Do I need a wire trace for pike fishing?

Yes, in one form or another: a leader section of wire or heavy fluorocarbon between the lure and the main line, long enough to cover a whole mouthful. Bring what you need to get the hook out again as well: long forceps, a glove, and cutters you use on the hook rather than pulling at it. If you are unsure whether your tackle holds, the knot is the weak point, not the line.

When is the best time to fish for pike?

By water temperature, not by the calendar. Pike get faster and more willing as the water warms from a few degrees upwards, and slow again once it gets too warm. That is why the same week can be prime in a lowland lake and empty in a mountain lake a few miles away. Autumn is the most predictable period of the year, spring the most sensitive.

Can I move pike to another water?

No, and that covers more than the fish itself. Water in the net, in the bucket, in the bottom of the boat and in your waders gets moved between lakes without anyone thinking about it, and that is enough to carry both fry and disease along. Empty and dry your gear between waters. If you catch a pike in a water where it should not be, that belongs with the municipality or the county governor, not in another bucket.

Pike fishing: gear, wire traces and season

Facts about pike
Topic	Pike
Size	Where there is plenty of food pike can reach 20 kg. A fish over 10 kg is big and rare, and the very largest are almost always females. A pike of 5 kg is a good fish in most places.
Where it lives	Naturally found in watercourses draining to Sweden, in the Glomma system, Østfold and Akershus in the south, and in inner and eastern Finnmark plus a few watercourses in Troms in the north. Since the 1600s spread by people to coastal districts in the south and west and to Trøndelag.
Best time	May to June and September to October, in the middle of the day.
Spawning	Lowland and south: April. Mountain and north: May. Check the local rules for closed seasons.
Minimum size	No national rule for inland fish. The minimum size is set locally, water by water.

How do you recognise pike?

The pike is elongated, with the dorsal and anal fins set far back towards the tail, as on a fish built for acceleration.

A flat, duck-like snout full of teeth. Green to brownish with pale, elongated markings. No risk of confusion.

Where do pike hold?

Pike hold in still and slow-flowing water, ideally with dense vegetation.

The pike is an ambush hunter that lies in cover and attacks, so you are looking for edges: reed beds, water plants, fallen trees, jetties and the transition from shallow to deep. It defends territory against its own kind, so two big pike rarely hold the same spot.

When in the year is pike fishing best?

Pike fishing is best from May to June and from September to October, the best period of the year for a big pike. The months say how the fishing usually is, not whether fishing is allowed. The rules where you fish decide that.

April to June

Pike hold shallow around spawning and are easy to find. In many places they are protected during the spawning season, so check the rules. After spawning they feed hard and are at their most aggressive.

July to August

Warm water makes pike passive in the middle of the day. Fish shallow early and late, or look to deeper edges and cooler water. Often the hardest period.

September to October

Best

The best period of the year for a big pike. They feed up before winter, hold shallower again, and the largest fish are in play.

Winter

Pike are taken through the ice too. Large, slowly worked baits or dead bait on a set line are the methods, and NJFF counts winter as one of the two best seasons to fish dead bait for big pike. Requires patience.

See the season month by month for every species, in the lowlands and in the mountains.

What gear do you need for pike fishing?

For pike you need a 7-8 foot rod in casting weight 20-60 g, a 3000-4000 reel and 0.15-0.20 mm braid.

Spinning

Heavy rod 20-60 g

A wire trace or heavy fluorocarbon is not optional: pike teeth cut ordinary line in half a second, and a pike swimming off with a lure in its jaw is an animal welfare problem, not just a loss.

Lure guide

Fly

Class 8-10

Growing and very rewarding. Large streamers, a heavy leader with a wire tip, and a rod that can throw a fly with the air resistance of a wet sock.

Fly guide

Baits and lures

Large plug 10-15 cm
Covers water and provokes. Shallow in spring and autumn, deeper in summer.
Jig and softbait 10-20 cm
The most versatile. Can be fished at any depth and any speed.
Spinnerbait
Runs relatively free through vegetation, and lets you fish exactly where the pike lies.
Large streamer
Fly fishing. 15-25 cm is not too big.

Pick a colour for the light and water

Spawning and diet

Spawning

Pike spawn in spring, in shallow water and preferably where there are water plants. Large females carry several hundred thousand eggs.

Diet

A fish eater all its life. It readily takes fish up to half its own length, and cannibalism is common. Where they occur it prefers cyprinids such as roach and bream.

Which rules apply to pike fishing?

Applies to all inland fish

There is no longer a national minimum size for inland fish. Minimum and maximum sizes, daily bag limits and closed seasons are set locally, and two waters in the same municipality can have different rules.
You need a fishing card from the rights holder wherever one is sold. The card is an agreement with the landowner, not a state fee.
Children under 16 fish free with rod and hand line from 1 January to 20 August, except in watercourses with anadromous salmonids. This follows from section 18 of the Norwegian salmon and inland fish act.
Fishing for inland fish does not require the state fishing fee. The exception is a salmon-bearing stretch while it is open for salmon, sea trout or sea char. There everyone aged 18 or over must pay the fee, also to fish for inland fish.
Releasing fish or moving live fish between waters is prohibited. Spreading species to new watercourses is one of the biggest threats to Norwegian fish stocks.

Specific to pike

Pike are protected during the spring spawning season in several watercourses. Check the rules for the water before a spring trip.
A wire trace or equivalent bite protection is a requirement for responsible pike fishing, not a recommendation.
Pike are classed as an alien species with high invasion potential where they have been introduced, and have wiped out trout stocks in several waters. Moving live pike to new waters is prohibited and does lasting damage.
Big pike are old females that carry the stock. Consider releasing them, and use a large net, side cutters and a glove.

All of the above is advisory. The rules are set locally and do change, so always confirm with the rights holder or an official source before you fish.

Waters holding pike

Finnfisk has 33 curated fishing spots with pike, out of 132 in all.

Show all 33 fishing spots

Municipalities

Lillehammer Eidsvoll Engerdal Bardu Oslo Røros Selbu Lierne Gausdal Alvdal Gjøvik Søndre Land

Common questions

Do I need a wire trace for pike fishing?: Yes, in one form or another: a leader section of wire or heavy fluorocarbon between the lure and the main line, long enough to cover a whole mouthful. Bring what you need to get the hook out again as well: long forceps, a glove, and cutters you use on the hook rather than pulling at it. If you are unsure whether your tackle holds, the knot is the weak point, not the line. Knots that hold
When is the best time to fish for pike?: By water temperature, not by the calendar. Pike get faster and more willing as the water warms from a few degrees upwards, and slow again once it gets too warm. That is why the same week can be prime in a lowland lake and empty in a mountain lake a few miles away. Autumn is the most predictable period of the year, spring the most sensitive. Month by month, lowland and mountain
Can I move pike to another water?: No, and that covers more than the fish itself. Water in the net, in the bucket, in the bottom of the boat and in your waders gets moved between lakes without anyone thinking about it, and that is enough to carry both fry and disease along. Empty and dry your gear between waters. If you catch a pike in a water where it should not be, that belongs with the municipality or the county governor, not in another bucket.