North of the Border Pike
My fishing partner Brett and I had packed boxes and boxes of lures. We were traveling
half way across the continent to northwestern Ontario and couldn’t afford to be
caught short. Little did we know we would end up fishing only two types baits for
most of the trip.
These fish had never seen the MSB-125 spinnerbait and the Grizzly Tail-100 inline
spinner before. We were certain of this. These lures were in their final prototype
stage and had never been tested outside of the United States. This made no difference
to the Canada’s northern pike. They welcomed the MSB-125 and the Grizzly Tail-100
like old friends.
The MSB-125 is a “bass style” tandem spinnerbait made specifically for pike and
muskies. The head is cast from a lead-free pewter alloy and is adorned with 3-D
eyes. The main skirt is made from a tough stretchy fiber that provides as much action
as silicone with a longer lifespan around teeth and pliers. The trailer hook is
tied with hackles & marabou and rigged with a 4 inch twister tail for more action.
The Grizzly Tail-100 is a glass bodied inline spinner adorned with marabou, grizzly
hackle and flash. A keel weight adds to long casts and reduces line twist. The flashing
and vibrating blade, the translucent body, and pulsating tail form a deadly combination.
Already proven on muskies in the United States, it was about to meet some new species
north of the border.
We stuck to a very basic game plan of casting the weed beds. By working our way
from the deep water edge of the weeds to the shallow shoreline, we covered the water
in an efficient manner. The healthiest and greenest weed growth harbored the most
and largest fish.
Brett and I came to Canada for pike. Ironically, the first Canadian fish to sample
the MSB-125 was a chunky walleye of about 20 inches. It wasn’t alone, numerous walleye
worked into the mix. They provided variety and some tasty shore lunches. Walleye
as well as pike found the Grizzly Tail-100 irresistible too.
It wasn’t long before we were into our intended quarry, pike, in a big way. The
numbers were tremendous. We caught between 40 and 100 fish each day. Granted, those
numbers are slightly padded with walleye and small to medium sized pike. There were
still lots of sizable northerns in that mix; enough to have us planning our next
trip to the north. This time we’ll pack a little lighter. A box of MSB-125’s and
Grizzly Tail-100’s should be all we need.