Lake Simcoe has a good northern pike population and many anglers target them. It is a perfect lake for growing nice northern pike since it has plenty of deeper water, lots of vegetation along the shorelines and so much food to eat with all the perch in the lake.
Clear Water Fishing
The water here is very clear, which may make the fishing here difficult for anglers who like to use heavy braided line combined with a steel leader. On Lake Simcoe, you can still catch plenty of pike with that setup, but you will do much better if you use fluorocarbon line or monofilament line with a fluorocarbon leader.
Fish the Bays
Cook’s Bay
Cook’s Bay has a good combination of shallower water with vegetation and some deeper water too, which is great for northern pike. These fish will move fairly show in the spring and fall, but will remain deeper in the summer. Find bait fish around the weed lines and you should be able to find some northern pike.
Kempenfelt Bay
This deep water bay gives pike plenty of deeper, colder water to hang out in combined with some shallower areas with good weed growth. With the deep water access, some pike will be found here all summer. In the spring and fall though, you can find a lot of pike up shallower near the vegetation. In the summer, the deeper vegetation will hold pike, but some pike will also roam the open waters over deep water as they seek out schools of baitfish in cooler water.
Fish the Points
There are some major points on Lake Simcoe and these structures will hold just about everything that swims in the lake at some point throughout the fishing season. Northern pike can be found here too.
Fish the Main Lake Basin
The deep waters of the main lake basin will hold a lot of fish, however, most people think of the main lake basin for lake trout and whitefish. Northern pike are known for suspending over very deep water during the summer on main lake basins with very clear water and it is no different on Lake Simcoe. Just because most anglers won’t target these suspended fish doesn’t mean that they aren’t here. They are hard to find though and they will roam as they look for bait fish in the cooler waters that they prefer.
Fish Lake Couchiching
Lake Couchiching is very good for northern pike. Whether you target the weed edges along the shorelines, the smaller bays in the springtime, the offshore structures or points, there is plenty of good water to find good numbers of pike with some big fish too.
Fish Holland River
Holland River is located on the south end of Lake Simcoe in Cook’s Bay. It is considered an excellent spot to target largemouth bass, but anglers do report some good pike fishing near the mouth of the river and sometimes in the river during the spring and fall.
Fish the Offshore Structure
There are several islands, plenty of shoals and enough drop-offs to provide lots of fishing spots for northern pike offshore. Once the summer patterns set in, you can find a lot of quality pike on the offshore structures. You may not always find them in good numbers, but some of the biggest pike will be found offshore in the summer and fall.
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.
