Northern Pike are an easy fish to catch; especially in Wabigoon Lake and Dinrowic Lake were there are millions of them. When they are feeding they will hit anything you throw at them. The secret to catching a large trophy Northern Pike is to recognize areas that will hold a big Pike. Muskie are roaming hunters. Northern Pike are ambush predators. This is the secret to locating the big ones. Big Pike and Big Muskie are in direct competition with each other for food but because of their behavior they tend to stay out of each other's way.

Muskie are Claustrophobic and tend to stay along weed beds that face the open lake. The Pike will go into the weedy back bays and in around islands, shoals and sunken ridges where they can ambush Walleye, Perch, Bass and Crappie. The small Pike will go right into the thick weeds. The medium size pike will be near the edge of the weeds where they can jet out and chomp down on an unsuspecting Walleye. The really big Trophy Northern Pike will hang out at the points leading into weedy bays. They may swim to the edge of weeds and patrol around the middle of the bay but generally the points leading into bays is where the big ones spend most of their time. The points are places where Walleyes like to congregate and also a big Pike can sit just around a point waiting for a school of Smallmouth to swim by.

Big Pike are also known to hang out at the narrows between islands and shoals and along ridges where they can hide in the deeper water and attack Walleyes from below. They also like the mouths of feeder streams and will actually go up into the streams to feed on suckers and chub. On Wabigoon Lake and Dinorwic Lake there are shallow sandy plateaus where you will find long bans of Wild Rice and surrounding the rice is patches of Muskie Cabbage. Both Muskie and big Pike can be found in these areas because they still have swimming room but can ambush prey by hiding behind or in the patches of cabbage.

You have to use steel leaders when fishing for Pike. The lures you use should be dictated by the water clarity. Wabigoon and Dinorwic are shallow lakes and a wind storm can churn up the bottom making some areas of the lake murky for a couple of days. In clear Water everything works. The most popular lures are Daredevles in the red-&-white and yellow five-of-diamonds design. Crank-baits, jigs, jerk-baits and spinnerbaits all work well. When the water is murky you need to make sound. That's when you use spinnerbaits with loud blades or big spinners like a Mepps Muskie Killer or a big Vibrex Spinner with a big bucktail on it. Surface lures such as Spooks and Jitter-Bugs also work great when the water is murky. In Murky water the Pike hunt on sound. So do the Musky so when Pike fishing you will catch Musky as well. Some guests have even pulled in giant Walleyes and Smallmouth casting for Pike with big lures.

On Wabigoon and Dinorwic you should always have a Muskie/Pike rod set up and ready to go. If you are fishing for Walleye, Bass, Crappie or Perch and the fish suddenly stop biting, it means a big Muskie or Pike has moved into the area and it means you need to grab your Pike rod and start working the area.