Lake Mary Northern Pike Fishing

Now is the time of year to head up to Lake Mary for some pike fishing. The lake has filled for the first time since 2010. A full lake means fishing should be solid this summer. But the spring months, March and April, should be especially good fishing. The smaller males are already up in the shallows for the spawn. The larger females should be soon to follow.

We took a trip to Lake Mary in late February. We fished the southern end of the lake which is also the shallow end. There were plenty of fish shallow and with polarized sunglasses we were able to see many of them and sight fish them. We started out using Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoons and chatter baits. These lures were not productive. Pike would look at them, turn their head toward them and maybe even move toward them a little... but they would not hit them. We started catching  them when we switched to a Rapala X-Rap suspending jerk bait. These lures run shallow which is helpful when fishing shallow water with weeds and vegetation. They also suspend when you stop your retrieve. We would cast the lure out and begin a slow retrieve with the rod tip high to keep the lure running shallow. When a fish would turn their head or move toward the lure we would pause our retrieve. If necessary we would give the lure another small twitch  (just a couple of inches) or two and then pause the retrieve again. It was on the pauses the pike would hit the lure. It's a fun and exciting way to catch pike. Rapala X-Rap suspending jerk baits are available on Amazon at prices about the same as what you'd pay at Sportsman's Warehouse or Cabelas with free Prime shipping. We are using the Silver Blue color in the 08 size but I think Clown would also be effective since the water at Lake Mary can be stained and muddy. Fire Tiger could also do well since they are visible and there are Perch in Lake Mary for the pike to feed on. So grab some and head up to Lake Mary and catch some pike.