How much mud is too much?

[justin1982]

Earlier today I did some pike fishing. I landed a nice 25 incher, which leads me to my question. The fish was landed safely, quickly and cleanly. While returning it to the water, I slipped and completely busted my ass. The pike landed in the mud and then flopped itself over, completely covering it's self in Passaic River mud. I was very upset so despite the softball that was growing off my ankle, I grabbed the pike and got him back in the water. I resuscitated him for at least a minute and he slowly swam off and disappeared. I waited for a couple of minutes to see if he bellied up and he didn't. I then hobbled home to get some ice. Will this pike survive? It wasn't a long fight and he was out of the water 30 seconds tops...