Pike River

[Fish Tales]

Sorry for the late report. Didn't see a thread for the Pike, or at least a recent one, so I hope this one will help provide information for fellow anglers. This report of mine was from last week. Started out at the Root this morning by the pipes (Washington Park), which was providing some open water. Water was clear, but not a fish to be seen. Moved down to the Pike and met up with a fly fisherman doing the same thing I was - looking over the bridge trying to catch a glimpse of some fish. None seen. The water throughout Pets was open. Very nice flow. Decided to try and get some drift fishing practice in, just to see what might be in the deeper holes. Went 1 for 2, unfortunately the one I landed happened to be a 9" River Chub. The bigger fish, which I could not identify, broke me off at the hook. I was using "real" spawn sacks, (peach-colored) on a 6-pound leader with a # 6 hook and a slip float rig. Had what appeared to be one or two other interested parties at the end of my line later in the morning, but nothing solid. Probably more of those pesky River Chubs. Called it quits at 11 a.m.

[Fish Tales]

Walked along the Pike in Pets Saturday afternoon. The river is open and free of ice within the park and upstream, all the way to Racine. Took the temp of the water which measured 38 degrees. The flow is gentle but steady under the north bridge but downstream there are some stretches that are as still as glass. You can clearly see how low the water is in some spots as there are several sand and rubble bars exposed above the water. There is also quite a bit of bank exposed as well (2-3 feet in some areas of tree and brush roots visible). Despite this, there are areas that seem deep enough to hold fish. Shallow areas are gin clear while deeper ones appear as cloudy and green. Did not see a single fish during our walk today. Guess it's still too early. Beautiful day though. Wish I'd thought to go down to the mouth and see what that looked like. Maybe next time.

[chihook]

so, i fished the mouth of the pike river today with no luck. I drifted spawn and no takers. only fished a short time. will try pets in the next couple of days. will post if i have any luck.
good fishing

[Eric Haataja]

Kings are running up and stagged at the mouth!

[rootpro6]

edited

[walleyebum]

keith let me know i'll show up.

[Eric Haataja]

It's crazy how early tese fish will sometimes stage ecspecially if you get rain and west winds fantastic shore bite! Day and night all fall here at the mouth!

[rootpro6]

edited

[nick]

fished the mouth sat 8/15 . late a.m. got a nice steelie 28- 30 inch 10-12 lbs. With a clipped fin. Stocked fish ?? released . Saw 2 coho caught which were perfect eater size. Under 24 inches. was there 2 hrs. lots of casting not alot of catchin. yet anyway. :rolleyes:

[Eric Haataja]

This will just get better with this rain today I would expect a decent amount of fish to be there as I type this! If there were any bunches of rain I'd bet even a few fish might push up the river! The next month should be great! Glow spoons work great along with trolling outside the river.

[Eric Haataja]

Talked to a friend of mine last night who fished there last night and this A.M and they pounded them at the mouth same deal he said lots of fresh kings running up the river...... The run has begun!!! This is a great place to fish from shore guys so get there while the bite is hot both day or night time!!! But mainly first and last light.

Good fishing

[JMBrunner08]

I live pretty close to the river and was wondering what the most effective way is to catch them kings. Spoons, Crankbaits, Platics, etc. Dont get done there much but thats not gonna stay the same. Caught a small king last night out of the harbor on a white/clear minnow rap off the rocks behind the hotel. Also seen a few browns caught on white tube jigs under bobbers. heard of a guy catching o ton of kings out of the mouth on pladooo??:confused:;)

[Eric Haataja]

Yea I'd bet you can get them on a variety of things from skein to spoons, cranks, spinners etc..... the mouth is a great bet now, but there a lot of fish now up in the river so spinners would be my first shoice followed by the fly rod.

Eric

[JMBrunner08]

Ok Thanks alot Eric..... Appreciate it

[walleyebum]

whats some good flies for kings?

[collinfishes]

anything that is considered a fly will catch those river kings all day. most guys go with the classics though like an egg sucking leech or a glo bug. :p i tie some very nice, quality flies for the tribs as well if anyones interested....

[bossman]

Anybody know if fish have started to move up into the rivers as of yet, I have seen some nice spikes in the current flows in the past 24 hours on the pike and root, I am gonna do some swinging with the fly rod on both tribs tommorrow afternoon!:)

[Eric Haataja]

Yep there fish up in some of the rivers.

Good luck!

[pmjasper]

Hey Collin, I'd be interested in seeing some of your flies. I moved to the area last year and did a little fishing in the tribs during the fall run. I fished, egg patterns, wooly buggers and some streamers with little success. Once the chinooks were up in the rivers, away from the mouth, they only seemed to stray away from the flies as they drifted towards them. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

philip.metz@genworth.com

[collinfishes]

not sure how to send a picture via pm and im not to hip to email haha. but heres a few i scrounged up that are left over from last year. need to get tying but cant till this dumb arm is better. :rolleyes: but theres a couple bunny leeches, glo bug, egg sucking nymph, an oompa loompa, and a beadhead egg sucking leech. but i tie alottt of different patterns for alot of different fishing. :D also when they start moving out of the way of your incoming fly, try down sizing flies and switch to a natural color. most of the flies in the picture would get that kind of reaction but will excel in high, muddy water but these are just a taste of the patterns that work.

