Most of the area lakes will give you plenty of options for catching northern pike. On some of the lakes, you can catch a bunch of them and there are some trophy fish here too. Depending on the lakes you choose to fish will dictate whether or not trophy fish are realistic or if it will be more of an action day of smaller fish.
Arrow Lake
Arrow Lake is a longer, more narrow lake. Arrow Lake Provincial Park is here, which helps give people access to this lake. Anglers target walleye, smallmouth bass and northern pike here.
Dog Lake
Dog Lake is a large lake with over 500 miles of shoreline. There are plenty of bays, islands and reefs to fish here for a variety of fish. The fishing is good for northern pike, smallmouth bass, walleye and perch. Whitefish are here too, but they prefer very deep water. It’s a good lake for action and quality fish are possible as well.
Lake Superior / Thunder Bay
Lake Superior provides some great fishing, however, if you don’t have the right size boat, you’re going to need to look at hiring a fishing charter. There are several charters here that target salmon and trout on the bay. In addition to salmon and trout, northern pike, smallmouth bass and walleye are here too. It’s a popular summer destination, however, lots of people that don’t have a boat get to enjoy fishing the bay area in the winter when the ice is thick enough.
Northern Light Lake
Northern Light Lake is a good sized lake with plenty of depth and lots of room to fish. There are some accommodations on this lake and there are a variety of fish here. Anglers target walleye, smallmouth bass, lake trout, northern pike, perch and whitefish.
Whitefish Lake
Whitefish Lake is a decent-sized lake about an hour or so from the Thunder Bay area. It isn’t a very deep lake, which makes it easier to fish and it is home to walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass. There are some accommodations on this lake.
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.
