If there s a question, it s better to go bigger in the line department, especially if there s the potential for big ol dogs in your chosen water. Steel leaders are a must for pike fishing with the tip ups, but not for the jigging rods. You ll get cut off occasionally, but an artificial lure hanging on a leader is often denied by pike, especially in ultra-clear water. Using a quality flasher will be necessary in order to determine depth and the presence of weeds, particularly after snow has covered the ice. It s nice to be able to visually determine weededges with the first clear ice, but this quickly fades.
Flashers are necessary tools throughout the remainder of the hardwater season.
Augers with eight to ten inch hole diameters are necessary for getting the head of larger pike through the ice. Your equipment will easily ride behind in a lightweight sled or flip-style shelter the market bears a number of quality sleds, which can be dragged effortlessly on early ice. As always, abundant forage is the key ingredient in the recipe for creating large predator fish. Pike will forage on perch, sunfish, and various minnow species such as shiners and suckers. Forage base in a particular region will vary from lake to lake, between years, and may even change during a particular ice season.