So close to a 40" !

[msgdan]

Hit the river last night after work for about 90 minutes. Just one lost fish in the first 15 minutes and then made the paddle to another deep spot a short distance away.

First cast to a drop off and I landed a solid 36" pike that took me for a nice ride into the trees and also got a nice gash on my hand on the release. A few casts later, I land a pretty good pickerel in the same spot and then another cast into the same area I hook a monster.

This fish towed me in circles for about 10 minutes and really put my "not so smooth" drag to a test. Every time I got the fish close to the kayak, it took off peeling more line. I am not sure who was more exhausted after the fight, but I was able to get it close to shore for a few pictures.

I wound up with 7 pike and the one pickerel and lost at least as many as I landed.

I love this first shot of the splash with the pike close to the kayak in one of the first picture attempts. You can really see the girth of this fish in the second picture. Trying to get an exact length was not easy, but it was just touching the 40" mark on my paddle.







Danny V