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Colorado Pike Dormant In Winter? Why??

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Mackdaddy21:
Colorado Pike are so tough to catch in the winter through the ice it isn't funny. Even the best pike fisherman catch one or two pike in a day, and skunkings are routine.
Colorado lakes that have pike supposedly have a lot of them, but they don't bite through the ice at all hardly. Bass and catfish are way easier to catch ice fishing than pike. We try everything. All areas, all depths, any time of year, it just stinks. We use all sorts of baits on tipups, and also jigging lures.
Seems you guys in other parts of the country catch way more pike. Esox said 150 last season through the ice. The most I have ever got in one season is 2, in 5 trips. Caught the two on the same day. Why don't they stay active here?

Tyler

Esox:
First.....don't compair your part of the country with mine. Every place is different. That would be like me saying "How come I don't catch big pike like Tip-up"? I fish in an area with a LOT of pike, so my average is better. I've also been pike fishing for years and have fine tuned things a little. When I first started, I was lucky to get 1-2 fish a day, now anything under a dozon is a slow day for me.

Answer a few questions for me.....What bodies of water do you fish and do you have a depth chart? Where are you setting up on these lakes? How are you setting up (depth, bait, leaders, etc.)

It takes time to learn how and where to fish. The best advise I can offer people is to pay attention to the details. If you are catching fish figure why you are cathcing them...what are the conditions? If someone tells you they slamed the fish, ask them about the structure, weather, depth, lure presentation, etc. Don't just get the GPS numbers....because, the fish might not be there because the conditions have changed. If you learn WHY fish are doing what they do, it makes them much easier to catch.

Mackdaddy21:
Esox,

I fish smaller reservoirs that supposedly have lots of pike. I can usually catch 2 - 5 of them per trip through open water. Maybe the amount of pike in the lakes is just small because of the CDOW's no bag limit horsecrap on pike.
I generally fish early and late ice in the shallows around the mouths of bays and off points in the bays, looking for weedgrowth if I can. If it doesn't exist, I look for saddles and large bars. I use both dead and livebaits on tipups fished close to the bottom in 5 - 20 feet of water. I use very thin wire for leader like south bend invisileaders. I use a quick strike rig with a pair of #6 trebles.
I have depth maps for the lakes, and I fish in areas that supposedly concentrate pike in the winter. I find areas with lots of panfish or small trout, knowing pike should be there. They just don't seem to be. Maybe they just are in such low density here because people keep them all.

Tyler

Esox:
Do you have a link to some depth maps of the places you fish? If you are catching fish in the summer, there is no reason why you should not catch them in the winter. If you have a link, I'll tell you where I would start looking for fish.

Mackdaddy21:
No there is no link. Fishing during the summer, fall, and spring can be very frustrating as well. I just think the amount of pike is low now due to the CDOW's anti pike bs.
No one has hardly any success here ice fishing for pike. The most I have ever heard of caught through the ice is 4 in a trip. Skunkings are the norm. It's slower than even Musky fishing.
Some anglers have told me they just go dormant in the winter. Maybe it's partly due to the large amount of food due to large panfish and crayfish populations, and in some lakes, heavy plants of small stocker trout.
I read about how good pike are supposed to hit through the ice. I do not see why they would act different here. Makes no sense. Maybe the DOW just lies about the amount of pike because they hate pike and want to rid the state of this wonderful gamefish.
I fish in all areas, shallow and deep, all sorts of structure and cover, tip ups with live bait, tip ups with dead, also jigging lures, and a skunking is the norm.

Tyler

Tyler

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