"You guys have that pike fishing really dialed in don't you?" John Wolters asked, matter of factly while Katie was cutting John's hair one day.
"Uh, I don't know about that. I sure enjoy catching those crazy gators, though!" Katie said excitedly, in anticipation of our annual pike trip up north.
Over the years we've learned a lot on targeting Northern Pike in Idaho on the fly rod. "Dialed in" would be grossly exaggerating our current expertise. Each year we learn more and more though, hoping to one day be, "dialed in".
We've learned that timing and water temperature play the largest role in finding fish. We now know where the pike like to be. Timing when those pike will be there is the key. Last year we were too late; the water temperature was too warm, pushing most of the fish deeper. The weed beds were mature, and places we'd found fish in the past were nearly void of pike. This year we hoped to time things just right when the big pike were still shallow and the water warming, but not too warm. We decided on early May and crossed our fingers for some pleasant weather.
We would start in the Coeur d'Alene area. Katie and I arrived, set up camp and decided the evening would be perfect for a turtle ride! We loaded the bikes in the boat and crossed the river to the bike path.
Turtles bring Katie and I joy, so we always try to get our fix in when we're up north.
The next morning I woke early and hit the hills in search of turkeys. The morning was pleasant and the woods alive; deer, elk, moose, songbirds and waterfowl, but no turkeys were found.
By 11 am, we were on the water in search of pike. We headed right to a small bay where we've done well in the past. The water was a touch cold at 53 degrees. The cabbage weed beds were just starting to poke up through the depths. It didn't take Katie long to connect with the first pike.
Shortly after, I found one myself. The sun was shining, the waters calm and the pike were where they were suppose to be. Life was good!
We landed 3 or 4 pike and one big crappie before moving on to another lake.
Keeping the crappie theme going, we started with bobbers and balanced minnows on the rock walls. The first spot produced some quality bass.
"That is a horse and a half!" I said, in a mid-west/canadian accent when one of Katie's bass made its first appearance. If you grew up watching In-Fisherman like I did, you know what I'm talking about.
We sent the 19 inch fish back to the depths and moved onto some pike water. We casted along a rocky shoreline that gradually shallowed into a weedy cove. We came upon a large downed tree, extending 40 feet into the lake. I chose to cast toward the tip where the deeper branches were, leaving more of the base of the tree for Katie. Nothing showed itself for me, but on Katie's well placed cast, a large shadow charged out of the depths, coming up behind Katie's fly with bad intentions.
"Ohhhh..." Katie muttered as she continued her retrieve near the boat. The big fish charged her fly, inhaling the entire 9'' fly instantly. Katie set the hook and giggled in pure delight. I quickly powered the trolling motor away from the tree and all the possible snags that could ruin this perfect moment. Katie was obviously less concerned as she continued to laugh and allow the fish to casually go where it pleased. I was panicked as the fish shot for the depths and likely for the branches.
"Honey! Keep it away from that tree!" I said, kicking up the speed of the motor. I did not want to lose this great fish.
It was obvious that Katie had already enjoyed the greatest part of pike fishing; the exhilarating take. Despite my panic, everything worked out and soon we had the 35" fish in the net. This day was getting better and better!
We continued along the same shoreline, approaching a shallow, cattail lined cove. BOOOM! A large pike suddenly charged my fly on the second strip. I set the hook and the fight was on! My new 9 weight handled the fish wonderfully, and soon I was holding one of my largest North Idaho pike.
We sent the 33 inch pike away to the depths. This day was awesome! We slowly drifted into the 2 foot deep cove. There! I saw a large pike-shaped shadow slowly move. I positioned the boat to make a cast. The cast was fair, and I hoped the aggressive nature of the fish would make up for the less than perfect cast. The shadowed turned and slowly headed toward the fly. Yes! Suddenly a gust of wind came out of nowhere and sent the boat surging toward the fish. No, no, no! In a matter of seconds, the boat was 5 feet from the fish. The gig was up. Only instead of one spooked pike, there were three. They all shot past the boat, headed for deeper water. They were all nearly 40 inches and two were super fat females, likely in the shallows to spawn. Rats!
We trolled over to the other side of the bay, where there was more great pike habitat. I shot a cast over to a half submerged bush. The surface exploded as quickly as the fly landed. Another great pike had been under the sticks, eager to eat. I set the hook and the fish took off, pulling even harder than the last fish. Katie scooped the fish into the net after one of the best pike battles I've had.
This gator was even larger than the last! We sent the 34" fish off and decided to try for crappie along the upcoming rock wall. The crappie eluded us, but we did find one more pike that we lost at the boat. We headed back to camp to eat dinner, hoping to hit the water again for an evening session. We had to capitalize on this day because a large cold front was coming in the day after tomorrow.
After dinner we set off for another lake downstream. We fished the last hour of the evening and had a couple hookups. When we went to take off for camp, the motor decided not to cooperate. It would start and idle at high rpm but when I'd throw it in gear, it would die. A fuel issue no doubt, and likely a small obstruction in a carburetor. I used the trolling motor to exit the lake and take us to the nearest ramp and road. It was now dark and camp was nearly 4 miles away. Luckily there were some folks fishing from shore nearby. Katie and I took a chance and asked for a ride back to camp. We met a pleasant local named Dan who was celebrating his sons 21st birthday. Dan gave us a ride back to camp, saving us from a long walk in the dark.
The next day we called around to see if a boat shop could look at and repair our issue. Unfortunately every shop was booked out and no amount of begging could get us in. We'd have to settle for a self fix at this point. A couple shops gave us some tricks to try though. We used the rest of the day to go for a bike ride and try fishing a small lake with just the trolling motor. No pike came to hand but it was a great day anyway.
