On the hunt for Northerns...

This is my first post on this forum, though I've been reading it for years.  I suppose I should first describe the type of fisherman I am.  Though I've dabbled in pretty much all kinds of fishing (bow, fly, turtles), I predominantly fish creeks with a spinning rod.  I'm a catch and release fisherman and spend most of my fishing days wading, but sometimes I'll fish the deeper creeks on a kayak. I've traveled all over northwestern PA in search of good fishing spots. My passion has always been fishing for smallmouth and pike, which brings me to my first post.  I know some western Pennsylvanians hate Northerns because they sometimes feed on other gamefish.  It saddens me when I see pike thrown up on the bank and left to die.  No one would dare do that to a Muskie, but the Northern somehow gets a bad rap.  Either way, since I'm a terrible Muskie fisherman (fish of 10,000 casts is a lie - I think I've doubled that chasing them), I just really enjoy the hunt for big Northerns.
 
I've come to beg...
 
If anyone out there wouldn't mind sharing some locations where they often run into pike (especially bigger pike), please send me a PM and let me know.  I would really appreciate it.  Like I said, I mostly fish smaller to medium sized creeks - when the water gets too big (like the river), I have a difficult time reliably targeting them.  Also, if anyone would like to discuss techniques or share some stories on fishing please reply to this thread and perhaps we can all learn something new.  I look forward to hopefully discussing pike fishing with my fellow Pennsylvanians...
 
-jaeger

Thanks Looch...
 
Can you wade fish in the Beaver?

Pike fishing has been really hard the past few years... at least from my experience. Since High Point has been getting warmer, i really can't find pike anywhere except for small creeks that u wouldn't imagine could hold a fish like that.

The problem is the warming waters

yeah, I wait until September/October to really target them, I've caught  5 little guys(all 21" and under) this summer so far and all have been on walleye(jig+grub), bass(whopper plopper), and panfish lures. I caught 2 on 2lb test and my favorite crappie crankbait couple weeks ago, was lucky they didn't bite me off, would of been bummed to lose that lure. Same day caught a 18" sauger on big 1oz firetiger daredevle spoon that I started throwing after catching the pike on my ultralight....go figure. 
 

 

 
End of summer, on the rivers at least the bigger ones always move into the shallows and creek mouths, it never fails and they are super aggressive and pretty easy to catch on topwater lures, spoons,  and mepps musky killers