Before you set out on your fishing trip vacation to Canada, you may want to prepare with a few tips on where to find and catch Northern Pike.

Where to Find Northern Pike

The really large Northern Pike are more likely to hang around points leading into bays, narrows between islands or in river current especially later in the spring. They like to hang around areas where Walleyes and Bass are migrating through to ambush them.

How To Catch Northern Pike

Be sure your float is under water for at least 15-20 seconds before setting your hook. When using large sucker or ciscoes, minnows, leave your bail open so the fish swims away with your bait and then wait a bit before setting the hook.

Read more Tips on Northern Pike Tackle and Lures
 

Where To Find And Catch Northern Pike — exc-adventures.com/where-to-find-…

— Faron Buckler (@FBuckler) May 6, 2012

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

American Plan Accommodation

The Outstanding Fishing

Premium Family-Style Dining

All-Inclusive Fly-in Fishing Packages

Fly-in Tent Camping

Vacation Planning Help

All Inclusive American Plan Fly in Fishing Lodge in Ontario — exc-adventures.com/all-inclusive-… Thousands of happy campers over 40 years! #earfalls

— Faron Buckler (@FBuckler) May 4, 2012

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

If you have ever considered a trip to a remote Fly in Fishing area in Northwestern Ontario, you might wonder; what do Northern Pike eat?

Northern Pike are at the top of the food chain in most lakes and they just about eat anything. Walleyes, Chubs, Perch, Bass, Shiners, Frogs, Snakes, Birds, Bugs and other Pike are all on there menu.

Once the northern have completed spawning the large female pike can be spotted cruising the shallows searching. The larger northern pike will even attack and eat smaller pike up to half the length of themselves.

Smallmouth bass that are defending their beds are an easy meal for a northern pike this time of year.

The reason you want to know what do Northern Pike eat, is so that you can present them with the best northern pike tackle that best matches the bait fish they eat in the local lake. That is how you can be sure you will catch lots of pike on your fly in fishing trip!

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

Fly fishing for Trout is best in the spring because Lake Trout come to the surface with the cooler water temp and are able to be caught about anywhere on small tackle.

Some anglers often call them a bonus fish as you never know where or when you will catch them, but serious fly fishermen say that fly fishing for trout is the most exciting way to catch Lake Trout.

This is the case till late June when the waters warm.

In the summer they are in very deep water and are more of a challenge to find and catch, vertical jigging or down riggers are the way to go. When you catch one, watch out, the fight out of that water some 60 foot down or more is a thrill one never forgets.

In August till later in the fall, they start returning again to the shallows for the spawning season and they are at their prime when you catch Lake Trout by fly fishing right off the shallow rocks in which they spawn in September.
 

The fight Lake Trout give when caught in the fall will amaze the most veteran fly fisherman.

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

Cat Island Lodge and Excellent Adventures have started a new YouTube Channel!

We look forward to posting video clips through this summer, and encourage our guests to share your videos too!

Post your Fly in Fishing Trip Videos anywhere on YouTube, and let us know about them! We are collecting guest videos and organizing them into Channels so we can share your Excellent Adventures with the world!

Fly in Fishing Trip Videos on YouTube!

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

As the end of February nears each year, the crew of Excellent Adventures and Cat Island Lodge are already preparing for spring and planning for fishing at our remote fly in lakes around the Ear Falls and Red Lake areas of Northwestern Ontario.

Wonder What Walleye Are Doing?

Catch Walleye Any Time

You CAN catch walleye at almost any time when seasons are open! Learn more about our fantastic walleye fishing, find the best fishing tackle for walleye and check out some walleye pictures as well!

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

When you fly up to our remote luxury fishing camps in Northwestern Ontario, you’ll find the Smallmouth Bass are in their pre-spawn and spawn patterns in the spring and can be easily caught very shallow.

Late May through June is there spawning period so the smaller male bass are up in the shallows early making, and defending the beds against any threat.

