Not unlike waving a red flag at a bull, a properly played lure can get pike so worked up that they hit a darting bait when they wouldn’t otherwise think of taking a livebait or a deadbait. So, too, though, is the opposite true, particularly as the season slides toward the dead of winter and pike slide deeper in most bodies of water. That is, at times, pike not responding to an active lure will take a deadbait, sometimes after holding in the vicinity of the deadbait for an hour before finally becoming enthused enough to take it. The nature of pike runs to extremes.

Hotshotting, as I call it, is a hands-on active and visual way to use lures to catch pike. Much of the fishing transpires in shallow water, where sight-fishing is an integral part of the game. You work a lure to attract pike below your hole, then work the lure to get them to bite. A jiggle here, a dart there, a sleight of hand left-right, and then a little rod-nod to boot. You add the action, carefully judging pike reaction to those actions, and then adjust from there. It’s pinball wizard on ice. Win or draw, it’s all up to you. Unlike tip-ups, the appeal of live- or deadbait has nothing to do with the final result.

This isn’t just a fun way to fish, but an efficient and effective system. Two friends scored 15 pike or better each morning as they fished for eight mornings during one stretch at early-ice several years ago—four different lakes. Their best day was over 20 pike. Hotshots, indeed.

Hotshotting doesn’t require a lot of explanation so much as a healthy imagination. The basics of the system are obvious. In the end, it’s up to you to work your own magic.

The Right Lakes, Rivers, Reservoirs

Look for a body of water, or a portion thereof, with a great pike population. If you don’t have superb numbers of pike in waters near you, however, work with what you have. Some of you might want to work with fewer pike in exchange for a better shot at bigger fish. Others will prefer the chance for steady action.

To really work the system, the water should be clear enough to see the fish in relation to your lure. I’m familiar with most of the waters because I’ve fished them during open water. Or I know someone who has fished the body of water in question. Often, too, the subject of “water clarity” is addressed on topographical maps. Or I call a bait shop and ask. Of course, sometimes clarity varies by season or portions of the season. The point is to look for pike on flats or within backwaters and bays where you can see all the way down to the depth where the drop-off begins—or, in river backwaters, where you can see to bottom in the basin of backwater.

The best flats (or bars) usually have a variety of bottom conditions, with weedgrowth an important part of the equation. The largest of these flats usually attracts the most pike and requires more time to probe. Small bars produce comparatively fewer fish but don’t take long to probe. Often, though, when lots of people are on large bars, working numbers of small bars produces good action, too. You just have to be willing to move more.

Pike often are characterized as ambush predators, but that’s rarely the case. They hunt with intent. A group of pike moves onto a bar and makes it a home area until the food gives out. They aren’t schooled, but smaller fish often seem to be working the same general areas at the same time. Bigger pike aren’t pack fish, although several big pike may be working a sizeable bar.

When the pike become active, they roam the area, becoming familiar with it the way coyotes become familiar with the series of fields and woodlots they call home. Pike quickly recognize prime spots where baitfish gather, so they swim slowly along a weededge, then hold for a while in a particular weed pocket or weedpoint. They move up on a flat, too, looking to roust baitfish. They might swivel through heavy weedgrowth, instead, and then station for a moment in a weed pocket or along an interior edge.

When

First-ice and throughout the early portion of the ice season is prime time; mid-season less so; late season so-so until just before ice-out, when pike get active again. Fishing peaks in the morning, often beginning just before daybreak, which is the opposite of what most anglers think. Anglers usually equate warmer afternoons with increased activity, although water temperature isn’t affected under ice.

Pike are more active in the morning because during winter they don’t feed effectively after dark; so, a higher percentage of fish are cranked right away in the morning because usually they’ve fasted for 12 hours. The fishing usually lasts into early afternoon and then tapers as most of the pike have fed by that time. In more than 30 years of winter fishing for pike, I can remember only a handful of big fish caught late in the day. During midseason, the best fishing occurs during midday. And during late season, it slips back to a morning-into-early to mid-afternoon bite.

Gear

A portable ice shack’s necessary unless you’re going to work with a sonar unit in conjunction with an underwater camera like the Nature Vision Aqua-Vu. Even the camera, though, works better inside a shack. The camera and sonar combo, of course, allows you to work into deeper water where you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see pike down a surface hole.

Using the camera is more time consuming than fishing shallow enough to see fish down the hole. My preferred method is to work with a flip-up-down shack that can be pulled along quickly from hole to hole. The USL Fish Trap and Otter Sled are two that I’ve used. The friends I mentioned earlier like portables such as the Frabill Speed Shack that take only seconds longer to set up. More “permanent” shacks don’t allow the mobility necessary to make the system work to the tune of lots of fish. A darkened shack interior allows you to see effectively down the hole, so you can work your lure to entice a pike to come in.

