[catfishonthelake]

Yes, any pike counts. It's gotta be, since I have to go after work and can't put a whole day in. If I have to count a 9-incher, oh well. Musky will be tough, but I think I'm going to fish from 6am until after dark. I hope I get rewarded. If I get that far, I have a few holes where a pickerel is a sure bet, hell, I may even buy live bait for the pickerel if I make it that far. I haven't had too much luck with the musky on Hopatcong yet. I had my buddy lose one at the boat next to Sister Island in Byram and I had one chew the line off after he attacked the biggest herring I've seen in my life off the Yacht Club. I've spent a few hours on that lake and I see where guys like Dante and Webguy do their trolling, but that lake can be crazy on weekends so I'm going to try a smaller body of water that although it probably doesn't have great numbers of big fish, has lots of smaller ones. BTW, I've never caught a musky in open water, only through the ice. It would be my first, but I haven't targeted just musky that often. Even given that fact, I still think I can swing it.