Northern Pike
The old riverbed is the spine of the pike fishery. Belwood is drowned Grand River valley, and the deep former channel — plus the narrows where the reservoir pinches back into the river up north — gives pike a highway between the weedy flats they hunt and the deeper water they hold in. Stained water is the theme here, so loud, flashy presentations get found where subtlety disappears.
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Start where vegetation meets open water. Pike bury into the weed edges and flats — their primary ambush cover here — and pin the yellow perch and shiners that school the same green.
Through spring and summer that shallow game carries the fishery, while the deep drowned river channel and the northern narrows into the Grand hold fish that slide off the flats. The murky, stained water shapes the approach: flash and rattle draw strikes that finesse won't.
Then two things about water level. Fall drawdown drops the reservoir and shoves fish toward the deeper channel and basin — follow them off the emptying flats.
And winter is a genuine second season: pike are an ice target once the lake locks up, with vehicles documented driving onto 10–12 inches of ice. Check the GRCA activity status first, and pull any hut off daily as required.
Structure
The lake's primary pike ambush cover, holding fish through the open-water season where vegetation meets open water and forage stacks up.
The drowned riverbed cut and the pinch-point where the reservoir narrows back into the Grand; pike relate to this deeper structure, and the murky water there rewards flashy, rattling presentations.
General holding water around the shoreline and islands — transitional edges pike patrol between the flats and the channel.
Regulations
This is a summary, not the legal regulation — confirm current rules with the official source before fishing.