I don't target Northerns specifically but will always carry a couple "musky killers" and #5 mepps spinners and some larger crankbaits.

Over the years I've been lucky to stumble into 4 northerns at 40" or over. 3 out of the 4 were in shallow weedy bays.  The other was down around 15 feet.  I think in June a person could use bucktails in bays on large lakes like Basswood, Kawnipi, Pooh Bah, Sturgeon, etc. and do real well.

My four big ones came out of Kawnipi, Basswood River, Eddy (in the BW), and McEwen.

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Thanks for the replies everybody.
PJ you are absolutely right about pike fishing being much easier right after the spawn. In fact that is the way I've fished them here in WI. After that we toothy predator hunters switch over to Musky and the goal becomes a 50+.
Since there are no musky in Quetico I'm wondering if big pike fill the niche and behave like musky...top of the food chain predator...in mid season. That would mean fishing for them where you would normally find concentrations of other fish in the 8" - 20" size range and throwing appropriately sized baits. That's pretty much the way we fish for muskies, reefs, points and deep outside weed edges once summer sets in. Has any body targeted pike something like that?

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.

My preferred method to land BIG pike is to slide my fingers under the lower jaw to find the V shape notch where the gill plates come together, then lift. But...as westwood says, you have to be sure they are ready to be landed. The touch he mentions is a good way. Someone asked my why we tapped northerns on the head in one of my video trip reports a while back, that is why. If you land a 20+ lb northern in a canoe while it still has a heap of battle left you are in for some unwanted excitement, I know that for a fact. We gave up on nets altogether a while ago and hand land everything. I think nets are much harder on the fish when they tangle and thrash and spend more time out of water. I bet that studies, if they exist, would show use of nets results in lower survival rates. When we hand land a big fish it always feels like a race to remove the hook, snap a picture and get it back in the water. Another thing we have started to do recently is to try to land near shore once the fish starts to slow down, if possible, more for our safety than the well being of the fish. At times it has been easier to just step out and pick up the fish rather than try to hoist it into the boat.