[pmjasper]

Thank you Collin.

The wisconsin fishing is a bit different than the NY fishing I have done. Truthfully, i have never done that well once the salmon have made their way up into the tributaries. When they are at the mouth, I have seen them hit streamers, plugs and spoons but once in the river for awhile I have had a very hard time getting them to "bite" a fly. I'm not into snagging so that's why i inquire from the guys who have been more successful than me.

Another question...what set-up are you using for the tributaries? Just curious reguarding rod wt and leader set-up. Thanks again for the information. going to try and get out this weekend and give it a shot. Thanks again.

philip.metz@genworth.com

[Eric Haataja]

Tons of fish are flying up into the rivers!!! If you like to river fish now is the time!!!!!!!!! Pick your poison any of the rivers should be stacked now!

[Eric Haataja]

Tons of fish are flying up into the rivers!!! If you like to river fish now is the time!!!!!!!!! Pick your poison any of the rivers should be stacked now!

[bossman]

Thanks Eric!:)

[brookiereleaser]

i have never fished the pike and would like to try it.

Could any of you let me know where a few public access points are up river or any of the more well known areas to start would be... not looking for any secrets but just a starting point or two..

Also where are the upper limits to where these fish can go upstream ... is there an impassable structure like the root or like at least a large waterfall or anything like milwaukee.

any info you could help me out with would be awesome.
thanks.
chuck

[pmjasper]

Did a brief recon of the area this weekend. Easy access can lead to overcrowded pools but the lack of fishermen told me that while there may be some fish in there, there's not the sheer numbers of fish as contained in some other tributaries closeby. I may head out Friday and do a bit more scouting to see if the Pike has a few secrets. Anyone else thinking of heading out?

[Cat Man J.J.]

Very late report from last saturday, A friend and I fished up by pets parked in the lot just east of the south entrance to the park and walked back. Nothing happening in the river caught only chubs floating spawn. Did see two really strange things that day however.

1) There is a major log jam just below one of my favorite pools in the river. It is so jammed up the river actually changed direction and what used to be a good fishing spot is now dry land. Way to much work for my buddy and I to clear, you would need a chain saw and a dozen people to fix it. Even at that I'm not sure if the river would correct it's self at this point without blocking off the new section.

2) On our way back we stopped at the pond for a minute before we crossed back over the trickle of a creek connecting the pond to the Pikes river and noticed a large fish surface in the middle of the pond. As it turns out when we had those big rains a few weeks ago the trout and salmon ran up into the pond and got trapped when the water receded. Second cast with my spinner I caught a 2 lb. coho, fished another 45 minutes or so but couldn't get any of the other fish to bite. JJ

[pmjasper]

That's wild.

I really want to do some more exploring on the Pike River, as I think it might be a nice alternative during the spring. I'm not so sure how many steelhead or browns it's actually holding at this time however. I drifted a lot of pretty looking little rund and holes without as much as a hit. I kept expecting my float to dip under but the only action I saw all day were a few muskrats swimming in a few of the holes. again, I may go back this Friday and do a little exploring and see what else lies within the Pike River.

[Cat Man J.J.]

pmjasper, I have lived in Kenosha all my life and know the river pretty well.
So if you want a tour of the river I'd be happy to meet you on Friday and show you the spots I know.
Shoot me an email if you want to go.
J.J.

[pmjasper]

Thanks for the offer. I'm waiting to see what this rain will do and then will go from there. If the levels look too high I may just tie more tube flies. Believe me though....I'd rather be out fishing. Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving.

[Cat Man J.J.]

It looks like you're more of a fly fisherman so if you stick to the Petrifying Springs / Parkside University spawning areas and do a little map quest research you don't need my help.
Between Parkside and Carthage College is pretty much all private land except the access where the river crosses Hy E and that spot is popular with the Illinios fisherman and gets hit pretty hard.
The Hy E area by the Kenosha Country Club golf course used to be good when the damn was there and they let you on the course to fish.
But now the damn has been removed and the course is posted.
From Carthage to the mouth at the lake is a little wider and slower water but is an excellent spot for fresh fish from the lake staging before they make the run up to spawn.
Because 90% of the people fish the mouth I love this stretch for floating spawn.
J.J.

[pmjasper]

Thanks Cat Man.

You talk to different people you get different answers. I like the exploring side of wading a "new" river but with my time being limited to weekends, like most, I want to fish where there are fish. I've gotten mixed answers about the Pike near PETS, some say don't even bother during the fall while others say you can pick a few fish from the right holes. In spring, with higher water, they tell me it offers a bit more opportunity but more anglers as well. We'll see.

Thanks again for the information. I really do appreciate it.