North NJ Pike

[rjw6375]

Out fishing Sunday afternoon. Ten minutes after I leave my buddy sends me this picture. I'm taking part of the credit because I drilled the hole haha.

[FASTEDDIE29]

My friends were out there as well today. I have that pic in my phone. That's a monster. My buddy's bro had one on a tip-up, got it to the hole. Mikey goes to gill grab it and poof, it was gone. That fish in the pic is 20 lbs. My boys didn't land there trophy but they got to see the head. Big MONSTERS in that lake. AMAZING catch by the angler in the pic.

[basspilot]

Very nice fish there. Any measurements?

[Duck or Bleed]

We where fishing 100 feet from him when I heard him yell I have more pictures that fish was a monster

[Duck or Bleed]

Congrats!!!!

[rjw6375]

So pissed I missed seeing it by a couple minutes. Incredible fish

[FASTEDDIE29]

So pissed I missed seeing it by a couple minutes. Incredible fish

LOL! Why did you leave?

[rjw6375]

Why does every guy leave... My buddy's wife needed him home haha

[ScowardNJ]

haha, when that thing hit the ice all we heard was "HOLY $H!T" from across the lake. On the jig no less!!! Beautiful fish!

[Mikey topaz]

Lol poor guy couldnt even hold it up! Ours wouldnt fit through the damn hole! Ha my hands on its gills ughhhhhhh! Nice fish man congrats

[The Birdman]

Wow I think my buddy and I borrowed your auger out there today and we went to the other side of the lake.

Awesome fish!!

[Bicey]

That's a sick fish.....congrats

[iceehot6766]

Dayum!!!!!!

[acaravaglia]

Big Pike - great catch.

[gary939]

I am the lucky man to land the pike.......it was driving me crazy that I did not measure or get the weight of the fish......so after pouring over the pictures taken I found a marker in the picture..........my 13.5 inch shoe

I adjusted the ruler image to my shoe size and have come up with a length of 50 INCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some additional research on calculating fish weight by length and have come up with an approximate weight between 35 and 40 lbs.

And yes I was having a hard time holding the fish up after my FIRST day EVER ice fishing …..Close to 7 hrs. on the ice and 20 8 " auger holes before pulling in my prize

Never thought I would enjoy ice fishing as much as I did I AM HOOKED!!!!!!!

Good luck to all on future trips

[iceehot6766]

I am the lucky man to land the pike.......it was driving me crazy that I did not measure or get the weight of the fish......so after pouring over the pictures taken I found a marker in the picture..........my 13.5 inch shoe

I adjusted the ruler image to my shoe size and have come up with a length of 50 INCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some additional research on calculating fish weight by length and have come up with an approximate weight between 35 and 40 lbs.

And yes I was having a hard time holding the fish up after my FIRST day EVER ice fishing …..Close to 7 hrs. on the ice and 20 8 " auger holes before pulling in my prize

Never thought I would enjoy ice fishing as much as I did I AM HOOKED!!!!!!!

Good luck to all on future trips

Welcome to the site Gary!!.....There are alot of great guys here who all share the same passion for fishing......And a good variety of anglers that fish from everything from Trout to Muskies and everything in between......FISH ON!!!!

[Skunk City]

Was great meeting you and AWESOME seeing that fish. There are some monsters lurking in there. Congrats on your Jersey trophy.

FWIW, NJ state record Northern Pike caught a few years back stands at 30lbs8oz and 46" long. Your fish was a monster, but no state record. Google "50 inch Pike" and you will see what a giant looks like. I landed a measured 38.5" Pike a few years back and your fish was very similar in length and width of my fish. Here's a pic of that fish.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h252/QuikSilverSRT4/IMG_136229217079067_zps8d97b609.jpeg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/QuikSilverSRT4/media/IMG_136229217079067_zps8d97b609.jpeg.html)

[Mikey topaz]

As stated above again very respectful fish man !!! Just to give you a better idea as to what your fish might have been or weighed,( im thinkin just in case you wanted to get a mount as close to possible) this first pic a muskie anthony caughtfew weeks ago tapped out at 46" the second a bass i got this spring weighed on a certified scale day after was 38 lbs 12oz again congrats on your trophy bud!http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag82/fvkathyk/Mobile%20Uploads/ED10C837-5308-4FC9-ADB4-F05FE37E1C94_zpsntwutx22.jpg (http://s1300.photobucket.com/user/fvkathyk/media/Mobile%20Uploads/ED10C837-5308-4FC9-ADB4-F05FE37E1C94_zpsntwutx22.jpg.html)http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag82/fvkathyk/Mobile%20Uploads/81F088B3-DD1E-47D0-B51C-00C5F27B3BB3_zpsezqbpfbc.jpg (http://s1300.photobucket.com/user/fvkathyk/media/Mobile%20Uploads/81F088B3-DD1E-47D0-B51C-00C5F27B3BB3_zpsezqbpfbc.jpg.html)

[liveitup1.75liter]

That's what I been after!! Does she have a FAT friend I can hook up wit

[Skunk City]

That's what I been after!! Does she have a FAT friend I can hook up wit

The fat chicks always work for it :p.

[saxmatt]

This is turning into a fish story thread :D Nice fish Skunk and Gary! Both look like upper 30" fish, probably around 38" 15lbs. You switching to heavier leaders now skunk?

[Skunk City]

This is turning into a fish story thread :D Nice fish Skunk and Gary! Both look like upper 30" fish, probably around 38" 15lbs. You switching to heavier leaders now skunk?

I've yet to have an issue with the 30lb Yo-Zuri Flouro leader I've been running for the passed year or so, but want add a 50lb-60lb to my arsenal to run on my live bait setups. Any suggestions? The beast MikeyTopaz's buddy lost at the hole last weekend was on I believe a 20lb flouro. I think the lesson we all learned was to stop caring out smaller fish seeing our leader and concentrate on landing the big ones without bite offs.

[saxmatt]

Try 60lb pink yo-zuri and retie if I get any nicks. The pink disappears better than clear floro. In open water you can get away with less because you can set the hook immediately and the flex of the rod takes a lot of the tension off of the leader. Through the ice the fish have time to get the bait down their throat by the time you get to the flag so your leader will be in their mouth for the fight. When you're using a hand line you don't have anything to absorb the shock like you have when using a rod. You have to be especially careful around the hole when they start going nuts. The leader can get cut on the ice or by their teeth when they start spinning. Always grab the mouth with some kind of gripper or grab it by the gill plate while the head is still in the hole. The pike weighs nothing in the water but if you pull a third of the fish out like you did in the video there is a lot more weight on the leader and it's much easier for the pike to break you off with that extra pressure.

[saxmatt]

Don't worry about small fish being turned off by the leader either. My buddy and I got 45 pike in 3 days first ice last year using 60lb floro, I'd say at least 30 of them were under 30". There's no need to go with lighter line.

[saxmatt]

All those fish hit dead bait too ;)

[Skunk City]

Good stuff Matt, I appreciate it. We're trying to get out hands on some big dead bait for this weekend. What kind of set-up do you rig them on?

[saxmatt]

Single 3/0 to 5/0 octopus hook. Try Chinese supermarkets for big dead bait