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BY SCOTT HADDOW
Wild Northerner staff
Marc Pitre spends the majority of his fishing time chasing big fish with big teeth. Pitre, 59, is a tournament angler and well known in northern Ontario for his big fish exploits. He started the Sudbury Chapter of Muskies Canada 14 years ago. Pitre grew up in Greater Sudbury and spent his youth fishing as much as he could. He joined the Top 50 Pike Tour in 2007 and has been competing ever since. Pitre, and his long-time partner Mark O’Byrn since 2007, have won 11 tournaments along with numerous Top 5 finishes. They have won more than $120,000 since joining forces. Pitre is an avid and passionate pike and musky angler. He took time out to dish the goods on his top summer tactics, gear and thoughts for going after these apex predators.
Chasing down summer pike and musky
Q – What are your go-to summer pike and musky tactics?
A - Pike tactics for summer. I look for weeds and work them hard starting with Black Fly Spinner Baits 3/8 OZ in the weeds and Rapala HJ 14 Husky Jerks on the weed edges. One of the main thing that I look for is the right colour. Pike will let you know when you have the right colour.
Musky Tactics for summer fishing I look for weeds and I concentrate on the outside edge of the weeds.
don’t overlook points they hold fish thy can have rocks sand or weeds but don’t over look them. I also like saddles and transition areas rock to sand to weeds and vice versa.
Q – In the tackle box, what are some key lures for pike and some key lures for musky in summer?
A - My choice of pike lures to start with for someone starting out chasing pike are Black fly Spinner Baits 3/8 OZ; Vibrax Spinner; Rapala Husky Jerk HJ-14; Smithwick Jerk Baits; and Williams Wabler. For musky lures, my choices are Sledge Jerk Bait; Phantom Jerk Baits; Dadson Double Bladed Spinners and Bull Dog Plastic Jerk Bait. As for colours, I try to get colours that reflect the prey or forage in the lake that I’m fishing, for example, a perch base lake might call for perch coloured baits and if ciscoes are the main forage, go with natural colour that match the hatch.