Nipissing

[SSIC]

Well from what I can see and have heard the lake is total frozen over. You can all get ready for Jan 1st.

[Miskit]

That's great news. Thanks for the update.

[Topper]

Good news. Booked for Jan. 5th. Was getting worried. Does anyone know how thick it has to be before they take bungalows out?

[Dutch]

I have a bungalow booked for Jan 16.

To be honest, I never even considered the possibility of there not being enough ice - has this happened often in the past?

[SSIC]

We like to have 8" of ice to take Condos out.

[wile e 1]

From those of us who live a ways away...thanks for the updates. Most I imagine , like me make reservations well in advance to get the dates you want, and look forward to hear how the ice is doing. I have been making the trip for years and with the right bunch of guys, it's a blast. Booked the week of the 12th. Have a good and safe season all.

[Antique Fisherman]

Going from the 9th to the 12th out of Greening Bay. want to try "dead Stick" for big pike - catch and release. Understand people use a big dead minnow, about 9 inches long. Has anyone tried this on the lake before.

Thanks

[SSIC]

Yes; I have seen them use live sucker minnows. Your best bet is to talk to Dan and tell him what you are after ( PIKE ). See if he can set you up.

[Grumpa]

I saw the so called dead 'stick' or dead bait technique used to catch trophy pike on Georgian Bay in the late 1980's. The technique was brought over from Europe in the 1970's (it had been used there successfully for decades) and employed a hook harness or quick strike rig. A fisherman would rig up a fresh dead herring, sucker or other larger bait and leave the bait motionless directly on the bottom. When I witnessed the technique work successfully, it was very early in the spring, right after ice out, in a natural pike spawning bay. The large female pike would move into the shallow spawning bays and to supplement their last minute egg development and upcoming rigorous spawning activities, they would scoop up and eat dead winter killed bait fish off the bottom. The largest pike I ever witnessed caught by rod and reel (29 lbs) was caught using the dead bait/stick technique.
But I'm not sure how effective the technique would be through the ice earlier in the winter? Especially in deeper water. I suspect pike would still be actively searching for live bait during early winter and possibly turn to dead bait, as a supplement, the closer they got to ice out and the spawn. Pike may anticipate a larger supply of dead winter killed bait once the ice starts to melt.....and subsequently target that particular food source......specifically at the that time of the year.
The technique does work and I'm definitely curious how effective it might be through the ice. Let the board know if you have any success with it Antique Fisherman.

[Cranman]

Grumpa-good info as always.

I don't typically target large pike in the winter but I have used a quick strike rig for musky. They work perfectly for avoiding any significant damage to the fish for a successful release. A great rig on the market is the "Herbie" rig invented by well known musky guide and lodge owner Steve Herbreck. This rig employs a rubber band to keep very large suckers alive and kicking to entice the musky strike. Technique is great in late fall for those muskies that follow to the boat but can't be coaxed to hit on the figure 8. As the fish disappears, the sucker is dropped and very often, fish on! I have been guided numerous times by Steve on Eagle Lake near Vermillion Bay. He is the one holding the fish that I caught on his Herbie rig.

[Cranman]

Here is pic I hope

[Grumpa]

Hey Cranman, you're right on again about the quick strike rigs.......they were definitely developed in North American for 'live' bait Muskie fishing and then successfully converted over for use in 'dead' bait pike fishing. The original quick strike rigs were developed in the U.S. (rumor has it in the Hayward Wisconsin area) and were manufactured specific for safe 'live' bait muskie fishing. I've never used a 'Herbie' but have used other similar rigs. The only alteration I've made to the rigs....and this is just a personal preference......is to cut/crimp or pinch off the barb on both the single front hook and all the rear gang hooks other than the holding hook/hooks either embedded in the bait or strap closest to the baits body. Live release of the pike or muskie is then pretty much guaranteed even if the fish shallows the bait too deep too quick or the fisherman waits to long (as the fish is running) to set the hook.
It's been many years but I'd love to try the 'dead' bait technique for spawning pike again one spring.....the fish are huge (usually at their maximum body weight full of eggs), fight hard in the cold spring water, concentrated in numbers and readily accessible to anglers close to shore in shallow spawning bays. Trying to find those monster female pike, well after the spawn, is generally very difficult as they usually return to the deepest coldest water and roam for food much of the warm water period.