Pike fishin with a sucker

[HuntingGuy]

Hey guys-

I fish off a large pier on a big lake near home.  It is a real nice pier, lots of great fish.  For 6 or 7 years I have been using sucker minnows for Pike.

knot, slip bobber, 1 ft of line, couple weights, and a 2ft leader with a razor claw bent hook, hooked behind the dorsal fin on the sucker.

My question for you:  The pike in this lake average 20-25", with some monsters among them.  I usaully catch 4 or 5 pike each trip out.  It seems that these fish are finicky to the size of sucker used.  I have used everything from 3"-10".  Usaully finding I catch the most with the medium sized suckers.  What size sucker do you like to use?  Any suggestions?

Second question:  Do you hook your suckers thru the upper lip, or behind the dorsal fin?

Tight lines to you all...   HuntingGuy

[SeaBass]

Not much traffic on the fishing boards it seems.

In case you are still wondering...

If you want the big ones I would use the biggest bait you can find.
The big ones don't "usually" like to waste the energy on a small meal.

I hook them behing the fin with a bobber for sure.

I hook them throught the lips if I'm drifting or casting.

You won't catch as many fish with a real big bait but the fish you catch will be larger.

If you can run more than one line I would run at least one smaller bait just to keep a little action going.

If you fish over and over with a big bait with no big fish then the big pike may be out a deeper ambushing fish as they come into the area instead of coming in and feeding near the pier.

I don't often catch big pike near lots of smaller ones.  

Don't be afraid to use dead bait.  Big fish are lazy and they know dead bait is easy pickings.

[HuntingGuy]

Sounds good, thanks SB.

[buck460XVR]

suckers work well on pike.....they can smell em from a long way off and as long as it's not to hot the suckers last a long time. Size around here is more dependent on the time of year and the size of the pike you are after. It's still holds true the majority of the time that it takes big bait to catch big fish. We use suckers up to 24" long for Muskies here in the fall, whereas early in the spring you catch em jigging for walleyes with the tiniest of bait. We also have good luck with large shiners when you can get em, but they don't hold up well when the water is warmer. In the  early spring, dead minnows work as well as live ones for pike and later in the year, dead minnows on a large jig draggin the bottom, works well during cold fronts.

[marinemagnum]

I got to go pike fishing for the first time this year, I tried almost everything. I had better luck fishing from the bank with a crankbait.

[moxgrove]

I use a 6 inch or so when fishing in the summer and back off to about a 4 incher or so for ice fishing