Plastics and live bait is extremely effective at both Sumach and Conifer Lakes because it can stay in the strike zone near the beds for a long period of time but sinner baits work well.

Jig combination near a bass’s bed will cause them to strike, primarily not because they are feeding, but to move the lure away from the bed and protect the spawning bed from danger from the intruder (your lure).

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

This is the best way to fish for Perch from the shore:

When taking your kids on a remote Canadian Fly in Fishing trip, make plans to fish from shore or around shallow rocky areas, try a 1/16 oz. Fuzz-E- Grub in crawfish color.

These work great. Tip the Fuzz-E- Grub with two small pieces of night crawlers and work the jig with a slow horizontal motion. Drag the jig across the bottom slowly.

The night crawler is irresistible to perch!

 
The jig, with its two trailing crawler pieces, resembles a crawfish crawling across the bottom.

The action of the Fuzz-E- Grub tail, along with the scent and added action of the night crawler, is irresistible to perch.

In addition, the noise of by the jig dragging across rocks mimics the sound and vibration of a crawfish which is sure to attract predator fish even in murky waters.

Fishing for Perch from shore is the best way to ensure you successfully catch fish, and great way to introduce kids to fishing.

Great For The Kids – The Best Lures and Bait To Use When Fishing For Perch From Shore — exc-adventures.com/great-for-the-… #kidsfishing #perchfishing

— Faron Buckler (@FBuckler) May 16, 2012

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

Remember. Pike like to follow.

If you will fish for them in shallow waters, you can see where to put your lure.

Most folks fish for trophy pike in shallow waters.

Wear polarized sunglasses.

Polarized glasses do more than protect your eyes from the sun’s glare off the water. They allow you to see into the water you are fishing, making it easy to see your fish. Bring it from behind the fish, slowly, to draw its attention, then watch the way the fish reacts to the lure. Then decide from here how to get the fish to strike. Pike will follow right up to the boat, so don’t take your lure out too soon.

Every angler dreams of catching a trophy Northern Pike. These big game fish are known for their great fight.

At a remote Ontario fly in lodge, you can catch pike in Spring, Summer and Fall fishing – they are a consistent game fish to catch in any season.

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.

Welcome to the new blog for Excellent Adventures and Cat Island Lodge!

20 Years Of Fishing Tips, One At A Time

Faron has created a fantastic series of information on how to catch each of the five species found in our waters – Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout and Perch! Watch for new fishing tip blog posts each week throughout the summer! Faron explains why fishing changes throughout the spring, summer and fall of the year, and what habitat changes the fish prefer. He details exactly what techniques and tackle one should be using to catch more fish when you come to Canada on a fishing vacation!

Watch for Faron’s Fishing Tips and much more, coming soon to our blog and website!

Sharing Your Fishing Trip Pictures on Facebook.

This summer we are excited to encourage our guest to take fishing trip pictures and videos, and share them with us on Facebook and YouTube!

Each week our web team will take your fishing pictures and videos and feature them on our Blog! If you want your pictures and videos included in our special weekly animated video compilation of fishing pictures, all you need to do us share your fly-in fishing trip pictures with us on out page on Facebook!!

Gettin’ Social With It

Our new site and social media profiles are all about you! We want to share your story – and make it easy for your friends and family and co-workers to share the best parts of your trip to Canada! When you arrive, be sure to check in on FourSquare and Yelp! When you get home, upload your fishing trip videos and we will help promote them!

 One of the first questions asked by our guests is:

What about fishing tackle?

Smithwick Rogue

Of course this is followed by a list of other questions such as:

What kind of rod & reels are best to use?
What lures are best?
What size lures?
What colors are best?
What size monofilament line should I use?

And the list goes on.

We will address many of these questions and offer other related tackle information to assure you have a successful fishing vacation in Canada. However this is simply a suggestion and the rest is up to you. Below we provide good information on the most popular lures and what type of fishing they are commonly used for.

