Cyphus

I have a Medium-Heavy 2-piece Veritas Baitcasting rod with a Shimano Caius 201 on there, and I have a Medium 2-piece Veritas Spinning rod with a Stradic FJ 3000 on there.

While I really like both, the rod guides on my spinning rod cracked on the first bass (8.6 lber) that I caught, that being said after a quick email to Abu Garcia, they sent me a replacement rod free of charge which was pretty awesome. No other complaints since, as both rods have performed very well and i've had them both for more than 2 years now. Largest Pike I've caught on that baitcaster was 15+ lbs and over 40", rod was bent like a Mother-F'er, rippin drag like an S.O.B. but I was still able to turn the fish and play it without worry of the rod of exploding.

As AlwaysCatching pointed out, my rods are First Gen. Second Gen rods are a little nicer. My buddy has a St. Croix rod, and while it is considerably nicer in a lot of ways, I'm still partial to the feel of the Veritas rods.

Aww, bro! This is amazing! Like everyone said, can not even begin to convey my jealousy

I'm still rocking the sardines! Got a 10lber last week on them last week. I fire out the husky jerks too, reeeaaal slow jerk-jerk-pause deal. When the water temp jumps up a little more i'll move on to my usual tricks; flicker shads, rattle traps, bx swimmers, spoons, spinners, and spinnerbaits. All that good stuff!

Great pic buddy, glad you were able to come up with something!

FishFinder17, check shallower bays for sure and also near the mouths of any rivers and tributaries running into the lake, they tend to be a little warmer and have baitfish in them so pike will hang out around them looking for an easy meal. I lived in Gravenhurst on Lake Muskoka for a few years and this was almost always where I found them in temps like that. I know a particular bay that's really good too if you wanna PM me (no idea where on the lake you are, might be a bit of a jog.)

You guy's should check out Bridling baits. Saltwater guys have been doing this for years for big tuna, marlin and such, but for cold water pike it's killer (or any slow day really).

You use a big thill slip bobber with a flouro leader snelled to a circle hook (3/0 or 5/0) under it, then you take a bait needle and floss or dacron and attach bait. It keeps live bait alive MUCH longer, or you can use dead bait.  I use store-bought frozen Sardines, (which I called and checked with MNR to see if I could use, so don't bitch lol) and cut them in half or thirds. I chose sardines because they're an oily fish and the scent they release it very strong, draws the fish in like crazy. When water temps are cold and fish are slow moving, this is an unbeatable. 

Basically, you bridle your chosen bait, cast it out (gently, if like me you're using a MH baitcaster) then just let it sit, maybe jigging it a bit since i use a slip bobber. The scent draws the fish in, fish swims by and chomps on a free meal and swims away. Your bobber will dip and disappear (or if it's a big fish, it'll probably just be gone lol). Now here's the important part for those of you who haven't used circle hooks; DO NOT reef on the rod to set the hook. Instead; count to 7 (mississipi's if you have too) and then reel in and tighten up on the line, the hook will get stuck in the corner of the mouth every time and when the fish feels the prick of that hook it'll take off.

I've been doing this for a couple years and have caught more than a few 40" pike when guy's around me are bitching because fish wont take anything. AND since you're using circle hooks it's super humane! Unlike traditional quick strike rigs with treble hooks which can kill a fish by getting taken too deep or getting caught in the gills, the single circle hook slightly separated from the bait will get caught in the corner of the mouth every time and wont be swallowed (unless you're really dumb and count to like... 30 or something lol). I've never used it for musky, but i imagine it would work just as well, and I've used some smaller baits for other species too.

Here's a video to show you how it's done.

https://youtu.be/FRk9bGSj-rU