MILLE LACS LAKE
Mille Lacs/Aitkin County
Muskie, muskie, muskie, that’s all anyone seems to talk about anymore when it comes to the pike fishing on Mille Lacs. It’s because there are some huge muskies being caught there. While this shadows the big pike that are still being caught with some regularity from the lake, that’s all right. For a while, there was too much talk of the big pike biting well on Mille Lacs and the extra fishing pressure seemed to have an adverse affect on the size structure in this lake.

“It’s always the fishing pressure,” Johnson said. “Anglers take a lot of big fish and the smaller fish multiply to take up that space. It’s a simple formula.”

There are special regulations on the lake and Johnson sees the increase in muskie fishing pressure being a good thing when it comes to growing bigger pike because those conditioned northern pike will be less likely to bite on a marginal presentation, even one that consists of live bait.

“Everyone thinks that if you put a piece of live bait in front of a fish it will eat it,” Johnson said. “That’s not true. If a pike had been caught and released on a sucker minnow hanging off a thick steel leader, it won’t hit that again.

“If a pike gets stung once or twice with a bucktail or spinnerbait,” continued Johnson, “a flashy lure will go ignored. Pike are aggressive, but the bigger northerns are bigger because they are smarter, conditioned fish.”

There are some big pike in Mille Lacs still, and more growing bigger because they have to be released. Now, you just have to find something they’ll bite on.

Lake County
Farm Lake is right on the cusp of the BWCAW and you can access the wilderness area quite easily from this lake. Some who stay at one of the resorts on the lake use Farm as a hop-off point to get to spots in the wilderness on day trips or as they look for some quality walleye fishing in the Kawishiwi River. If it’s big pike you’re after, your best bet is to stay right on Farm Lake. There are some great cabbage beds on the north end of the lake where there are some narrow sections between shorelines and some shallower bays.

There is no motor restriction on Farm Lake, but if you want to slip through the channel into South Farm, you will be in the BWCAW and restricted to 25 horsepower on your motor.

White Iron and Garden lakes surround Farm Lake and they, along with South Farm, all have the potential of producing some huge pike. Just stick to the cabbage.

OTTER TAIL LAKE
Otter Tail County
“Not many anglers fish Otter Tail for pike,” according to Johnson, “because it’s a textbook walleye lake. There aren’t a lot of pike there, so these fishermen don’t know what to do to catch them.”

If you hook a pike in Otter Tail, your odds it’s a big fish are high. “It’s finding them that’s the problem,” Johnson said.

Johnson likes to troll in situations like this. Since the pike aren’t heavily pressured, many options are on the table. Big crankbaits, spinnerbaits, in-line spinners and spoons are all good choices.

“Early in the season, I troll spinnerbaits in the shallows,” Johnson said. “Wherever there is some grass or rubble, there will be perch and that means pike.

“In the summer, it’s all about the deeper diving crankbaits,” Johnson explained. “Breaklines or transition lines where you find some perch on the sonar -- those are the best spots.”

Johnson said that on a lake like Otter Tail you just have to cover ground quickly and don’t spend too much time in one place. Big pike spread out, so where you got one doesn’t mean there’s another there.

On some lakes, the special regulations are working well. On others, there doesn’t seem to be much change. It looks like there is not one formula that works for all lakes, but we big-pike fanatics just need to have some options to chase a trophy so we won’t have to long for those good old days.

Find more about Minnesota fishing and hunting at: MinnesotaSportsmanMag.com