Fishing Tackle for Walleye and Northern Pike

The Lead Head Jig

The lead head jig is by far the most effective lure for all around fishing at our remote fly-in outposts. This lure is a very inexpensive bait and is very effective for catching walleye, northern pike, lake trout and small mouth bass.

We provide the lead head jig in both the flip tail version or with a maribou skirt both are available in a large variety of colors and combinations.

The most popular size is 1/4 oz. but when the fish are suspended or slow we find the 1/8 oz. variety to work very well, both sizes are available. The lead head jig is usually tipped with a minnow but can be fished with or without. The bait is best known as a very good bait for walleye fishing and is fished best by back trolling or by casting and jigging back to the boat. But don’t be misled, this bait is very effective for northern pike as they seem unable to resist this tempting appetizer. A hand full of these baits and you off to a action packed day of fishing.

The Blakemore Roadrunner

The Blakemore roadrunner has been around for a long time. Like the lead head jig it is a inexpensive bait and is a favorite for all around fishing.

You will find it a hard bait to beat when it comes to catching fish. A dynamite lure when it comes to fishing for walleye, and you can rely on the fact that Northern Pike simply cannot resist it.

Tip the “roadrunner” with a minnow or fish it like it is, either way will produce fish. However tipped with a minnow produces the best results. This bait cannot be fished wrong as long as it is fished slow.

We generally slowly back troll with the bait but casting and slowly back to the boat produces excellent results too. We have found that between the standard lead head and the roadrunner you cannot go wrong. On days when the standard jig does not work, the roadrunner seems to take over. That little blade simply does magic tricks when it comes to triggering the fish to strike.

We stock the roadrunner in large numbers, in all the favorite colors and 1/4 and 1/8 oz sizes 1/4 oz being the popular size. When it comes to fishing it is my favorite bait, you will never catch me without a selection of them. What is really nice is the fact that you can fill a 35MM film case with these lures and a few swivels, stuff them in your pocket and you are ready for a fun filled day of fishing action.

Whether you are fishing Walleye, Northern Pike, Small mouth of Lake Trout, you can count on this little lure for plenty of action. Especially handy when doing portage trips and you want to go light. It is also one of Jimmy Houston’s favorite baits, we need say no more about the Blakemore Roadrunner.

Fishing With Crank Baits

Rapala Husky Jerk

Rapala Husky Jerk

There are countless of crank baits available in the world of fishing. We advise bringing along what you have. Many of the one’s in your tackle box may produce excellent results. But we have found that the most popular on our lake system are the Rapala Husky Jerk, the Rat-L-Trap and the Smithwick Rogue.

Smithwick Rogue

Smithwick Rogue

Rat-L-Trap

Rat L Trap

The Rapala Husky Jerk and the Smithwick Suspending Rogue are extensively used for large Northern Pike and have been known to be a good bait for walleye’s. The RatLTrap is a very good all around bait and is very well known for it’s value in catching Lake Trout. Of course there are countless of other baits we use for lake trout too.

Daredevil spoons

Eppinger Daredevle spoons have been a traditional fishing bait in Canada for years. We stock these spoons in many varieties, colors and sizes. They are a favorite pick when it comes to casting or trolling for Northern Pike. For lake trout fishing, the gold, silver or 5 of diamonds are trolled for lake trout when they are in the deep water. They work well on downriggers and produce excellent results. Included in this line of lures is another Canadian favorite known as the Ruby Eye which are available in a variety of colors. However there are many other spoons available, when it comes to fishing in Canada, spoons produce excellent results, especially for Northern Pike and Lake Trout. Give them a try!!!

Walleye bait rigs:

These simple little baits consist of monofilament line, a lead weight, a few beads, a small spinner blade, and a hook. Tipped with a minnow and fished slowly this rig produces excellent results when walleye fishing. I have found then particularly useful when the fishing is slow and all other baits are not producing good results. The walleye rig is a bait everyone should have in their tackle box when fishing for walleye.

