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mastertangler
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03/04/2018 03:15PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Pike and reeds have always gone together. The reeds themselves form a diverse system where other life gathers. Plus fish find the hard smooth bottom attractive. Throw in a feeling of security and excellent ambush prospects and reeds are a natural fish attractant. You will also generally find conditions favorable for northern pikes favorite weeds, cabbage, flourishing out in front of the reeds (often a notable distance but they are usually present).

In the past I had always fished the edges and pockets of reeds. But my recent trip to Isle Royale had some graffiti written within one of the shelters I was staying at which opened my eyes. There was a little map drawn with the instruction to fish way inside the reeds for monster pike.

I didn't think much of it until I started picking out my lures for the days fishing. I had picked up some large plastic Sebille Magic Swimmers due to an In-Fisherman article. The large plastic baits are weedless and I thought it might be neat to work the bait deep inside the reeds. After all, I was fishing 65 lb braid and 60lb fluorocarbon leaders. Unfortunately I did not upsize the hook to a 10/0 Trokar as per the articles instructions and instead used the 9/0 hook which came with the lure. That would prove to be a costly mistake.

I eased over to the thick patch of reeds. The water was about 4ft deep. I started easing the big plastic bait about and gliding it through the reeds. A gentle tug would usually convince the bait to swim through. Occasionally I would let it drop. Within 5 minutes I had a solid smack. I paused for about 1 second and then set up hard with the loomis musky rod. The rod bent double and what was obviously a big fish plowed out of the reeds and went just off my bow (no, I didn't see it) and promptly came unglued. A few minutes later I caught another smallish pike (33") but nothing like that first strike.

Big pike way up in the reeds. Specialized equipment would be required and water temps are certainly a factor but it just might be the ticket at certain times. That Magic Swimmer is a cool lure but the in - fisherman author probably already went through what happened to me. I suppose other weed less lures could work as well.
 
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WIMike
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03/04/2018 04:48PM  
Spinnerbaits in reeds for bass, pike and muskies is one of my favorite fishing strategies. The bait bangs off the reeds, the blades disrupted and then starting again, the bait changing direction. Sometimes one can see the reeds behind or to the side of the bait moving as a fish zeroes in on the bait.
I cast well up into the reeds and try to engage the reel before the spinnerbait hits the reeds so that the line is pulled taut and doesn't drape over any more reeds than necessary then I drop the rod tip as far as possible to get the bait and line down and keep it down. Sometimes I move the rod tip left and right to steer the bait into clear alleys and sometimes I will intentionally steer it into reed bases to cause a direction change and blade interruption. Occasionally the blades resuming spinning triggers a strike. Sometimes fish hit in the reeds and sometimes they hit as the bait reaches the edge of the reeds. Don't forget to check the inside reed edges as, under certain conditions, fish will be holding in the shallow water between the reeds and shore. This scenario can be a blast, sight casting to fish in skinny water.
 
Savage Voyageur
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03/04/2018 05:44PM  
Love to use Spinnerbaits when fishing heavy cover. They just glide right on through with the willow blade ringing the dinner bell.
 
03/05/2018 09:28PM  
Savage Voyageur: "Love to use Spinnerbaits when fishing heavy cover. They just glide right on through with the willow blade ringing the dinner bell. "
i'm a willow guy too with a small colorado tandem. great for just running underneath the surface in heavy cover whether trolling(with a sucker) or casting. i've had good success burning a mepps musky killer just under the surface too , surprisingly weedless. as mike stated the skinny water on the backside can produce too but i would concentrate on sunrise and sunset in this area... a friend of mine i was with caught a nice #6-8 largemouth in that skinny water at sunrise on a power lizard and most people in minnesota dont know what a bass over #6 looks like ;) but what i really love seeing for pike and musky is a nice patch of cabbage weed , now were talking money especially if it's close to a nice patch of reeds ;)
 
mastertangler
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03/06/2018 05:11AM  
I'm with you on the cabbage Shock but that is a whole different ball game. What I am suggesting is getting up inside the thick of the reeds where even a spinnerbait might have a tough time. The Magic Swimmer is heavy enough to crash through even thick clumps of reeds and able to pull your line tight as you crank the slack out.

I love tossing spinnerbaits in reeds but if the reeds are really tall, where the tops bend over a bit, you can have a hard time guiding them through. The big Swimbait bumps hard against the reeds, stays in one spot for a while and occasionally splashes near the surface.

I like the spinnerbait if I am fishing sparser big huge flats of reeds where I want to cover a lot of ground quickly. I will take the Magic Swimmer for that one point of thick deep reeds.
 
