Finding Pike Through The Ice To me, when
it comes to the hard water season, northern pike are my
favorite target for a lot of reasons. First, they are bigger
fish that have teeth. And they pull hard and move fast.
And another real neat 
thing
to me, is that they are generally pretty easy to target
on waters with a decent population. Good action can usually
be found, and the best part of all-for someone who’s never
been too keen on rising early, is that midday hours are
generally best. You normally don’t need to start early or
stay late into the dark.
If you really want to be most effective
in targeting pike (or realistically any species for that
matter), the first move is to make some phone calls and
line up friends to go along. And that’s the neat thing about
ice. A boat limits those who can all go along. It’s pretty
much unlimited on the ice. Round up some folks, because
the more holes or sets you are allowed to use, the quicker
you should be able to pattern pike.
It’s really all about numbers of folks
and mobility. On a chosen body of water, break down the
structural options available that you’ll want to check for
pike. Where weeds 
are
available, especially early and late ice, they are definitely
a factor, while rocks, deeper bars and open water should
be checked too. Break down the options and based on number
of lines that are legal, dedicate a few lines to each option,
always leaning heaviest toward weeds for starters.
It’s a team effort. Other anglers should
follow behind the driller and put sets out, taking care
to check depths and cover different ranges, leaving extra
holes in each range in each area. This way structures are
most effectively covered and things are in a state of readiness
when patterns show themselves.
For sets on tip-ups, I like to break it
down between live and dead baits. Most folks know about
live baits, but there are still many who are unaware of
the effectiveness of dead baits when fishing pike. As a
general rule, live baits tend to be more effective in early
ice conditions and things 
will
gradually lean more towards dead bait as the season progresses.
The dead stuff is often best on late ice. Every water body
has different tendencies though, so both should always be
tried. As a side note, for trophy seekers, in my experience
the dead bait seems to more consistently take the bigger
fish.
I like 4 to 6 inch shiners for live bait
and smelt or cisco for dead baits. I use Sevenstrand or
TyGer leader material in 15 to 30 pound test. The TyGer
is easiest to work with as it ties like line. I run a strong
single treble on the live baits (hooked in the middle of
the back) and a quickstrike rig incorporating two trebles
for dead baits (one in the back and one right behind the
head).
I prefer Frabill’s round Pro Thermal Tip-Ups
for pike. They’re just plain more efficient and easier to
use, but they also cover the hole, preventing any unnatural
light penetration. This can be very important for pike,
especially for very shallow sets. But another thing I’ve
noticed when pike fishing, is that even in deeper water,
I often find that setting the bait high is most effective
for pike. These fish see and feed up. I always try sets
just below the ice, even in open water. And sometimes this
proves to be most 
effective.
Especially on bright days, the unnatural light may prevent
strikes.
I prefer using all tip-ups for starters,
but I do enjoy jigging for pike. I’m fairly impatient though
(I realize this seems odd for someone who fishes for muskies,
but it’s true), so I like to wait until the scattered tip-ups
tell me where the majority of fish activity is going on
before I start jigging. Larger sonars like the Zip lure
can be very effective and are really fun. They generally
hammer them. A standard jig head tipped with a minnow works
too.
In a nutshell then, it’s all about numbers
of folks, so there can be numerous sets, with plenty of
holes and extras for taking advantage of patterns. And they
bite well during the warmest part of the day. It’s great
fun with a good group of friends.
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