We call them northern pike, but Native Americans named them water wolves. They saw them with the same savagery, aggressiveness, and power in the water as they found in wolves on land, and both species were at the top of the food chain in their element.

For modern-day fishermen, northern pike are something of a mixed bag. Northerns, or pike as they are often called, are one of those fish some despise and look upon as worthless, whereas others find them an exciting bonus to a day’s fishing, or even a trophy.

I like northern pike. They have razor-sharp teeth, and at times can be an irritant when they slash crankbaits off my line while fishing for bass. But I also find them to be a hard fighting fish and exciting to catch. One summer day, I lost two crankbaits in less than fifteen minutes to northerns. From then on, I began using light wire leaders when fishing crankbaits, and I haven’t lost a bait to a northern since, while still catching my share of northerns and bass.

Northerns can be caught while ice fishing as well as throughout the open-water fishing season.

Once, I was fishing for walleyes on Minnesota’s Red Lake. Our group already caught a bunch of walleyes when I saw my float slowly sinking in the ice hole. I waited until the float drifted about halfway down the hole and set the hook. Nothing moved, and I knew it was a big fish.

After several thrilling runs with the drag on my spinning reel clicking away, I finally got the head of the fish into the bottom of the hole, and slipping a gaff hook into the lower jaw, I dragged the fish into the ice house. It was a 38-inch northern pike. Almost every time we fished Red Lake, someone in our group would always catch a big northern, adding to the thrill of fishing walleyes there.

Northern pike are found throughout the Midwest and Canada, from large lakes to small ponds and from rivers to marshes. They can be caught on just about any bait. I have caught them with a hook and minnow while ice fishing, a small tube jig while crappie fishing, a 1/4-ounce jig with a minnow while walleye fishing, and on just about every one of my bass baits. But if you are going to exclusively hunt big northern pike, you need to use big baits. Big spoons and spinnerbaits are two of my favorites.

One year, I picked up a couple of weedless spoons called a Fishtrap. It is an ingenious bait with two treble hooks inserted into the top of the spoon and a third underneath the spoon on a spring weedguard, which makes the spoon completely weedless. In the interest of journalism, I bought a couple to use the next time I was in Canada.

This was the first time I used a Fishtrap. It was a 1-ounce spoon, and I started casting into the weedy, brushy shallow water. It did everything as advertised, as I was casting it in some heavy cover and the spoon came out without hooking up on anything.

I was at this for probably 20 minutes when I saw the back of a large northern pike come out of the water as it followed the spoon through the weeds. As soon as the spoon hit open water, the fish struck. I fought the fish for a couple minutes before netting it. It turned out to be the biggest northern pike of the trip.

My other big bait for big northern pike is a 1-1/8-ounce black spinnerbait with a large orange spinner. On another trip to Canada, I was fishing shallow weedy water when I felt a jolt on my line. I pulled back and the water exploded. My medium-heavy casting rod doubled over as the fish thrashed and sped away. A couple minutes later, I boated the fish. It was a 38-inch northern pike. It was one of two I caught that trip, both on that spinnerbait.

Northern pike are exciting. They are a fish of surprises. They can be caught all over the Midwest and Canada. They put up a great fight and will hit any bait in the tackle box. They are tough and aggressive.

No wonder the Native Americans called them water wolves.

If you want to try a different, exciting fish species or technique, you’ll find plenty of suggestions in every issue of MidWest Outdoors. Subscribe on our website.