03/06/2018 12:23PM  
i do like the lure and will have to order one, so with the treble hook you didnt get snagged/hung up much ? the reeds on my local lake stay tall & thick i think a canoe or kayak would be the ticket to get in the middle of them , i know my cheap electric wouldnt get the job done and a lot of chopping noise too.
 
eOar
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03/06/2018 01:39PM  
Interesting MT. This is my favorite pike method...

1/8 oz swim jig with a 5" curly tail grub rigged tail down. The lighter weight deflects off the reeds. Tail down rigging gives it some lift so you can slow the retrieve. You're welcome. =)

There's a bunch of "swim jigs" on the market. I like Brovarney style the best.

Swim Jig Basics



Pike eat any color, but white can be really good. Bass like greens and browns (and orange).
 
mastertangler
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03/08/2018 05:50AM  
shock: "i do like the lure and will have to order one, so with the treble hook you didnt get snagged/hung up much ? the reeds on my local lake stay tall & thick i think a canoe or kayak would be the ticket to get in the middle of them , i know my cheap electric wouldnt get the job done and a lot of chopping noise too."


Whoops........hopefully you didn't pull the trigger on that purchase yet. Sebille makes a soft (plastic) version and a hard sided version. I have one of the large hard plastic versions of the Magic Swimmer and it is a fine lure but certainly could be considered Musky fare.

The Soft Magic Swimmer is completely weedless and is rigged with a large single hook. Do not use the hook provided or you will be crying the blues like I did. As per my other post a 10/0 Trokar is what was recommended by Spence Petros of In-fisherman (a man I admire greatly in fishing circles). He knows, I should of listened.

It swims nicely on a straight retrieve through most anything but I liked giving it a twitch and letting it fall and then bumping it up next to the reeds making a bunch of commotion.........even have it splash on the surface a bit. Give momma pike a little time to get irritated.

A friend of mine related fishing the entrance of where Agnes goes into the S chain early one spring and having a huge pike nail a Soft swimmer.........his came unglued as well but only after it darted past his boat, really big fish. So they will eat the thing, hooking them is the problem. Spend the money, get the big Trokar (yes, they are very pricey to be sure). BTW......the largest version of the Magic Swimmer is what would be considered pike fodder.......they are not really huge but are probably best fished on a bait caster.



Soft Sebille Magic swimmer
 
mastertangler
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03/08/2018 06:03AM  
eOar: "Interesting MT. This is my favorite pike method...

1/8 oz swim jig with a 5" curly tail grub rigged tail down. The lighter weight deflects off the reeds. Tail down rigging gives it some lift so you can slow the retrieve. You're welcome. =)


There's a bunch of "swim jigs" on the market. I like Brovarney style the best.


Swim Jig Basics




Pike eat any color, but white can be really good. Bass like greens and browns (and orange)."


I am so totally with you eOar.............I strongly believe that jigs are the most underused and underrated pike lure out there. Reaper tails, Shad bodies and Curly tails all have their place. I like the jig head of the lure you have pictured........looks like it would go through the reeds really well. Have you checked out the Cobra Jigs? Those are my favorite jig heads for pike although the Hogy heads are also very good but are thicker wire. The cobra jig heads are better suited to lighter tackle that most guys would use for pike (I use rope LOL).

Cobra Jigs
 
Mickeal
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03/08/2018 06:09AM  
One of my 40 inch + pike came out of Horseshoe lake . I was throwing a 1 ounce weight on a Texas rig with a watermelon red fluke in thick reeds.
 
eOar
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03/08/2018 08:13AM  
MT - Those Cobra heads look great. I have used 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4oz Kalin swim bait heads on 5" Berkley Powerbait Swim Shads and Gulp Saltwater Swim Shads. I guess those are both discontinued now.
 
03/09/2018 01:04AM  
What has worked pretty good for me is a gold colored Johnson Silver Minnow with either a chatruse [sp] Katlin twister tail or Zulu minnow. You have to take some extra twister tails along as those northerns are hard on tails where as a single Zulu will probably last the whole week. Last Aug my son and I caught a bunch of northerns on silver minnows while in Canada. Being the good father I am I let him catch the biggest one, 41 inches. You do need a stout pole and heavy line to slam that single hook home. Hand sharpen that hook to a needle point and make sure the weed gaurd is postioned properly. We use a 10-12 inch wire leader. 17-20 pound good old Trielene line. Last year the northerns seemed to like the silver minnow more than our spinner baits. FRED
 
dele
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03/09/2018 07:59AM  
This sounds like fun. But I'm never going to bring tackle into the BWCA. Any way to make this technique work on standard canoe country all-around equipment (medium action rod and 8 lb. test mono)?
 
