Northern Pike are the Water-wolves of the north and one of the most popular game fish in Ontario. Small good eating size Northern Pike are easy to catch and available in great numbers because they can be found in almost every type of structure. Even though Northern Pike are a common fish in Ontario, it takes the right sources of food and environmental conditions for them to grow to trophy size. Our water system has the right recipe to grow big monster Northern Pike.

The Clearwater Lake / Pipestone Lake chain of lakes gives our guests 70 miles of clean pristine wilderness water, which is stuffed with Pike. The main lakes do have a great population of Northern Pike with many trophy Pike being caught but in a lake with a high population of Muskie, Northern Pike behavior can be a little different. Muskie roam and chase while Northern Pike ambush their prey. The weedy bays, points and reefs that face the wide-open water of Clearwater and Pipestone will hold Pike but these are more likely to have Muskie. Big Muskie tend to be claustrophobic and will dominant the areas facing the large bodies of open water.

The best Northern Pike fishing in our system is at the mouth of narrows between the backcountry lakes that make up most of the Clearwater / Pipestone chain. Northern Pike like to keep their distance from Muskie and at the same time find places where walleyes and other fish need to swim through while migrating to the next lake. They are also found in great numbers between islands and the mainland on the big lakes.

Northern Pike are very common in the 2 to 6 pound range. You will catch Pike this size everywhere. If you fish for Pike all day you should catch a couple in the 7 to 10 pound range. The really big trophy Northern Pike in the 20 pound class do get caught by our guests and throughout the summer quite a few get caught and released. Behind the big islands on the main lakes and all through the chain of smaller lakes you will find areas such as narrows or river current between small lakes. If you are driving the boat through these narrows and come to the mouth of a lake and notice Wild Rice or Muskie Cabbage in the water, you will be in a spot where the biggest Pike in the lake call home. A big Monster Northern Pike is very territorial and will not leave an area until the food runs out or a bigger Pike moves into the area. If you cast into the narrows and catch small Pike or case outside the weeds and hit Walleyes, then you know you are in an area where there is a big Pike. That's when you relax, stay quiet and invest some time throwing different baits until the big one hits.

At Clearwater Lodge, you can experience world class Northern Pike fishing at a fraction of the price that some of the other lodges are charging farther north. If you want large Pike to be the focus of your fishing vacation, we suggest you consider staying at our outpost camp on Dash Lake located deeper into Trophy Pike Territory. Dash Lake is top on the list for prime Trophy Pike as the lake only has Lake Trout and Northern Pike. And with depths of over 200' deep and perfect combinations of islands, shallow neck down points and rock reefs it has the makings of monsters.

Pike Casting Lures: