This area is awesome for northern pike fishing. There are good numbers of them with lots of huge fish too. You have some weed beds to fish, but the area lakes have a lot of rock up here, so plan on fishing plenty of rocky shorelines and offshore structure for some of these fish. It’s one of the better drive to pike fishing destinations for targeting trophy fish over 40 inches.
Red Lake
Red Lake is one of the best drive to lakes in Ontario for northern pike fishing. There are huge numbers of pike here with lots of trophy fish above 40 inches long. There is so much productive pike water to fish with the numerous bays, points, islands and offshore structure.
Keg Lake
Keg Lake is a good lake for northern pike and there are some very big pike that are found here too. Because Keg Lake is shallower with lots of rock hazards, some anglers won’t fish it much. For those that do, it can be very productive, especially in the spring, early summer and in the fall.
Gullrock Lake
Gullrock Lake is known as one of the best drive to lakes for walleye in Ontario, so at times, you may have a hard time getting bit by a northern pike. Anglers who target pike will usually do well and there are some absolute giants in the lake. In the spring and early summer, this lake has some incredible fishing for pike in the bays. When the pike move out to open water, you will have a harder time finding them, but they are still here.
Two Island Lake
Two Island Lake has a lot of good northern pike water even though it is a smaller lake. You have some offshore structure, feeder creeks that lead into the bays, several bays and the mouth of the river coming in from Gullrock Lake and leaving downstream towards Pakwash Lake.
Ranger Lake
Ranger Lake holds plenty of walleye in it, especially early in the year and northern pike will be there as well to feed on these tasty fish. It fishes like a smaller lake with a couple of feeder creeks, some smaller bays, one major point and some smaller points. Pike will be found shallow early in the year, but once mid-summer rolls around, you’ll find them deeper as they feed on the numerous walleye that are here.
Nungesser Lake
Nungesser Lake is an unbelievable pike lake. Early in the year, there are so many monster pike in the shallows and since it is so far north, you can usually find quality pike somewhat shallow throughout most of the fishing season. When the walleye move deeper in the middle of the summer, you’re going to find lots of big pike deep as well, but you have lots of shallower options as well here 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.
