern pike page.
Learn More About Northern Pike
Our northern pike fishing section has tons of tips on the best lures, live baits, where to catch them and how to catch them.
Visit our northern pike fishing website to learn more.
