# Place to find Northern Pike



## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

where can i find them at not in the GMR north of me... lakes that have them


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Thats a tough one Trailbreaker...i think you may hafta travel out of your comfort zone to find pike...


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## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

Northeast Ohio has several lakes with pike. If you want to stay local the GMR north of Dayton is your best bet. They are fairly rare in this part of the state so the search could go for a period of time.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

Not familiar with north of dayton


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## fishwhacker (Jul 16, 2010)

GLSM has them just dont know how many no one targets them but bass anglers get them on bright spinnerbaits....usually right after ice out but you hear reports here and there all year round


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

TB... i understand your not familiar with going north... but i honestly think your gonna have to travel further North to find a pike...I'm not sayin' you that you can't find any down further South, but you'll have better chances traveling North, Like stated by Sconnor and fishwhacker, GLSM and Indian lake bith have pike, but it'll be time consuming and probably take more than one trip.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

can someone put me around dayton... what about miamisburg


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## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

Your chances in Miamisburg are almost zero, if you want to catch pike you need to go north of Dayton. I have seen a few posted on here over the years from down there, but not many.


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## thedudeabides (Apr 13, 2009)

I think maybe your next best bet would be trying to hook into a Muskie at Caesar's Creek headwaters. They may still be in the spawning stages there. If that's happening there they are catchable from the bank. They are also in the tailwater section of that lake and below in the Little Miami. They are not an easy catch. I don't target them, but I've had my run ins with them.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

In 2006 50 were stocked in Campbell's lake preserve, might be a few left .
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

garhtr said:


> In 2006 50 were stocked in Campbell's lake preserve, might be a few left .
> Good luck and Good Fishing !


I know but you can't keep them


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## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

Why would you want to keep any, they are rare in SW Ohio and Saugeye are plentiful and tastier


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

TB... i'm expecting your next post to be a pike....


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## bgrapala (Nov 1, 2008)

Pike are good for fish frys


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

bgrapala said:


> Pike are good for fish frys


Ugb..bones


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## 1more (Jan 10, 2015)

The dredded y bone..


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## Ant (Mar 27, 2013)

You just gota know how to remove the y bone.Plenty of vids on youtube showing how.


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

Try the GMR from Ross rd all the way north to quince and degraff. I get them around tipp and troy a lot too.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks tomc


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## zaraspook (Jun 16, 2009)

View media item 79953GLSM on May 1....19". Not a giant but fun on a crappie rig.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Ant said:


> You just gota know how to remove the y bone.Plenty of vids on youtube showing how.


yea... we know how to... but it still sucks


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## Flannel_Carp (Apr 7, 2014)

TB you could catch and keep a few saugs instead of a pike. Their population around here is not that that it is up around the big lakes.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Flannel_Carp said:


> TB you could catch and keep a few saugs instead of a pike.


 If TB catches a pike and releases I'll give him some saugeye fillets 
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

zaraspook said:


> View media item 79953GLSM on May 1....19". Not a giant but fun on a crappie rig.


Where can they be found at i don't have a boatr


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

garhtr said:


> If TB catches a pike and releases I'll give him some saugeye fillets
> Good luck and Good Fishing !


Hey I released 4 last year.....


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Saugeye Tom said:


> Hey I released 4 last year.....


 Quit living in the past  
Catch one ( not St Clair) post a pic and I'll see to it your eating saugeyes and hiking with a brand new walking staff .

Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## zaraspook (Jun 16, 2009)

trailbreaker said:


> Where can they be found at i don't have a boatr


No easy answer to where they are. We catch while crappie fishing. The hang out in/around same heavy brush /limbs that crappies prefer. We also think they like to eat crappies. No uncommon to catch a crappie with multiple body lacerations like it escaped the grip of a pike. People say to use bright colored spinner baits as close to shoreline brush as possible. I've never targeted pike...... willing to catch one a year while dipping plastics for crappie in that heavy brush. Neighbor pulled a pike from almost identical spot as mine but week a earlier. No way to know if population of pike is sufficient to regularly catch them. Might be better off panning for gold.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

garhtr said:


> Quit living in the past
> Catch one ( not St Clair) post a pic and I'll see to it your eating saugeyes and hiking with a brand new walking staff .
> 
> Good luck and Good Fishing !


