Canada’s Yukon is legendary for the best Northern Pike fishing. Fishing for Northern Pike in this area has increased enormously during the last few years. The Yukon and Northwest Territories offer fly fishermen some of the most spectacular Pike fishing you will ever experience. When you hit the right weather and temperature conditions it is no problem to catch several Pike measuring over a meter in one single day. Stormy and cloudy weather with very bright sunshine in between seem to offer the ideal conditions but you can also experience great Northern Pike fishing on dull, dark and windy days.
Northern Pike fly fishing is so much fun it should be illegal. The biggest Pike I’ve caught on the fly was 40 inches and the biggest one I know of being caught on the fly was 49 inches caught by Hans Van Klinken at Coghlan Lake. The nice part about fishing at our Yukon lakes is that you can almost always spot the Pike before you cast for it. Pike will remain in shallower waters throughout the year and are therefore easier to catch on the fly. Once again I have had luck imitating Cisco which are black and white or Dark blue and white. I have had luck with purple and red and yellow streamers as well. A little red in the streamer makes the fish look wounded and it doesn’t hurt to add a little flashy material to imitate the Cisco’s natural reflective qualities. Leeches work well too. When the Pike are aggressively feeding, switch to surface lures and try imitating mice, squirrels, frogs, and even baby ducks!
Spin cast fishing for these fish can be equally entertaining. Use the Northern Pike lures we recommend. Techniques for Northern Pike spin cast fishing are similar to fly fishing techniques except that you can catch big Pike while trolling and spin cast fishing is better for this. See our description in the trout fishing section for trolling rigs.
Check out this video of Northern Pike striking and fighting on the line on
Coghlan Lake:
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