Pike are the fish that a variety of anglers love to hate, but also love to catch. The sheer aggressiveness of their strike, and the powerful surges they make when hooked are something that few anglers can deny enjoying.
Yet, the disappointment of catching a pike usually stems only from the hope that the hook would be buried in another target species. A great way to fix that “problem” is to focus on these ferocious fighters from the start. In many parts of the ice belt, that can put you out of contention for a variety of panfish species, walleyes or perch, but there are a few places where these species coexist in similar spots. Those locations are just about any large Midwestern river areas, and their low-flow backwater complexes.
What’s a “Backwater?”
It’s a tough one to pin down, this “backwater” term. It can mean a lake, slough, protected bay or even a marina away from the river proper. There are even wide spots in the river I’ve heard old-timers refer to as a backwater. No matter the structure of the backwater itself, all backwaters do have a few things in common. First among them is the fact that they exist typically away from the main channel of the river, and thus have low or nearly no flow. Their low-current characteristics are extremely important, not just when we’re talking about thick, fishable ice, but also to the species that tend to inhabit the area you’re fishing.
The best backwater complexes are large and prohibitive when it comes to easy access. What makes them difficult to fish — mostly the need to walk long distances with fishing gear in tow — also protects them from fishing pressure and keeps the bite a bit more regular. With that being said, community spots are typically well known, and you’ll know a good backwaters bite on any given weekend simply by driving the roads away from the main channel of any river town. Parked cars and trucks stack up, word spreads and the beat-down path to what’s typically a good bluegill or perch bite is easy to follow. What’s less advertised, or even well known, is that those same panfish locations will have hungry pike somewhere in the general vicinity.
The Mississippi River and its many pools from 2 on downriver form one of the largest and most productive pike complexes in all the Ice Belt. Moving downstream, the pools get a bit larger, the valley walls get farther apart, and the potential for great pike fishing can increase depending on available forage and your ability to get to those pools in the river. With that being said, many large river systems have available backwater complexes, or even oxbow lakes, with some surface water connection. So, often that lack of flow, along with the abundance of panfish or other bait species like shad, can make for incredible pike fishing in anywhere from 2 to 10 feet of water.
Ice Safety
It’s important to note, anytime we’re talking about walking on ice, that none of it is safe. We’ve all heard that before, but when it comes to rivers with active current, you’ll need to employ some strategies to tackle this safely. Although your target for fishing may be areas with no current, quite often the hike in involves negotiating areas that have it. At times, plenty of it. On a favorite backwater a few years ago near Wabasha, Minnesota, I broke through near what looked like a harmless stretch of timber protruding through the top of the ice. What hid below, after extracting my leg, was rushing whitewater that thinned the ice near that stickup in the current. I don’t think I need to spell out what would’ve happened had both feet gone through and I’d gone under.
That makes safety equipment like a healthy spud bar, a throw rope and the buddy system all standard issue when fishing backwater areas. Even in a crowd, it’s easy to poke around the edges and find some ice that just isn’t safe.
Among those tools, a heavy-duty spud session on your way out to the spot can be your best defense. Learn how many inches each big swing of the chisel takes for your particular bar, and learn what’s safe for you and your gear to walk on. With my 5-footer, one swing that reveals a little bit of water coming up through the cracks is too thin for walking. Three strikes in the same spot with water that comes up means about 4 inches of solid ice. For my comfort level, that’s as little as I’ll walk on in a river system, given that ice thickness varies so greatly over such very short areas.
Current Effect
On top of ice safety, you’re looking for low-flow areas because they’ll hold the most panfish prey species. Bluegills, especially, are notorious for requiring nearly zero-flow conditions to congregate, not only because it’s difficult for them to maintain themselves in that current, but because the many invertebrates they’re eating are more difficult to chase down in high-flow areas, too. A good idea is to take a scouting trip in autumn that involves checking shallow-water areas in the boat that might make for great ice fishing candidates come freeze-up. In a boat, you can assess flow more easily, as well as cast throughout small pools to see if panfish are nearby. You’re looking for bait as much as you’re looking for northern pike during such scouting missions.
Heavier current areas, or spots that may get a light wash of water, will more frequently be deeper, and tend to hold perch and walleyes. Classic areas then to stay away from if you’re pike fishing are rock rubble shorelines, neckdowns or spillways that focus flow into or out of a specific area. That’s not to say that northerns aren’t found near those areas, but classic spots typically are away from these locations, off to the side and with dark-bottom substrate that promotes more weed growth. In fact, weeds are a great piece of cover that can concentrate pike movements below the ice, and should be focused on when looking for likely areas to target.
