2012 Episode Synopsis
by Charlie Wray

Episode 224: Milton Lake Pike

Today, the Mercury Marine Destination is Milton Lake in Northern Saskatchewan. It is early in the season and the fish are shallow, a perfect situation for a one – two punch.  My favorite Live Target Blue Back Herring, and a big Mustad Power Lock Plus hook with Spring Keeper, rigged with a lazy plastic Shad bait. Milton Lake is a little different, after a float plane ride in, it is obvious that Milton is the only lodge on the lake.  The lake is big, but not so large that you can’t run from one end to the other looking for fish quite easily. Outpost lakes are also available, as are daily fly outs. It is known for trophy sized Lake Trout and Pike, but Pike is the target this trip. Milton Lake Lodge www.MiltonLakeLodge.com 1-855-347-4244

I love my Live Target lures, and this sounded like the perfect situation for the Live Target Blueback Herring Wakebait. This lure is designed to run on the surface, down to only about a foot, no matter how fast you crank it, it stays shallow.  Built with all that great Blueback Herring action, I knew this was going to be a winner. This wakebait has a small lip that faces straight down, so not a weed gatherer, and with the single jointed action, this lure has an incredible wiggle, even at a slow speed. One of the features that has impressed me so much with all the Live Target Blueback Herring baits, is the strength of these lures. I have never had one puncture, even after the 100 or so Pike mauled this one. This was also one of the new Bronze colours, perfect for the northern tannic water colour, and a favorite for Pike.  Single hooks are the name of the game on this waterway, so off comes the trebles.  The lure stayed beautifully balanced when both sets of trebles were replace with a single Mustad ringed hook #R94140NP-BN in size 4/0. When this ringed hook is added to the existing split ring on the lure, the hook rides upwards on the tail of the lure, making for a very weed proof presentation.  Something not a lot of lures can claim.  This Live Target was simply crushed!!!

As with anytime fishing for Pike and Muskie, it is not a bad idea to keep a pitch bait handy, especially early in the year when lazy and lethargic Pike are the target. I made sure I had on hand, a heavy action Okuma Guide Select rod, Okuma Isis reel loaded with 50 lb test Tuf-Line XP, and a 6 inch plastic Shad rigged weedless on the Mustad 10/0 Ultra Point Power Lock Plus with Spring Keeper at my side to pitch at a seconds notice.  If this isn’t ready to go quickly, it will not work. This set up is specifically for lazy follows, or a monster that hasn’t noticed that the boat has snuck up on them, you have to be ready to fire quick, and with this big hook, you need to hit them hard.

 

For the Live Target, the 7.3:1 gear ratio of the Okuma Citrix made it easy to move the wakebait quickly, and quickly was often the ticket to trigger strikes. Even this early in the season, the back bays were warming fast, and the Pike can be very active under the mid day sun. Forget bringing an extra bag for your rain gear.  When you are wearing Viking, you are already in it, and the Viking Tri Zone kept me warm and dry all trip, even with a soaking rain and high wind one day. Mustad also makes a great line of fishing tools, including a great set of long nosed pliers, great to keep on hand if you don’t want to get close to slashing teeth. Once again, the 100 lb test Seaguar Fluorocarbon held up as an invisible Pike leader. Being invisible, they can’t see it, even the 100 lb test is invisible compared to visible wire, plus, if the Pike wrap in the leader, they don’t hurt themselves on the thicker Fluorocarbon.  It makes it easy for you to grab and manage the fish at boat side as well, it doesn’t cut your hands like wire would.

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