Labor Day Weekend Monster Pikefest

[JDTuna]

Headed out on Saturday on the hunt for one of my favorite freshwater species: northern pike. I hit one of my spots that’s been producing well, and quickly caught a decent sized fish, but not the one I was looking for. It took a bunch more casts before I got another hookup, and this one felt like the right one. It powered me deep into a snag, but somehow I managed to pull her back out. Once I got her to the bank, I grabbed the leader and reached down to get a hold of her gill plate, which is my normal protocol. However, she wasn’t having any of it. She kept thrashing and I was having trouble getting a hold of her. I noticed she was barely hooked. She kept thrashing, and the hook popped out. I wasn’t about to lose the fish at this point. I jammed my hands into the muddy water, and tried again to get ahold of her. Then, she managed to put one big tooth deep in my finger. I figured I wasn’t going to get ahold of the gill plate, so I just bear hugged the fish and put her on the bank. The fish was a tank.









After I released her, I headed to get lunch and wash out the bite. I got to the second spot and caught a couple more fish in short order, including another beast.