I caught this 27" pike today while I was fishing for bass.  Hit a Bandit 200 series crank in about 7 ft of water around 3 or 4pm ??  Beats me.

 Best fighting freshwater fish I've ever caught.  Absolutely hammered my crank and went on few spectacular runs.  Just when I thought it was over....zzzzzzz she peals some more drag.  Probably was only a couple of minutes, but it seemed a lot longer.  

 When taking your own picture with a timer, make sure you smile extra early.  

They can be a blast to catch IF you are fishing for them.  The amount of crankbaits I have lost to those toothy critters is amazing.

One of my favorite fish to catch.  I like to use spinner baits for them as they last longer since the teeth do little damage.  If that guy gave you a thrill wait till you hook into a larger one...you will definitely be hooked then!  Just remember to use steel leaders with the them.

I'll have to check out the pic this evening (stupid firewall). I can't ever remember catching a pike before but I've done a dance or 2 with muskies. That's my "hobby" fishing!  ;D

i love to catch pike, they put up a heck of a fight, but watch out for the teeth, im doing a fly-in trip to canada in july to go pike fishing and i cant wait

There's a local lake that is supposed to be a pretty good pike fishery.  Any suggestions for an ok rod and reel, along with some basic lures?  

These fish are awesome!  Can't wait to hook up with a bigger one.

I had just bought a net 2 days before, I am glad that I did!  

Depending on the size of the fish in the lake, a 7'0 MH with braid and a steel leader should be just fine.  

As far as lures, They will hit just about everything I catch bass with.  Spinnerbaits, crankbaits/jerkbaits, I've caught plenty on Jig & Pigs.  Again, the bigger the baits, the bigger the fish.  If you want to really go after the bigger ones, you can use some smaller muskie baits like bucktails/glide baits.  If you're going to be throwing those things though, you may want a heavy action rod.  

The first Pike I caught was about 22" long and put up a big fight, diving to the bottom of the weeds and making slashing runs. It hooked me on catching them, and they are eager biters.

Pike dont get the press that Bass and Muskie get, but they are tops in my book.  ;D

I use a 7ft St. Croix rod, Heavy power w/Moderate Action, Abu Garcia 6000 reel spooled up with 30lb Power Pro braid. The moderate action keeps a bend in the rod, and the heavy power helps to handle the bigger fish. I use live-bait on circle hooks.

Good Luck!

Yup, pike are fun to catch! This 41" fish put up an aweseome fight on my spinning rod and 10lb. test. Also caught it while bass fishing on a megabass vision 110.

Yup, pike are fun to catch! This 41" fish put up an aweseome fight on my spinning rod and 10lb. test. Also caught it while bass fishing on a megabass vision 110.

Beautiful fish, they are great fighters.

My brother had a similar situation and boated a 44" pike on 8lb mono using a 1/4 oz leadhead jig tipped with a leech while walleye fishing.

How does a 7'6 Okuma Big Bait MH swimbait rod sound?  

T-rig that is a beautiful fish and Switzerland doesn't look half bad either.  That must have been a blast on the light tackle!

Anyone know of any good reading on the subject?  

i would say that rod would be fine, i don't know of any reading but start trolling or casting with some spinnerbaits or crankbaits around weeds, then maybe try a little deeper if you are just catching small ones. i catch tons of small one while fishing bass in my lake on anything that is bright fast or flashy

On TV this weekend, they showed a segment on catching some pike. It looked a LOT like bass fishing to me. He was using the larger X-Raps and catching a bunch of them.

I've never caught one, nor do I have any lakes with Pike, so just passing along what I saw.

Sounds like fun!

Also try plastic jerk baits like Slug-gos, flukes, zulus...or a plastic frog rigged to sink around the weeds.  I found that pike like the erratic movement and will inhale them.  Just make sure to use a thick hook (like an Owner in 4/0) since pike are known to straighten out a wire hook.   They are a lot cheaper then ruining a good bass bait on the toothy critters.

I never use a steel leader even when i'm trying to catch pike. Fishing deep cranks or spinbaits are great, you don't know if it's a huge bass or a pike on your line.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm assuming when you say spinnerbait you're talking about bass style spinnerbaits? Or are you meaning big inline?

Brokejaw for some reason I'm thinking I heard pike got into a lake in cali and people were ticked rather than enthused. Probably not near you, cali is kinda big and my memory might be kinda off.

Ha!  I HATE them slimeballs.  Won't even bring 'em into my boat when I catch them (which unfortunately is a LOT moe than I care to).  You guys can have 'em!!!

Cory N....you come visit MN sometime and you can catch them all day long if you want to.  I usually get a few a day and get bit off even more by those nasty hunks of fertilizer.

Thanks for the input everyone.  I'm assuming when you say spinnerbait you're talking about bass style spinnerbaits?  Or are you meaning big inline?

Yep, bass type spinnerbaits.  You can crank them fast or slow.  And if you have some dense vegetation in deeper water don't be shy about casting one and ripping it across the top of the slop.  That's how I like to fish them, almost as a topwater.  Lots of fun.  Even the $1 Wally-World jobbers work so you don't have to worry about screwing up any of your nice ones .