New member

[Trib]

I am a new member, but have been lurking in the shadows for over a year. I think I have been very patient waiting and watching the threads. But, I can longer be Mr. Nice guy! Our group will be at Vermilion on July 14th. I have seen reports on Muskies, smallmouth, pearch, and walleye. As a matter of fact, Cliff W. will be taking us out the morning of the 15th to teach us everything we ever wanted to know about catching trophy walleye. Unfortunately, it does not appear that anyone targets pike. I like pike. Some of my best catches were pike. I'm from Oklahoma. The closest thing we have too pike are gar. I even like to catch gar (hey, in Oklahoma we do the best we can with what we have).

Would someone please share some wisdom on how to catch pike in mid-July?

Oh, by the way. One of our members has never fished North of the southern Kansas border. We told him we were going to Canada. He'll never know the difference, but if some of you would say "Eh!" every once in a while it will add greatly to the effect.

Thank you for your help.

Byron

[heartattack22]

Welcome aboard!!!

[Tim_Anderson]

Byron,

I have had the best pike action in the middle section in the weedy bays, and in the main channel as well. The east basin has been good to me too around Ely Island. Best baits for me have been musky sized spinnerbaits (rad dogs, grinders, funky chicken) and prop style topwaters (topraider, pacemaker). Good luck.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Byron,

Welcome to FM!

Looking foreward to meeting you on the 15th.!

Cliff

[HansB]

Eh!

[Trib]

Hi Tim,

By middle section, are you talking about the area from Vermilion dam south to Waconda Bay? We fished this portion last year and had a great time. We will be staying at Wolf Bay Lodge by Vermilion dam, so if this is where you are talking about, we are right where we need to be. Thats great. Ely Island may be a little to far for a 40 hp engine. Maybe next year when we bring our boat we can do some traveling.

We have plenty of spinnerbaits , buck tails, large jigs, spoons of all sizes and color, some large crank baits, and soft plastics. I'm thinking of paying a visit to one of our local constuction sites to "borrow" some dynamite, you know, just in case the fishing gets a little slow.

Thanks for the info.

Byron

[Trib]

Hi Cliff,

We are so excited about the trip that we have to keep our legs crossed so went don't wet our pants.

In an earlier communication, I had indicated that we would like to fish more of the west side. After considerable thought, we decided that if we are going to hire a guide, we ought to at least do what he suggests. We're a little slow down here. We would like to fish wherever you want and are excited about being able to get a guided tour of the east side.

Also, asking you to come to Wolf Bay Lodge would waist a lot of your time, so we will meet you at the dock of your choice. From an earlier post, you gave directions to someone about the vicinity of where you live. If my map reading skills are accurate, that would place you somewhere near the Pike river dam. It would be a lot easier for us to drive over there than have you come by boat to pick us up.

So, tell me where you want us and we will be there at 7a.m. Sunday the 15th.

Thanks

Byron

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Byron,

Send me an E-mail and we can set up a meeting place.

Thanks!

Cliff

[Steve Foss]

Byron, truly funny. Welcome to FM. Good to see you here, where a sense of humor is always a welcome thing.

When targeting pike on the east side, a good summer tactic, particularly for large pike, is getting out of shallow weedy bays and trolling cranks about six to eight inches long around main lake points and sunken islands and reefs from 15 to 30 FOW. Big pike on V are like big pike anywhere — once they get to a certain size, they prefer cooler water than the little/midsize pike — and that most often means near the thermocline in the middle of summer on northern lakes.

Does your handle "Trib" mean you like to fish tributaries or that you work for a newspaper named the "Tribune?" Or maybe that you're a Trekkie and liked the tribbles eposide? Or maybe something completely different.

There are lots of guides on Big V, quite a few good ones, and fewer excellent ones. In Cliff, you've got one of the excellent ones. But where did you get that idea about learning all there is to know about trophy walleye from him. I mean, I think his biggest walleye only went about 12 pounds.

[Trib]

Hi Catfish,

Thanks for the information. That's something we will certainly try.

In regard to "Trib."

"Or maybe that you're a Trekkie and liked the tribbles eposide? Or maybe something completely different."

Is the righjt answer, as you will see below.

Byron Tribble from Ponca City, Oklahoma