Northern pike are common here on both lakes. You can find them shallow, deep, along the shorelines, around the weeds and the rocks. You have a lot of options for targeting pike here and don’t be shocked if you get plenty of hits right at the boat with the slightly stained water and good amount of shallow water to fish.
Shallow Water Fishing
Wabigoon and Dinorwic Lakes are really shallow compared to many of the other popular drive to fishing lakes in Ontario. Combine that with the murky water and you will find a lot of fish much shallower here compared to other lakes.
If you want to stay shallow, you can find pike from spring through fall in less than 10 feet of water around the weeds, points, islands and rocky shorelines. You can still find plenty of quality pike in deeper water, but you won’t have to fish 30 to 40 feet down during the summer like in other lakes.
Murky Water Presentations
The water is murky here on Wabigoon and Dinorwic lakes and because of that, you can have a lot more success by using brighter lures or jigheads depending on if you are fishing with artificial lures or live bait.
Fish the Bays
There are plenty of bays to fish on these two lakes, so you can easily fish this pattern and have plenty of action. Find the weeds in the bays and you’ll definitely find some pike. The deeper weed edges will usually hold the better quality pike.
Fish the Islands
You have a lot of islands to fish and pike will be found around these islands throughout the fishing season. Summer and fall are usually the better months for finding pike offshore. Fish the islands with some deeper water around them and you’ll have better success during these months.
Fish the Points
Northern pike will be found ambushing a variety of different fish around the points all fishing season. Wind blown points can be very productive. Deeper water around points is usually key to finding better quality fish, but since so many fish relate to shallow water here, you can catch some nice pike off of points that don’t have deep water close by.
Fish Rock Humps
There are a lot of rocks on Wabigoon and Dinorwic, so you have to be careful with the stained water. You will need good electronics to help you find some of these offshore rock humps. The fishing can be very good on these spots from summer through fall.
Fish the Shorelines
The shorelines can be very productive all season long, which is a little weird for bigger Canadian lakes. On most bigger lakes, the better bite will be away from shore during the summer and most of fall, but here, you can work the shorelines and pick off pike throughout the day all season long. Some areas will be better than others, but being able to pick your favorite pike lure and just start casting along the shorelines is very appealing to many anglers.
Fish the Weeds
Weeds hold pike and on these lakes it is no different. Find the new green weeds early in the year and you’ll find pike. The deeper weed lines will hold pike during the summer and fall months. These deeper weed edges will be much shallow than on clear water lakes because the light can only penetrate so far down due to the murky water.
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.
