Big Pine Lake is one of the top Northern Pike lakes in the Chapleau / Wawa area. There are many reasons for this.
First: The lake is too far from Chapleau or Wawa for the locals to bother fishing the lake thus the lake has very little fishing pressure. We are just a small outfitter and have a limited number of guests per week so essentially our guests most times have the whole lake to themselves.
Second: It's a big lake this perfect structure for Northern Pike thus allowing them to proliferate in great numbers. There are countless weedy bays, shallow plateaus with Muskie cabbage, Islands and shoals as well as feeder streams. These conditions are perfect for Northern Pike.
Third: There is an endless supply of Walleyes to eat in the lake along with other baitfish such as Whitefish, Chub, Sucker, Shad and Lake Herring. This does not only allow Pike to exist in great numbers, it allows our Northern Pike to get big.
Lastly: There is no public ice fishing. Our family jumps on the snowmobiles and does a little ice fishing during the winter but there is no outfitters with ice huts on the lake. Ice fishing can decimate game-fish populations, which is a problem in some areas of Ontario. Big Pine Lake is still stuffed with fish.
Pike are common in the 2 to 5-pound range. Guests who specifically spend a lot of time hunting down big pike will find them. There have been plenty of Monster Pike in the 40 to 45-inch range caught and released. On rare occasions Northern Pike as big as 50 inches get caught and released. This is why we know ask guests to keep a camera in their tackle box. Guests have reported having Pike as big as 60 inches up to the boat. We know they are there because we see them sunning themselves on the surface but they rarely bite.
There are a few other lakes within a short drive from camp where Pike in the 30 to 46-inch range can be taken.