LOL will do


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

TB... if ya go fishin for pike... just use the same equipment and lures you use now for bass fishing.. maybe add a small steel leader but thats about the only extra thing you'll need


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## Lil Crappie (Jun 17, 2013)

_O'Shaugnessy Resivoir north of Columbus. Read they have them also._


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

I used to mess around & target early spring pike in GLSM with very limited success. I fished an area on the west bank that is now incorporated into the State Game Refuge, & fishing is no longer permitted there. The water in that bay was fairly clear (for GLSM), very shallow, & was one of the first areas to warm up each spring. I'd use a small jon boat & a push pole once I got back there & had my best results throwing a medium size Mepps inline spinner with a dressed treble hook. I've gained more experience as a fisherman since those early days & would consider other tackle options that were efficient to fish around all that shallow brush. There is some similar water in the back of the east channel where Behm's Restaurant is located. Club Island has an area like that as well. Additionally, just W of Northwood on the main lake there is a third area right off the main lake in Riley Bay that is quite shallow & has a lot of buck brush. The water depth I targeted was only 12-28" deep. It's been a really long time since I've fished for pike locally & I never had a lot of success. The big carp lie in the same areas due to the warm water & spook very easily, & after those guys go thrashing around the immediate area is toast. You'll need a small flatbottom boat to access any of the areas I've directed you to. Good luck....there aren't too many pike caught around here any more. I can remember as a kid finding one in our channel every year or so after ice out, & occasionally one of those dead fish would be in the 28-30" range.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

At the visitor center near the sailboat club they have a poster with different fish..... they don't have northern pike


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

trailbreaker said:


> At the visitor center near the sailboat club they have a poster with different fish..... they don't have northern pike



... Enough talk!!! Lol!! Go get a pike buddy!


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## zaqxsw (Jul 19, 2009)

I'm was from NE Ohio and if you really, really want northern pike and are willing to travel, West Branch lake is loaded with them. Plus a top Muskie lake.

I've caught more pike and Muskie there than bass....... and I WAS fishing for bass!!! Pike are considered a nuisance by most folks up there.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

zaqxsw said:


> I'm was from NE Ohio and if you really, really want northern pike and are willing to travel, West Branch lake is loaded with them. Plus a top Muskie lake.
> 
> I've caught more pike and Muskie there than bass....... and I WAS fishing for bass!!! Pike are considered a nuisance by most folks up there.


There ua go tb.....west branch


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## odell daniel (Nov 5, 2015)

metzgers marsh, west end of lake erie


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## sharp33 (Mar 30, 2015)

Yep Metzgers would be my bet also. Early spring.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

That's my favorite state park


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## sharp33 (Mar 30, 2015)

Another little unassuming place that has pike is kilbuck creek . In early spring we would float it with canoes and catch quite a few . Gold willow leaf spinnerbaits seemed to do good.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

Aaron Ireland a DNR officer checked for my license yesterday at the B st dam i coulda asked him


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

I have read that in ohio they only really spawn naturally or at least in any good numbers in Lake erie up in the tributaries. I'd like to give that a try myself with the fly rod some day if I ever happen across a good spot.


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## zaraspook (Jun 16, 2009)

firemanmike2127 said:


