Check out the new show catching Pike on Hot Dogs! Not sure what lake they are fishing, but a pretty good day of pike fishing.
Ice Fishing
Larry Smith Pike on Hot dogs
Is there a specific brand/style of hot dog that works better?
I had tip ups out this past weekend. One with a dead smelt and two with the cheapest hot dogs I could find ($0.99 for a 8-pack). Not one flag. My neighbor was using medium goldens. He iced a nice 28" pike. I will continue to put out one tip up with a hot dog on it but will go back to live bait until the hot dog thing proves itself successful.
I fish wi-
I am still a bit skeptical. However I’m sure they work. Just not sure they work as well as live bait. A hotdog verse a dead smelt-that would be an interesting experiment. They sure are cheap. And less hassle buying them ahead of time etc.… And easy to work with and you don’t have to keep them alive, so I can see the advantages.
One winter I tried hot dogs, smelt and large shiners equally for the whole season. The results were pretty close over the long haul. Shiners took the blue ribbon, hot dogs close behind in second place, and smelt a close third. Now some days, one bait would definitely shine over the others. Hot dogs were pretty consistent. Large shiners did better early season but dead bait did better late season. No contest on price, dogs win hands down there. You won’t be getting any bass or walleye on dead bait, tho.
That is pretty much our go to when pike fishing. We saw a guy using them years ago out on Devils lake and he was out fishing us by a mile. When we got to chatting he revealed his secret weapon to be hot dogs. Ever since then I will always start with at least one tip up with a hot dog on it. They have been money late March for big pike on Lake Of The Woods the last few years.