Favorite baits for P.O. River pike

[sparky1doug]

Nice fish!! There are some monsters east of mountains. Yes, that picture of the Cudaman Spinner has a little Tiger attached, it's just one of my favorite lures. Note to those interested in Cudaman Lures, they are custom made, one of a kinds. At this point unless you know the Cudaman they are a little hard to get, but well worth it when you get one. If your interested in Fish Creek Spinners check out their web site.

[dougw]

We have a link to FCS on our website, under sponsors. http://mountainmuskies.com/sponsors.html Chapter 60 members receive a discount for ordering from FCS. Email me for details....

[YJ Guide Service]

Seems like the Pike on the PO River are like the Tigers in this state and want the mid size to smaller baits 6" and less. I've spent hundreds of hours on the river and it always seems when i go to smaller baits i catch more fish. Most of the Tigers I caught last year were all caught on lures 6" and less also. The only exception to this is i throw a 1oz BladeRunner spinnerbait which is a giant spinnerbait for both Pike and Muskie. The nice thing about BladeRunner Spinnerbaits are the baits are made with a .050 wire i believe. Which means you dont have to tune it all the time after you catch a Pike or big Bass like alot of the cheaper smaller spinnerbaits. I cant wait to try out the Fish Creek Spinners I have and see if they can hold up to the test. If they do i will purchaseing alot more of them in the future. Counting the days till i start fishing the PO River daily again, maybe sooner if the weather warms just a bit.

[dougw]

How soon before we start hitting the POR Craig? Can't wait! I can't wait for the ice to melt already! I want more tigers!

[YJ Guide Service]

As soon as the weather gets above 40 LOL... and the ice melts off the river it was froze all the way across on friday...I got 5 more Fish Creek spinners in the mail today yeah....

[Mark K]

All this POR talk has me all jacked up for some fishin! The holidays are done and over so were in the home stretch! Only 11 weeks until the first tourney!!

[YJ Guide Service]

11 weeks to get ready to catch some Pike yeah better start practicing. Weve been practicing on Eloika lol but nothing but Bass and perch... lol

[sparky1doug]

11 weeks? So if I go camping at the Cusick boat launch I can be the first one in after Ice Out. Hum! Yea, Fish n Fool way to start this thread and get us all itching for the Power of Pike. I've got my order of a dozen FCS coming late this week, then I'll really be jones'n for Pike. This is going to be along 11 weeks >:"":> >:"":> >:"":> >:"":> >:"":>

[Marc Martyn]

I just got this from Cabela's today. One review said that it is the best pike fly he has ever used. Do you think it would work well on the Pend Orielle River? It is also comes is a couple of different colors. On Cabela's site, it is under the saltwater flies.

http://alturl.com/p2wz7

[sparky1doug]

That will work great! It will last about 3 to 4 fish, they just tear'em up. So bring several and try a brown with white as well, pike minnow immitation. You'll find the big LMB love that perch pattern as well. Marc, one of the reasons I tie my own is so I can use material that will withstand those nasty teeth and the fact they inhale the fly.

[Marc Martyn]

At this point, if it lasted through just one water wolf, I'd be thrilled. Barry Reynold's video "In Pursuit of The Water Wolf" has had me pumped for some time. I just spent the afternoon with Mike Grahm and he is ready to start hitting some different waters this year. We want to try the P.O. River, Newman and the CD'A chain lakes (Killarney, Cave, Medicine)

[sparky1doug]

Your going to love those choices, Medicine is a jewel. That's where my Perch pattern I posted came from.

[Marc Martyn]

I'm going to scout it out this spring after the runoff is over. It's been many many years since I have been over there, like the late '60's.

[Marc Martyn]

What is the average size of the Pike in Medicine? I've heard they are about 16-24"

[sparky1doug]

I'd say 22-28 was average for me on the fly. The Cd'A river drainage looks much the same as it when I grew up there in the 70's. It's now much cleaner after the smelter was closed in Kellogg in the early 80's. Here is a pic. from Medicine.

[Marc Martyn]

In the 60's it was not a very pretty river. I can remember driving back to South Dakota and seeing the river running a rust colored orange. Much different than today.

I'll have to devote some time to that drainage this year. I know it gets blown out with the spring runoff. When is the best time to start working those lakes? What is the optimum water temperature?

I've also been told the Pike fishing is good down in the Harrison Slough. Have you ever tried that area?

[sparky1doug]

It all depends on snow pack and spring run off. Last year we were fishing in early April but thats normally very early. The water temp was 51-53. The flies out did the lures 5 to 1 during the morning hours then it flipped at 12:00, go figure. Yes, no more rust. You have to look very hard to find evidence of what it was, good thing. The Harrison Slough is the place to find the Hogs and it should come on as the temp. gets to that 50's range.

[YJ Guide Service]

The fishing on the PO River depends alot on the water level there. The Pike dont seem to be as water temp sensitive as a lot of places, we were catching them in the begging of March last year when the water was low and cold. Most people like to see the water up and warmer since it makes them stack up in the sloughs and makes them easier to catch. I prefer it early since the big fish are deffenitly hitting. Seemed like last year as the year went on all you were getting were 24" fish and the occassional big fish. We also caught them as the water runoff hit, water was still pretty clean even at that time. I cant wait for the temps to warm just enough my hands dont freeze lol.

[Mark K]

It's looking more and more like this years gonna be complete opposite of last year. The beginning of March was beautiful last year, we may be fishing in the snow after we break through the ice just to launch this year... I also wonder if the sloughs will fill up sooner and possibly stay filled longer due to all this snow... Either way, I can't wait!

[dougw]

Heck Mark, if it wasn't for ice on Silver, I'd still be chaining up to launch out there! Might have to borrow an ice auger and try to jig a tiger in. There are already two muskies on this years MI Lunge Log.