Tackle

The system relies on a jigging rod, a reel with a smooth drag, and monofilament line testing around 12 pounds, or fused superline testing 14 to 20. Ten-pound mono is just a little too thin for working lures effectively. Lures dart just fine on lighter line, but they don’t glide so well. Fourteen-pound mono’s good, too. Seventeen, on the other hand, is getting just a little too thick to be able to work baits well.

Light, thin wire is less visible than thicker monofilament. I use 12-pound stranded wire (not nylon-coated) from Sevenstrand. Twelve-pound Sevenstrand is made from three strands of wire. If you prefer to go a little heavier, 18-pound Sevenstrand is made from seven strands of wire. The thinner the wire, the more likely it will curl during the process of hooking and landing a fish. I carry a dozen precut and tied leaders to save time.

Wire can be tied quickly by using a figure-eight knot or by using a forceps to wrap the wire. I use a 12-inch section of wire connected to my main line by an Albright knot, then wrap direct to a small swivel on the lure end. A wrap is a little stronger and of more consistent strength than a figure-eight knot. If you object to learning to tie an Albright, just wrap directly to a small swivel on the main-line end, and then use your favorite knot to connect the swivel to your main line.

If you use a superline like 14-pound Berkley FireLine for your main line, double the end of the main line by using a spider hitch or a bimini twist. Twenty-pound superline has enough diameter to tie direct without doubling the line.

A jigging rod measuring 24 to around 30 inches works well in shacks. The one I’ve been using is a Thorne Brothers Walleye Sweetheart, which is 29 inches long. Reels like the Daiwa 700, Shimano Sustain 1000, and Pflueger President 6730 couple well with the rod.

Lures

Swimming lures that hang horizontal have been the key for me. The same baits that work for walleyes work well for pike. Turn to the walleye article in this section to review a pertinent selection of baits.

This is a visual affair where scent isn’t the issue. Sweetening these baits with a portion of minnow isn’t necessary. If you insist, tip the treble with a minnow head, or add a minnow tail to the single hook just above the lure’s tail.

Other horizontal baits to consider include the Lindy’s System Tackle Flyer and the Northland Tackle Airplane Jig. Add a plastic trailer like a 3- or 4-inch Berkley Power Grub or the split-tail grub bass anglers add to their spinnerbaits. Northland also offers Airplane Jigs dressed with bucktail.

Move, Attract, Trigger

I use a 10-inch auger to cut two holes about an inch apart. Then I chisel out the remaining ice between them. When I’m quickly searching, I just go with one 10-inch hole until I find fish. With an 8-inch auger, cut three holes in a triangle pattern and chisel out the ice to complete the triangle.

If you sit for 10 minutes in a spot and don’t have pike coming in periodically, move. Over a bar with heavy weedgrowth you may only need to move 25 feet to get into pike. Along an edge where pike can see a good distance, cut holes farther apart.

Drilling holes is as likely to draw pike as spook them, so I’m not shy about drilling. Indeed, activity often seems to draw activity, at least for a while. Sometimes, though, my best action is in holes I move back into a half hour or so after first working them. Make a quick run back through your best holes before heading to a new bar.

Pike activity also sometimes draws more pike, and sometimes they seem to arrive in some semblance of a pecking order; smaller fish attract a few larger fish, and then a monster comes in. That’s not a rule, just a common event.

Jigging remains a matter of balancing attracting maneuvers with triggering maneuvers. First you need to attract pike, then trigger them to bite, and usually the attracting sequence required isn’t anything like the triggering sequence. Generally, attracting maneuvers need to be bigger and bolder—aggressive jigging. Once pike come in, generally slow down and make the thing look alive. Add a dart here, a jiggle there, and don’t forget those twitches and a shake-pause.

Pike are great on the table, one of my favorite freshwater fish. Lots of meat on a five-pound fish, so harvest selectively. We let the big ones go. Keep a jaw spreader on hand and some sort of long-nosed hookout tool to aid in release. I use a thick leather mitten to help me in the final stages at the hole. Maneuver the fish’s head into a hole to get it coming. Once started, it can’t go anywhere but up and head out, so long as you continue to lead with the rod. Then drag the fish the rest of the way out with the protected hand.

Readers occasionally remind me of a video segment I shot almost 20 years ago, where a pretty good-sized pike came shooting out of an ice hole, flopped once, and promptly bit me in the knee. Could have been worse. That’s the idea. Never a dull moment.