03-10-2010, 02:43 PM
I'm no vet pike fisherman but I can chime in on the last one about the water temp. Water in a lake rarely reaches that cold of a temperature, more then a few feet below the ice. If you were to look at a thermal profile of the lakes you are fishing at you would see that at the bottom it is 4 degrees C or 39 degrees Fahrenheit and gradually decreases it temp until it reaches the ice. And by gradually I mean with in probably 5-10 feet ,or possible less, of the ice the temperature will start to decline. As soon as the ice comes off of the lake they mix to a consistent temp of around 4 degrees C and then only get warmer from there. I found sources on the web that suggest the don't start spawning until at least 40 degrees or more. Hopefully that answers you questions on water temp.
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