Tactics
If panfish are the primary prey item for pike, you’re looking for great ambush locations from which pike can effectively hunt them. Typically, that’s an edge like a long weedline, but the best locations also mix in a singular location from which to launch a panfish attack. That can be anything from where a weedline meets powerline pilings, to a point in the weeds, inside turn along the weedline, or even different species of weeds. Although these backwater areas are notoriously dingy with dark water, winter provides some of the best visibility of the season, thus putting underwater cameras at play. Don’t hesitate to drill a good number of holes in search of a proper weedline and quality weeds themselves, but do understand that in less than 10 feet of water, the effect of drilling will push fish around a bit. That’s true for the bluegills as prey and the northerns that chase them.
That above-ice pressure then means that you’ll have to be stealthy when it comes to the actual fishing part of the pike hunt. For that reason, many pike anglers prefer stationary sets, such as tip-ups, I-Fish Pros, Slammer-style units that set the hook when a bite is detected (where legal) and even dead sticks. Usually, you’ll be suspending dead bait, or large live bait on a twin-treble hook quick-strike rig, frequently called “A-rigs” because of the shape they hold when hung vertically with bait. Given the extra lines allowed in most states when ice fishing, the idea is to create a spread of stationary sets along a break, weedline or other piece of structure likely to hold fish. Hang baits anywhere from 1/3 of the distance up from bottom, to halfway between the bottom of the ice and river bottom. It’s an inexact science that requires some fine-tuning for the day and location, so feel free to experiment.
It’s important to tend the set, meaning that you should be fussing about the details of your setup and checking in on your rigs no less than every 30 minutes or so. Quietly creep up to your setup, check to make sure you’re not iced up and that whatever set you’re using will trip when needed. If using live bait, make sure it hasn’t tangled on itself, and add sinkers or other restrictors to keep large suckers and the like from roaming too far away. With dead bait, make sure what you’re hanging is somewhat horizontal at least, and that protruding portions of the hook are not buried too far in the bait itself and preventing a good hook set.
With quick-strike rigs of any kind, it behooves you to set the hook in a sturdy fashion, and hit them quickly. There’s no reason to let them eat the bait for a prolonged period of time, and they’re far easier to unhook and release if you’d like. No pike is a poor one, especially if you like pickling them to eat as you would herring or other bony fish. Give it a try — you’ll be surprised how good and firm pike is when eaten this way.
What to Pack
This kind of fishing can demand a long drag down long fingers and stretches of both land and ice, so a good sled is an absolute must. We’re not talking about your average kiddie sled here, but preferably a roto-molded sled with high sides that you can draw tiedowns across for going down railroad grades, and up over beaver huts. You’ll never know where you’ll have to drag these things, so it’s good to be prepared.
Most of all it’s good to travel light. That means you carry only a few items of necessity, but make sure you get the big items. An electric auger with synthetic flighting really cuts down the weight these days, and you can get them up to 10 inches in diameter, which is really nice when pulling trophy northern pike through backwater locations. Ice fishing electronics are great, but utilize the lithium-powered versions available if you can, to cut down on weight and space. You’ll likely not need any fishing rods unless you’re panfishing along with watching your pike sets, so a few buckets that contain your stationary fishing contraptions of choice are really all that are left. Leave anything overly heavy at home, except for your spud bar, and you’ll be glad you did.
Parting Shots
Don’t be surprised if you uncover an entirely new and different fishing culture when you venture down to the backwaters. It’s different than much of the lake fishing you’ve ever done in your life, and you’ll become a better angler for it. The best pike fishing of the year will be late ice, when large females stage to spawn in some really skinny water, as shallow as 2 feet. Typically, these locations will be farther back in the bays than you originally found them in all winter, near, but not in, some of the outlets to other portions of backwater areas. Experience is the best teacher here, and don’t be afraid to talk to other anglers out on the ice, as most will be friendly and somewhat forthcoming with information. While they might not share spots outright, they will often share what those locations may look like in terms of depth, structure, layout, etc.
I see few pike anglers in the backwater locales each year, at least until March brings bigger spawning fish into the equation. But, I do see plenty of panfish anglers that would’ve had a great day had they upsized some equipment and tangled with the many pike that bit them off that day. Flip the script on those backwater beasts this winter, and I’ll be surprised if you don’t try to tackle them each and every season to come.
Check out these other ice fishing tips:
