Where are the females?

[gadgetman]

Just fished a local pike tournament here in Montana last weekend and had a few questions. The water temp was 55 degrees and about 2 feet higher than it usually is this time of year. For the 2nd year in a row no females were caught during during the tournament and the fishing was pretty slow. Is it possible they could still be spawning? If not where do you think the females were and why was the bite so slow?

[BBK]

Post spawn, females are out deep recovering from the stress. Find weeds or rocks in 15-25 feet of water and you will find them hugging the bottom.

[PIKE FISHERMAN]

Female pike normally spawn just before, or just after ice out. So more than likely they were deeper than most people were fishing. Most reasearch shows pike move deep once the water goes above 45 degrees. They do often move in shallow early morning to feed. But it can be tough to find them.

[gadgetman]

Thanks for the info guys.