fall pike, where is it?

i realized i typed here a whole novel, so before anyone gets bored by it: can anyone give me a pointer where i can find the pike in cooks at this time of the year?



this year i got a kayak and a buddy got a motorized inflatable, so for the first time i got to move and fish away from shore. one of the goals this year was to catch a big pike, but so far no luck (no luck with walleye either to be honest, but i'll get those at nipissing ). i can catch pike on a small pond i know, but i never got anything over 2lb over there (average is 1lb). cooks is said to have big pike (some folks on this forum say that too).

last week (which i thought was the last outing) i've been searching the south of cooks bay, going east to west to holland river mouth and inside it a bit and then back and never got one bite. i started in early morning till after 11 am, nothing; i tried mostly spoons and jerkbaits, different sizes and colors, from 4ft to 12ft or so. at some point i got into 30ft or so when i was closer to Gilford. not. one. bite. btw, there was a fairly large concentration of boats gathered in that area, no idea what they were there for, all we got was one 5" perch.

that said, closer @ noon we switched to perching. we caught a few on large spoons while trolling for said pike and we marked the location, so we went back and while really slow till 2pm, from then point on till after 4 they were on, i caught over a hundred, some decent sizes as well, largest was 12". but i still dream about that monster pike

now i see the wind lets down tomorrow till Tuesday so i will give it one more try (or two ). so this is where i am asking for help: if anyone can give me any pointers, general region, depth range, i would appreciate it. not asking for anyone's honey hole, but at least to tell me if they are deep or shallow. or if they are in south cook's at all. if i do go (thing can still change) i will likely launch from south east cooks bay but i don;t mind driving another half hour if i have to.

thanks.

Spinnerbaits work for me. 8-20'.

Since I have devoted the last 5-7 seasons fishing almost exclusively for pike and occasionally for musky I hope you don't mind giving you some tips.

Since you have just started fishing from a boat/kayak I would recommend to not try to catch right away a MONSTER pike on a big body of water like Cooks bay but rather stick with smaller lakes and learn the fish behavior, habitat, fishing techniques etc.

I highly recommend you to read "Pike: Handbook of Strategies" by In-Fisherman as it can provide lots of useful information to you about different type of lake structures and seasonal fish behavior.

Big pike is an elusive and smart creature and hard to catch even for experienced angler.

Learn how to fish deep weedbeds and quick drop offs with your lure being as close to the bottom as possible. It's not as easy as it may appear.

This time of year with pike being cold blooded it can be ANYWHERE in the large body of water like Cooks bay, I literally caught pike in 2-3 FOW and at 30 FOW this time of year.

They follow the seasonal movement of the bait fish and it's hard to locate them in the fall.

If you can, try to pick a windy and overcast day for pike fishing. Sunny and calm days are not the best for pike fishing in general , especially in the very clear waters of lake Simcoe.

With low water temperatures try to incorporate lots of pauses in your retrieve. Pike is often in neutral state and do not often chase fast moving lures this time of year. This time of year in deeper waters you can use vertical jigging lures like Jigging rapala and also plastic sinking swimbaits fished close to the bottom.

Fall is the time to use larger lures for big fish, in general . But when the bite is tough you have to try to downsize your offer .

Last tip: in the late fall (also true for spring) when the fish metabolism slows down try to fish in the second half of the day and avoid early morning summer style trips.

Hope this helps.
Good luck!

appreciate the tips. not sure if i get another shot this year but i will try to remember.

i kinda knew what both of you said, but did not occur to avoid calm water... yes, they can see you easily, but pike is not that skittish i thought, but rather fairly curious fish.

also i should probably define "big pike": at this stage for me i would consider big pike anything over 5lb. i was saying that my average is 1 - 2 lb so going double size or more would make a difference.

lastly, i don;t mind smaller lakes, i thought Cooks would be prime location as it is the closest to home (northern TO) and i imagined they'd be better numbers but i would hit anything within 2 hours of GTA or even more if i can plan for a whole day.

cheers

Last Saturday When you fished , was a cold front and drastic change in weather from + 23C to +6C so it was not the best conditions
Bottom line , you just need to go out more often .
Lots of pike in Cooks .

that's what i keep telling my wife