Where to Find Monster Northern Pike

Knowing where to find monster northern pike will keep you from targeting the wrong locations.

Fishing for northern pike is one of the most exhilarating experiences that I have had. Northern pike are found in states north of 40 degrees latitude. That means states north of Pennsylvania, Kansas, and California. Even states as far south as Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Georgia have pike populations although they are not native.

Higher populations of native northern pike live in Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and parts of North Dakota through Canada into Alaska. If you are however reading this post, you probably are not looking to find the states to catch northern pike in but where to find northern pike in lakes and rivers.

I have spent a lot of time fishing for trophy northern pike; this is my attempt to share both where to find the highest concentrations of big fish and where to catch trophy northern pike.

Steep Banks with Brush

I target steep banks with low hanging brush and trees leading into six to ten feet of water, preferably with some weeds. I caught a lot of pike over 30 inches in areas like this. I also have caught multiple large “northerns” out of the same spot in a short amount of time.

One vivid memory I have of this was floating down a murky river casting along the bank and catching a 35-inch pike, turning around, floating through it again and catching in the same place, one cast later, a 41-incher. It has been my experience that casting along the bank during the mid-morning hours with a sinking or diving bait is best. In the evening, casting directly into the bank and pulling your floating weedless bait into the water can make for some explosive excitement. 

Edge of Shallow Shelves

Another target area for big pike is where shallow water falls into deep channels. Large pike will cruise along the edge. I cast at a 90-to-45-degree angle toward the bank and pull my bait out of the shallows into the deep. A diving bait works best for this kind of fishing.

Weed Beds

I have found large numbers of pike in clear water sloughs and lakes. Big northern pike hunt in and along the edges of the weed beds in six to ten feet of water. This past summer, my in-laws and I were fishing a large slough near McGrath, Alaska. This area has high concentrations of fish. If I could find a small channel that was clear of grass, I would cast into it with a spinner or dive bait. This worked out to be productive with larger fish and is how I caught a 42-inch, 20-pound trophy northern pike.

Moderate Depths with Structure

Another good place to catch big pike is semi-murky (you can see your lure at three feet), slow moving, moderate depth water (roughly 10-ft) with submerged trees. If multiple trees are submerged, casting between them has been productive. By casting along the edges of these areas, we have caught a fair number of pike in the high 30-inch range and into the 40-inchers!  

Water Transitions

The last high probability place to fish for large northern pike is transition areas when slow and clear feeder streams flow into lakes and rivers. I like to cast from the main channel of the river into the stream, from the stream into the channel, and across the stream channel along the deep section of the main body of water. These are areas that hold high concentrations of big pike. In one hour, a group I was fishing with caught three pike over 36 inches in the setup I am describing.

Conclusion

These have been the most productive areas to target for big northern pike. Getting out and fishing your location will help you identify better strategies for your area. Now that you know where to find monster northern pike, fish these areas, it is just a matter of time until you will catch a big fish.

For more information about fishing Alaska for Northern Pike, reach out! evangrimmwrites@gmail.com

For more tips on catching trophy northern pike, view my post Top 5 Lures for Big Northern Pike.