With a level of ice cover not experienced in a few winters, open water ice-out fishing seems a long way away.

But likely within the next six weeks, the longer daylight hours and warmer air temperatures will have their annual effect and lakes will again appear from what had previously been a sheet of ice and snow. In lakes that play host to decent populations of northern pike, this species will often be the first to provide action.

Of all the popular warmwater/coolwater gamefish species of the region, northern pike are the first to spawn, an activity that puts them in the shallows where they are easier to contact. This applies to smaller lakes and reservoirs as well as lake natural lakes and embayment portions of Great Lakes such as Erie. The key is finding sections that warm early.

“I look for shallow, dark bottom bays that warm quickly,” says skilled multi-species angler Chris Cooper of the Pittsburgh area. “On the waters I fish, these are muck bottom bays the feature expanses of lily pad stems.”

Such cover is the remnant of floating vegetation present the year prior. It needn’t be pad stems. It could be newly emerging milfoil or pondweed. But the presence of such growth is an indicator of the fertile, heat absorbing bottom composition that draws in spawning, early spring pike.

“Yellow perch also really load up at this time in the waters I fish,” noted Cooper, likely another pike draw. “Water temperature is in the low 40s when this pattern starts and continues until it gets up into the low to mid 50s, usually a three-to-four-week window.”

Cooper keeps a variety of lure options available, depending somewhat on the exact type of cover and daily mood of the fish. Among them is the lipless crankbait.

“I tend to work a lipless crankbait rather fast, ticking it along the tops of the old lily pad stems and snapping it free when it hangs up momentarily, which can be an important trigger,” explained Cooper. “I will also occasionally pause them to emulate a struggling shad in the cold water.”

Similarly, year-round angling enthusiast Jason Wagner of central Pennsylvania works lipless crankbaits over and around emerging milfoil beds over shallow flats within the waters he fishes in early spring. While the milfoil beds feature both inside and outside edges, he finds active pike utilizing all zones of the low-growing cover. He continues to catch pike over the milfoil beds until they grow too close to the surface to properly fish with a lipless crankbait.

Vibrating Chatterbait-style jigs and swim jigs also play heavily into Cooper’s early season forays. He prefers vibrating jigs in more open water and swim jigs in heavier cover. When the water is dark, he prefers a white skirt; in clear water he opts for perch patterns.

Cooper had found that jerkbaits such as Bombers Long A will take early season pike when fished as a wake bait, imparting a slow but steady retrieve on or near the surface. It’s an exciting pattern that often includes a visual of the pike following the lure prior to striking.

Both Cooper and Wagner prefer softer action crankbait style rods for this type of fishing, as they tend to result in better hooked fish as well as a higher percentage of landed fish, as the loaded rod acts as a shock absorber, preventing the fish from throwing the heavy bait.

Some of the better northern pike fisheries in the western part of the state include Presque Isle Bay, Conneaut Lake, Lake Arthur, Cranberry Glade Lake, Yellow Creek Lake, and High Point Lake, the latter also having a population of the closely related chain pickerel.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle