The Ban Lake fishing area in Minnesota has a reputation for producing large catches of walleye and northern pike. Nearby activities include hiking, biking, wildlife viewing, and hunting. Fishing tips include using live bait and fishing in deeper waters. The best time to visit is during the summer months when the average temperature is around 70°F. Fall is also a great time for fishing as the fish are more active and the surrounding scenery is especially beautiful with the changing colors of the leaves.

Featured Fish - Northern Pike

Pike are usually taken by trolling with large spoons, plugs or natural baits, but casting and still fishing are also frequently successful. The following are fishing methods used to catch this fish: Like the muskellungeand the pickerels, it is a long, sleek, predatory fish with a broad, flat mouth resembling a duck’s bill and a single dorsal fin located on the posterior portion of the body. In body shape the members of the pike group are all identical, but the northern pike can be distinguished from its relatives by three main features. Most noticeably the greenish or yellowish sides of the fish are covered with lighter colored oblong horizontal spots or streaks, whereas all other species have darker markings than the background color. The second distinction is the scale pattern on the gill cover and cheek. In the northern pike the cheek is fully scaled, but the bottom half of the gill cover is scaleless. In the larger muskellunge, both the bottom half of the gill cover and the bottom half of the cheek are fully scaled. The third distinctive feature is the number of pores under each side of the lower jaw; usually 5 in the northern pike (rarely 3,4, or 6 on one side), 6-9 in the muskellunge (rarely 5 or 10 on one side), and 4 in the smaller pickerels (occasionally 3 or 5 on one side only).