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Last minute pike tips...


musky_tail05

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Thinking about making a quick trip to Red tomorrow for some big pike. Never fished it open water before. Just wondering about any general areas/depths, baits, presentation, etc. I'm a muskie freak, so I'm pretty well covered as far as gear goes. Thanks for any info.

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Ahhh... it's always nice when a muskie freak converts over to fishing the smarter of the 2 Esox.... grin.gif hehehe

Go gettum Rob!!!! You might even tag into a nice walleye or 3, then what?

Good Luck!

Ken

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I like trolling planer boards to spread out and get away from the boat. Husky jerks and super-rogues are nice cuz they don't dive too deep. Cover some water stop if you bump into some weed beds and make a few casts. Have fun and practice CPR.

redhooks

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Well, I just got back from Red and it was very interesting to say the least.

We got out on the water at around 9:00 am, began trolling and things started out promising, with the guy I was fishing with hooking and loosing a good fish in the first five minutes. Then at around 10:40 am, I caught my personal best pike at a very stout 41 1/4 inches. She absolutely slammed the seven-inch crank I was trolling. She was a bit beat-up looking, but after a few quick pictures, she swam off like a champ. Not too bad for my first Red Lake pike. grin.gif We then continued to troll for another couple of hours with my buddy catching an 18inch snaker. And that was about it for the rest of the day. We found some decent weedbeds, some very green yet, and casted them for a little while. We even trolled the river a little. We talked to some guys out all day walleye fishing and they said they didn't have a single bite all day. confused.gif It was an excellent trip regardless and I will certainly be back in the future.

And last but not least, a quick little message for my bestest of buddies, LABS4ME..... Somehow I just knew the second I finished my phone call with you last night, you were trying to set me up. Heck, I even wrote down your excellent info..."stay to the NORTH of the markers out of the river to AVOID the shallow rocks". Hmmmmmmmm..... Your memory must be a liiiiittttle hazy..... I had a good laugh when the first thing that caught my eye to the north of the markers was the "CAUTION:ROCKS" sign. Smooooooth...... Pretty scary though...I caught the smart Esox this time, Must be them negative brain waves (or lack there of) that them polka pike here on Cass send out to interfere with my *cough* SUCCESS this year. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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oops... did I really say north!? grin.gif "s" / sand = south, I thought that's what I said... I'll remeber next time you call for directions... ask Kelly and Jon, I give real accurate directions, I just don't know where you'll end up!

Good Job on the 40"+ Rob! See what a real Esox feels like... they actually bite and fight! Now you can throw all those muskie ornaments in the trash. It's all polka dott pike from here on out for you!!!

Good Luck!

Ken

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Here is the pic of Rob's 41.25 x 17 inch pike. Congrats on the personal best smashing for the 3rd time this year!

rob41.25pike.jpg

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Quote:

We talked to some guys out all day walleye fishing and they said they didn't have a single bite all day. confused.gif

Hey, that was my buddy and me. We did manage a couple walleyes the day before in the river. 17 and a quarter and a 18 incher with a half dozen or so small northerns.

We finally got the locater to light up the day we seen you when we skirted the line. We drifted thru the mid lake areas with constant markings. We tried everything we could think of with no takers. Frustrating, no. I kept reminding my buddy that we could be sitting at home wishing we were there.

This was my buddy's first time there since 1999. He was very impressed with how genuine and helpful everyone in the area is. As for me, well I have been coming for quite awhile and fishing is always good and the people there always remind me as to why I continue to come back. wink.gif

See ya soon... smile.gif

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