We awoke the next day to rain and cold. It was time to pack up camp and head north to our next location, Hayden, where we would fish Hayden Lake. We packed up camp in the rain and drove north. We decided to stop and fish a smaller lake we'd never tried before: Fernan Lake. We trolled around for a couple hours in the cold and had a couple bass, a trout, and one pike encounter before moving on.
That evening we fished Hayden Lake. Without the big motor working, we were restricted to close proximity to the boat ramp. That didn't stop Katie from catching a pike in short order, though.
We found a few nice bluegill too.
The next day we continued north to meet my aunt and uncle at their cabin. My other uncle, Dave, who had flown in from Kansas and driven up with my dad, would also be there. It would be like a family reunion!
We arrived at the cabin, where everyone was eager to try to get the boat motor working. Not having a working motor was going to seriously limit our fishing abilities in this area. We tinkered with different things and possibly made some improvements. Time would tell.
It was wonderful to catch up with family. We explored some neat locations while the weather was still cool. The next few days, however, were predicted to improve and give us some sun.
With 2 full days left of the trip and nice weather in the forecast, it was time to hit the water again and put some pike in the boat. We launched at one of our favorite spots, hoping the motor would cooperate. Joining Katie and I this day would be my dad and Uncle Jeff. I fired up the motor and gave it time to warm up. Then I clicked it into gear and we took off. I looked around at everyone with a suspicious expression and crossed my fingers. So far so good! We headed upstream to some sloughs. At least the current could take us downstream if the motor died from there.
The motor took us to the upper slough. As I idled down the motor started sputtering and died. The problem was still not fixed but at least it was running at some capacity now. We fished the slough and saw several small to medium sized pike in the shallow clear water. Some would follow the fly but they weren't as aggressive as we hoped. The water in the main river was around 50 degrees and in the sloughs it warmed up into the mid 50's. Between the low clear water and the temperature, todays fishing could be tough.
We exited the slough and fished around a shallow reef on our way downstream to the next slough. My uncle threw a cast to the bank and connected with a small pike.
A baby no doubt, but maybe things were turning around. We fished along until Katie made her signature pike shriek.
"OHHH, BIG!" She shrieked and pointed in front of the boat.
I looked into the water to see one of the largest pike I've ever seen. Easily into the mid 40 inches and 6" across the back, this fish appeared to be sizing up the boat to determine if it was food or foe. Along side it were two more smaller pike. Katie tried a cast but these fish weren't going to strike with the boat so close.
"That was cool!" I said, as we prospected the area for a while before moving on.
A couple hundred yards downstream we had a second encounter with a massive pike. This time, simply a moving shadow along the bottom. The shadow stopped and Katie let her fly fall to the bottom near the fish's face. The fish turned and headed toward her fly. When the fish got close my uncle couldn't contain himself. He let out an "OHHHH!" Then quickly covered his mouth. Unfortunately this was enough for the fish to hear and the giant shadow turned and swam off.
We fished the next slough, encountering only a couple finicky pike. We did however find a whole school of yellow perch willing to play. After catching about 20, 5-8 inch perch we moved onto a new area. We slowly trolled into a shallow reef with several coves. The bottom darkened with vegetation and the water temperature immediately increased a couple degrees. The water just felt "pikey".
"Eeekkk!" Katie shrieked. I looked just in time to see a pike flat out miss her fly. Katie popped the fly a couple more times but the fish turned and swam off. The next couple hours were filled with dozens of pike sightings, chases and close encounters. Unfortunately, Katie only landed one fish.
"I think I know where we should go tomorrow," I said as we loaded up the boat at the end of the day. "You don't leave fish to find fish!" I added, hoping another warm day would trigger these fish to be more aggressive.
The next day we found ourselves on the same water with nearly the same game plan. This time, my Aunt Connie joined us in the boat.
The first slough held the same results, only my uncle had one eat on his fly that he missed. We then moved onto the water in-between the sloughs where we saw the big pike the day before. In nearly the same spot, Katie hooked up on a decent pike. We sent this fish on its way and continued to prospect this area, knowing big pike could be lurking anywhere. The shoreline and bottom was generally rocky, sloping from shallow, weedless and all rocks to 8 feet of dark, weedy bottom. Katie was casting to the clear transition from no weeds to weeds. As soon as her fly got into the deep water, she would slow its retrieve and add longer falls to the retrieve. It was on one of these falls that I saw her fly disappear and her line make a distinct jolt. Katie set the hook hard and the pike on the end of her line turned, showing us it's side and tail as it charged off.
"OHHHHH, it's a big one!" I shouted, quickly scrambling for the net.
Just then Katie's line went slack and her fly came back as if nothing had ever happened. I nearly collapsed in the boat, knowing it was a 40 plus inch fish. Katie and I turned to each other, holding the same face scrunching frown.
"Oh well, at least I got to see it. The encounter is the best part." Katie said, inspecting her fly.
I still wasn't happy. That was the largest fish we've ever had eat and in a class of it's own.
Katie continued casting and so did I. I had a great fish follow and almost eat before moving on. We finished the day at the shallow, dark waters from yesterday where we saw dozens of fish. Another boat had been in here when we drove by earlier in the day. We trolled along and saw only a fraction of the number of pike that we saw the previous day. However, one was an absolute monster. It swam past the boat, giving us a show. The fish was likely 45 inches long and 6" across the back. No doubt this fish was nearly 30 pounds. Katie ended up landing one medium-sized pike before the day was all said and done.
That night we saw the Northern Lights; a truly spectacular natural occurrence.
Unfortunately our pike trip was now over. Another year of fun fishing and learning more and more about the gators up north. We caught and saw more big pike this year than ever before. We still weren't "dialed in", but maybe next year we will be. And maybe, just maybe, put our hands on one of those giant 40 plus inch fish.