> I used to mess around & target early spring pike in GLSM with very limited success. I fished an area on the west bank that is now incorporated into the State Game Refuge, & fishing is no longer permitted there. The water in that bay was fairly clear (for GLSM), very shallow, & was one of the first areas to warm up each spring. I'd use a small jon boat & a push pole once I got back there & had my best results throwing a medium size Mepps inline spinner with a dressed treble hook. I've gained more experience as a fisherman since those early days & would consider other tackle options that were efficient to fish around all that shallow brush. There is some similar water in the back of the east channel where Behm's Restaurant is located. Club Island has an area like that as well. Additionally, just W of Northwood on the main lake there is a third area right off the main lake in Riley Bay that is quite shallow & has a lot of buck brush. The water depth I targeted was only 12-28" deep. It's been a really long time since I've fished for pike locally & I never had a lot of success. The big carp lie in the same areas due to the warm water & spook very easily, & after those guys go thrashing around the immediate area is toast. You'll need a small flatbottom boat to access any of the areas I've directed you to. Good luck....there aren't too many pike caught around here any more. I can remember as a kid finding one in our channel every year or so after ice out, & occasionally one of those dead fish would be in the 28-30" range.


Mike......nice road map you put out there i can tell you know GLSM the way you described the various spots. Plus you were spot on, describing very accurately types of cover and water depth where I usually catch my single, annual GLSM pike.

A nice read......


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

If there's pike in there why don't the DNR post it on the site for ohio state park


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

Thanks Zara....I always enjoy your detailed reports as well (especially when I don't have time to get a line wet). I hope to met you in person sometime this year. Trailbreaker, the pike in GLSM are few & far between these days, & I haven't fished for them for the last 10 yrs or so. While you'll get the occasional reports of a couple being caught in the spring, there's not really a measureable population of them in GLSM according to the electrofishing crew that reports back to the state fisheries biologist. Mike


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## Hortance (Jun 10, 2014)

There was a pig under the WC dam last year. Took a large shiner I was drifting from dam to the 1st pool on the East side, showed me about 20" of his back and then sliced through the line. It was like he came to the top, mooned me and ran. Went back several times but never saw it again.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

dropthetailgate said:


> I have read that in ohio they only really spawn naturally or at least in any good numbers in Lake erie up in the tributaries. I'd like to give that a try myself with the fly rod some day if I ever happen across a good spot.


You would be surprised. We get small juvenile pike every year from a section of creek that more resembles a drainage ditch here in central ohio....
An a lot are caught east of here as well....


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## SConner (Mar 3, 2007)

They do reproduce naturally in many Ohio streams, just not in large numbers. This was 35" on Labor Day 2010. Be very careful the populations are extremely fragile in SW Ohio.


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## Be Like Water (Oct 12, 2014)

I had to travel to Mosquito Lake in the northeast to get my first Ohio pike, a 31 incher. There's supposedly 40 inch plus fish in there. The north side of that lake has the most brutal waves ive ever encountered in my kayak so be careful. I went for a few days and stayed at Jans campground right on the lake. They also have a ton of walleye.. Its worth the drive.


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## firemanmike2127 (Mar 17, 2013)

Thanks for the heads up.....I've never fished there yet. Exploring new water is something I always look forward to. Now, if I could just retire & fish more often.....hmmm !!


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## fishin.accomplished (Apr 4, 2011)

Hortance said:


> There was a pig under the WC dam last year. Took a large shiner I was drifting from dam to the 1st pool on the East side, showed me about 20" of his back and then sliced through the line. It was like he came to the top, mooned me and ran. Went back several times but never saw it again.


Here's the one from WC dam last year. Got it about 100 yards downstream, right up against the bank, on a whopper plopper. Was in the 30-31" range.


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## Hortance (Jun 10, 2014)

fishin.accomplished said:


> Here's the one from WC dam last year. Got it about 100 yards downstream, right up against the bank, on a whopper plopper. Was in the 30-31" range.
> View attachment 238086


AWESOME!! I'm very pleased that that jerk got his due, and from an OhioGameFisher, to boot.


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## the_waterwolf (Feb 8, 2013)

trailbreaker said:


> I know but you can't keep them


Yeah trailbreaker don't keep any of the Ohio pike. Not only are the populations fragile, but with how warm our water gets they taste worse than steelhead. Honestly, I think northern pike should be considered a threatened species in our state. One of the rivers that I catch my bigger fish out of in the fall is only known to have two little ditches that consistently produce young of the year pike. If anything where to happen to those ditches/creeks the populations would almost certainly cease to exist after a few seasons.


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