mastertangler
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03/09/2018 04:50PM  
FOG51: "What has worked pretty good for me is a gold colored Johnson Silver Minnow with either a chatruse [sp] Katlin twister tail or Zulu minnow. You have to take some extra twister tails along as those northerns are hard on tails where as a single Zulu will probably last the whole week. Last Aug my son and I caught a bunch of northerns on silver minnows while in Canada. Being the good father I am I let him catch the biggest one, 41 inches. You do need a stout pole and heavy line to slam that single hook home. Hand sharpen that hook to a needle point and make sure the weed gaurd is postioned properly. We use a 10-12 inch wire leader. 17-20 pound good old Trielene line. Last year the northerns seemed to like the silver minnow more than our spinner baits. FRED"


Another underrated lure often considered "old fashioned". Funny you mention it, I was thinking previously it would work well in the reeds. Here on Lake Okeechobee they use the black version to bang some big bucketmouths in the weeds. Good of you to let your son catch the big one........Good dad! ;-)
 
mastertangler
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03/09/2018 04:53PM  
dele: "This sounds like fun. But I'm never going to bring tackle into the BWCA. Any way to make this technique work on standard canoe country all-around equipment (medium action rod and 8 lb. test mono)?"


Um, that would be a distinct negatory dele. Reeds are tough customers and 8lb isn't going to make the grade. But, fish deep in the thick reeds seems to me a specialty situation. If I had to make a choice as per only 1 line class it would be 8lb (green XT). You can catch most fish in canoe country with it most of the time. It just limits what your options are a bit is all.
 
mastertangler
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03/09/2018 04:56PM  
eOar: "MT - Those Cobra heads look great. I have used 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4oz Kalin swim bait heads on 5" Berkley Powerbait Swim Shads and Gulp Saltwater Swim Shads. I guess those are both discontinued now. "


Not only do the Cobra heads look great.......they are great ;-)

Whats nice about them is the big gap which sticks fish really well. I also like that they are not super thick wire so you don't need a broomstick to set the hook. But even though they are not thick wire they don't bend out easily. Plus their head design slides through the weeds really well.

Check out some of their big shad bodies. Rig the shad body sideways instead of normal, add a drop of super glue to keep it in place and you have a large offering that you can still use tackle which isn't really heavy duty and still get good hook sets.

The reapers they offer are also cool..........I have really been drawn lately to the Kalins black Octo Grubs (8" grub). Slap those on a black Cobra Jig........it would be like a massive leech. BIG Pike apparently are very fond of the color black......who knew?
 
dele
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03/09/2018 05:18PM  
mastertangler: "
dele: "This sounds like fun. But I'm never going to bring tackle into the BWCA. Any way to make this technique work on standard canoe country all-around equipment (medium action rod and 8 lb. test mono)?"



Um, that would be a distinct negatory dele. Reeds are tough customers and 8lb isn't going to make the grade. But, fish deep in the thick reeds seems to me a specialty situation. If I had to make a choice as per only 1 line class it would be 8lb (green XT). You can catch most fish in canoe country with it most of the time. It just limits what your options are a bit is all. "


Thanks. As I suspected. Maybe someday I'll have enough gear and ambition to bring different spools and rods for different situations, but not any time soon. 8 lb. test it is for me.
 
carmike
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03/09/2018 09:40PM  
Another vote for the effectiveness of swimbaits for pike. Here near home (central MN), the pike absolutely LOVE them -- to the point that I have to use heavy flouro leaders to prevent going through multiple jigs each trip. And I agree, MT -- they have to be one of the least discussed pike lures out there. Cool thread.
 
mastertangler
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03/10/2018 07:44AM  
carmike: "Another vote for the effectiveness of swimbaits for pike. Here near home (central MN), the pike absolutely LOVE them -- to the point that I have to use heavy flouro leaders to prevent going through multiple jigs each trip. And I agree, MT -- they have to be one of the least discussed pike lures out there. Cool thread. "


Carmike, I know that you are an experienced fisherman but I thought I might broach the subject anyway.........if you are not really fishing for pike but keep getting burned to the point where you feel like throwing a leader on I.e. The heavy fluorocarbon, might I suggest the Knot2kinky titanium wire. I had always shied away from any kind of wire leader but in the lighter lb tests the stuff is hair thin and very discreet. Add a few tiny spro power swivels and a small snap and you have a very stealthy presentation indeed. Some baits just don't perform well with heavy fluorocarbon which can be kind of stiff.
 
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