Pike - Bluff Bar - Wednesday October 9th

[Duck Soup]

John Piggott (Canvasback) and I went pike fishing instead of duck hunting today. Probably a wise choice given the weather. We tried trolling again but finally switched to jigging so we could catch a couple of keepers for supper. Starfish was doing fine trolling but all we caught using that strategy was a few small pike and lots of weeds. We switched and ended the day catching 12 pike in all, most 3-6 pounds. We had to keep our biggest which was probably 8 or more pounds because it was bleeding so much. Originally we figured maybe 7.5 but when we put it in John's cooler at the marina we realized it was bigger. Well, it's the only big pike we were unable to release this season and I'm probably done for 2013.

 

[Big Dave]

Always a good report Duck

Looking like a great weekend for fishing...


BD

 

[Red Hering]

Thanks for the Report on the Pike Fishing,Duck Soup,always enjoy reading your day`s Fishing on the water.My biggest decision at the moment is,Steelhead(Lake Huron) or Pike(Long Point)with the Boat.Either way,it looks like,a Good Thanksgiving Weekend.

 

[hillcom]

Hi Arnie!
Good to be fishing out at Bluff Bar along side you & John (two of the most respected fishermen on Lake Erie)! We chose to troll today and our planer boards
really worked for us today. We ended up with 12 pike, 3 over 11 pounds, 2 at 10 lbs.6oz. and 7 in the 3 to 8 lb. range. Lost 4 and released 4. Beautiful day!
Arnie, can you tell me why 10 of the pike caught were female (only 2 males), and none of these fish had anything in the stomachs!

 

[Duck Soup]

Hi Arnie!
Good to be fishing out at Bluff Bar along side you & John (two of the most respected fishermen on Lake Erie)! We chose to troll today and our planer boards
really worked for us today. We ended up with 12 pike, 3 over 11 pounds, 2 at 10 lbs.6oz. and 7 in the 3 to 8 lb. range. Lost 4 and released 4. Beautiful day!
Arnie, can you tell me why 10 of the pike caught were female (only 2 males), and none of these fish had anything in the stomachs!

Hi Jim, usually the bigger fish are female. Why the fish had empty stomachs is a mystery but now that you mention it the one I filleted was also empty. I'll ask John if the fish he took home was the same but I doubt it. It had a pretty fat gut.

 

[silversam]

What's the best way to fish Bluff bar ? What lures do you use and at what depth when trolling ? Any help would be appreciated .

 

[icefisherman]

Arnie,

those pike cannot rest from you all year my friend
I thought you are on duck hunting wave by now...I guess not that time yet?

Cheers,
Ice Fisherman

 

[Duck Soup]

What's the best way to fish Bluff bar ? What lures do you use and at what depth when trolling ? Any help would be appreciated .

silversam, I'm not the person to be asking about trolling for pike .....We caught most of our pike jigging in 12 to 19 fow . We caught a few small ones trolling silver spoons using our downriggers at 10-15' but quit because it was not productive. Others seemed to be doing fine with their trolling strategy but I really don't know what they were doing that we were not.

 

[Duck Soup]

Arnie,

those pike cannot rest from you all year my friend
I thought you are on duck hunting wave by now...I guess not that time yet?

Cheers,
Ice Fisherman

Hi Emil,
Duck hunting is pretty useless in weather like this. Long Point is a waterfowl staging area and they must migrate before they stage here. Migration is currently on a backburner with many species therefore there is nothing to do but wait and go fishing .

 

[Three Bouys]

Arnie, that's another great day for you. Great report.

Going to try to get out there sometime this weekend and maybe this could be the end for me also. Its getting close to winterizing the big boat before it gets to cold. Then I'll use the smaller boat to fish the weed beds around EC10 for more pike.

Jim

 

[FisherPrice]

Trolling for the pike at bluffs, in my opinion, is all about lure action and depth. Both long crank baits and spoons will work well. Typically we will throw out a variety of tackle (body baits... deep divers vs shallower) and spoons with various weights to adjust depth. Every time out has been diffrent. Trolling in and away from the bar often leads us to a general area where the fish are sitting. If you are not catching, mix it up to find the combo that will work.

 

[silversam]

Thanks going to give it a try this weekend .