Lake Winni provides some good northern pike fishing for anglers. Anglers have a good chance to go out and catch pike in the upper 20s and lower 30 inch range with a chance of catching a trophy-sized pike too. With the good numbers of pike that have been reported in this lake, it’s nice to be able to get some good action with the possibility of a big fish too.
The pike are there, you just may have to adapt to the clearer water to consistently catch them.
Clear Water Tactics
With the clearer water now, some anglers report tougher fishing for pike, but the pike are still here and are willing to eat a variety of baits.
Use Fluorocarbon leaders
You may have to go to a fluorocarbon leader to get more pike to bite in the clearer water. Tie your own 40 to 50 pound fluorocarbon leaders and connect them to your main line. Tie your own fluorocarbon leaders and connect them to your main line. Learn more about using northern pike leaders here.
Fish the Flats
Some of the flats will hold a lot of fish on them on Lake Winni. Walleye and perch are known for cruising many of the flats in that 10 to 15 foot depth range. With the clearer water now, you’re more likely to see the walleye in these areas during low light conditions, whereas the perch may be here throughout the day. Pike will roam the flats in search of an easy meal. When fishing the flats, either drift with a couple lines out when you have some wind or fan cast these large areas to try and find some active pike.
Fish the Points
The points will hold plenty of fish here too. There aren’t a ton of points, but there are a few. The weed edges and deeper water near these points are good places to target northern pike.
Fish Reefs
The reefs hold lots of walleye and perch from summer through fall. Target the pike here too and you’ll have some success. Pike will often suspend out over deeper water near the reefs, so don’t just fish for them on the drop-offs along the reefs. Use your electronics to see if you can find schools of bait fish in deeper water near the reefs. If you find lots of bait fish, there will be some pike around too.
Fish the Rocks
The rocky areas on the lake are good spots to fish for walleye. Where there are walleye, you will find some pike mixed in too.
Fish the Weeds
The newer green weeds in the shallows will hold plenty of pike early in the year. In summer and fall, seek out the deeper weed edges and you’ll usually find good numbers of pike with big fish mixed in too.
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.
