Last week, I decided to head back to a spot on the river I was convinced had to be good, but had never had much luck at. I casted for a while with no love and was pretty much zoning out while slow rolling the swimbait along the bottom when I thought I hit a snag. I lifted the rod tip to try to pop it free and my drag started screaming as the fish ran a good 25 yards across the river.
I immediately knew it was a big fish and after a few minutes I had her at my feet. She had completely inhaled the 8 inch swimbait I was throwing.
Luckily there was a stump right next to me, so I got my camera set up, grabbed her (I didn't register how big the fish was until I realized how easily my hand slid under the gill plate and I saw the size of its fins when I took it out of the water haha), snapped a few pictures and got her back in the water. I forgot the measuring tape at home but marked the length of the fish on my rod. When I got home and measured the length it was just over 38"
I went back to the same stretch in the canoe a few days later and stuck this nice pickerel in the same exact spot as the pike.