Spinner baits:

Our tackle store is well stocked with a very good variety of spinner baits. Many colors to choose from. The most popular colors seems to be yellow, chartreuse and white with silver or gold blades. Another inexpensive bait which produces excellent result.

If you are looking for Northern Pike action, tie on a spinner bait and start hitting the edge of the weed beds. In fact we call them “Northern Getters”. Now you won’t always end up with the lunkers but you will end up with lot’s of action.

I can remember one day as evidence of the power of this little lure. Jimmy Houston’s was filming one of his movies and on that particular day he was going to produce a show on Northern Pike fishing, he caught almost 100 Northern Pike of all sizes. He was fishing almost exclusively with a spinner bait and was casting to the edge or just inside any weed bed he could find. Simply could not keep them off his line, what a problem to have.

Too many fishermen forget what they come fishing for, basically all fishermen are looking for the action and thrill of getting that strike and the fight to follow. If action is what you are after, use a spinner bait . . generally you cannot go wrong.

Fishing Rods:

We advise fishermen to bring along the rod and reels they feel comfortable with using. Casting & spinning are the most popular. Medium to light action rods are advised, they allow the best action and good hook setting ability. Ultra light is used but hook sets are more difficult but offer tons of action once the fish is hooked.

Reels:

Regardless of the manufacturer or type of reel, always ensure that the reel has a good drag system that allow smooth release of the line throughout the range of the reels drag setting & allows for easy setting of the drag. If the reel has jerky or erratic release points or is difficult to set, consider the purchase of a new reel. The drag is the most important part. Our guests land big fish with light equipment but it always comes down to proper drag setting while fighting the fish.

Line & line test:

6# to 10# test seem to be the most popular, 8# is a good choice. For casting with larger lures some guests have a second rod equipped with 14# to 17# line. Once again, the drag setting is important, set the reel for the line test, the line must release before it reaches its breaking point. When BIG fish are hooked, set the drag back to allow for the strong immediate force these fish place on your line when they run and dive.

Suggested Tackle For Specific Species

Walleye:

* Light to medium action rod with a 6# test line.
* Little Joe spinner, with a 1/4oz inline sinker in gold, chartreuse, orange, green, wbite or red.
* 1/4oz lead head jigs with 2″ twister tails in yellow, smoke, brown, white, chartreuse and black.
* We highly recommend live bait, minnows, crawlers or leeches.
* Deep diving stick baits such as Rapalas, Hot to Trots, Hot tiger Black & Silver, Black & Gold Shiners.

Northern Pike:

* Medium to heavy action rod with a 1012# test line.
* Rattle traps, shad, blue, silver and chartreuse.
* 7″ floating Rapalas blue, silver, black/silver & chartreuse.
* Spoons, 45″ long in red/white, gold, silver, or strip Orange daredevils, blue foxes or doctor spoons.
* Little cleos 3/4oz. In the above colors, gold/silver work the best.
* Bucktail Mepps #4 & #5, dressed or undressed.
* Large bass spinner baits.

Lake Trout:

* Heavy action rod with a 14# test line.
* 1/2 to 3/4oz Heddon Sonars, gold, white or silver
* 1/2oz jigs with 4″ white gist tails.
* Sutton spoons Flutter spoons. All in gold or silver.
* 3way swivels and snap swivels to handle 2 to 8oz. weight for late summer fishing
* Dipsey divers
* Downriggers for summer fishing.

Smallmouth Bass:

* Medium action rod with a 68# test line.
* Bass spinner baits 1/8 to 1/4oz
* Jig and twister tail 2″4″ long.
* Rapalas
* Rattle Traps
* Beetle spinners Roadrunners
* Mepps
* Devil horses
* It is highly recommended that you use live bait like leeches, crawlers and you also can use minnows.

Excellent Adventures Fly in Fishing to Remote Outpost Cabins - and Cat Island Lodge Remote American Plan Fly in Fishing. Ear Falls and Red Lake Ontario, Canada.