“Dennis Braun Catches Muskie, Northern Pike, Crappie, Walleyes and Bass on Mepps and Mister Twister”

Part 3: Northern Pike: How to and Where to Catch Them

Editor’s Note: Dennis Braun of Vermilion, Ohio, fishes for everything that swims. That’s why he uses Mepps and Mister Twister products because Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics will catch just about every fish that swims. “I haven’t had a chance to try them on whales and minnows, but I’m convinced that if they could see Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics and could get them in their mouths, they’d eat them.” He fishes quite a bit on Leesville Lake (near New Philadelphia), Clear Fork Reservoir (near Mansfield), Rocky Fork Lake (in Hillsboro) and Pymatuning (in Andover) with Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics.

Question: Where are you catching your northern pike?

Braun: Although I mainly fish for pike in northern Canada, we do have a few lakes here in Ohio that have some good populations of pike. I fish the weeds and along the weed edges for pike just like I do for muskies. But when I’m fishing for northerns, I use the No. 5 Mepps Aglia. I fish both the dressed and the undressed Aglia for them. If I’m using a dressed Aglia, I prefer a silver blade. If I’m using an undressed Aglia, I use both silver and gold blades. I’m still fishing with 50-pound-test line – just like I use for muskies. Around Ohio, we’re lucky to catch three to five northern pikes in a day.

When we catch northerns, we’re usually deliberately targeting them. I know most people catch northerns as an incidental catch when they’re fishing for muskies or walleyes. However, since our area has so few lakes with northerns in them, when we go northern fishing, that’s the type of fish we’re trying to catch. Our northerns run 24- to 30-inches long, but we do have some caught that are 36- and 37-inches long. But those are really rare catches.

The main reason there aren’t as many northerns as there once were is the Department of Conservation isn’t stocking our lakes as heavily with northerns as it once did. One lake where I live here had crappie, perch and northern pike in it. We could take our Mepps spinners, go to that lake and catch plenty of northerns. But since the Department has quit stocking the lake, it’s hard to find a northern in that particular lake.