Just a quick comment on what is a big pike.  I think a fish 30 plus inches is a big northern.  A northern 40 plus inches is a trophy, at least that what's one fishing show said.  I generally make two trips a year into Quetico.  The Labor Day trip with my wife is almost 100% trolling.  We have found that we caught smaller northerns if we were trolling at 10 to 15 feet and larger northerns if we were trolling in 20 to 30 feet.  When we troll in the 20 to 30 feet range, half of our northerns are 30 plus inches.  We are fishing one of the larger lakes with deep water.  In September the 40 degree water starts at about 40 feet so were are fishing in water between 40 and 60 degrees.  I try to keep our lures as close to the bottom as I can.  We don't eat northerns, but they sure are fun to catch.  Generally, we eat bass and trout if the trout are not too big for the two of us.  For what it is worth, I no longer net large northerns as it creates a huge mess.  My preferred method is to reach behind the gill plates and get my thumb and index finger behind the gills and pick the fish up.  My thumb and finger are actually inside the gill plates.  And no I don't get any cuts doing  it this way.  The main thing is to be sure the fish is ready to be landed.  It is easy to tell if the fish is ready to be landed.  If the fish is not ready, it will take off when you touch it.  My largest northerns were 44 and 41.  My wife and son both have 42 inch northerns to their credit.  My largest one I'll never know as we lost it trying to land it with a lip grabber.