But a lot of people don’t like fishing this way, according to Melstrom.

“A lot of anglers have a hard time fishing deep and fast,” he said. “But it’s not unusual for pike in this lake to be sitting in the deep water in 18 to 24 feet where there’s not much in the form of vegetation. But these fish can still be caught if you get the lure down to them and trigger a strike. This lake is not pressured a great deal for pike even though I consider it a metro lake. It’s not a highly developed lake, and that’s refreshing.”

While Melstrom has mastered the art of catching big pike in lakes around the metro area where pressure is at a peak, I prefer the solitude of the northwoods where big pike seldom see a lure. Here are a few of my favorites.

BASSWOOD LAKE

Lake County

Part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), Basswood Lake is one of the few in this protected area that still allows gas motors, with restrictions. My fishing buddy up there, Bill Slaughter, and I wheel portage boats from Fall Lake through Newton and beat the shallow cabbage with floating crankbaits and Johnson Silver Minnows. Pike over 20 pounds always seem to find one of our lures.

UPPER RED LAKE

Beltrami County

Don’t expect to find a lot of vegetation in this lake. It’s mostly sand bottom and shallow. But the pike in this lake are huge, and they roam. Tie on a big crankbait and start trolling, and hope you run into one of the big pike that are swimming around in the open water. There are plenty of big pike there, so count on some rod-bending action.

LAKE WINNIBIGOSHISH

Cass/Itasca Counties

Big cabbage beds meet the rivers that flow into Winnibigoshish, and this cabbage is home to some pike with wide shoulders. Spend the beginning of your fishing trip casting big shallow-running crankbaits and retrieve them right over the top of this vegetation. When your back gets sore, tie on a heavy spinnerbait and slow-troll the edge of the vegetation.

LAKE OF THE WOODS

Lake Of The Woods County

While everyone recognizes this lake as one of the best walleye fisheries in the world, it’s also a world-class big-pike lake. At “The Gap” there are a lot of cabbage beds that hold huge pike, and the Northwest Angle is a pike angler’s dream. The beauty of Lake of the Woods is that not many anglers go there to chase northern pike, so you get to have a lot of water all to yourself.

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Fortunately for Minnesota pike anglers, there are plenty of options for not only lakes where there are a lot of fish, but for lakes that provide angling for quality fish as well. On your lakes close to home where the pressure is high, use some of Melstrom’s tips and search out the bigger fish. If you’re like me, catching big pike means it’s off to the water where the fish are still in need of an education in what a lure does when bitten into. Either way you turn, there’s some great angling to be had in Minnesota’s powerful pike waters.

(Editor’s note: To contact Gregg Melstrom, call Minnetonka Outdoors at (952) 470-8800.)