First Pike

jbuote

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So Saturday in New England was interesting for me.. Working on my first boat, so only shore fishing for now..

​Picked up my fishing license Friday, so Saturday was MY opening day.. LOL

​My Fianc?' had the first catch of the day.. Bluegill. Nice!
​Then I got one! Small (about 7-10 inch) Bass..

​Then, Another strike. Thought it was a bass again, but it stayed low.. Fought a bit tougher.. Turns out it was my first Pike!
​Well, I'd never caught a pike before, and my first reaction was "What the heck is THAT!" lol...

​Anyway, I saw the teeth, and was trying to figure out how to unhook it. It was a small one, but still daunting to the unprepared.
​A few moments later, my line snapped and it swam off.

​Never knew there were even Pike where I fished! I looked up info on how to handle and unhook, so next time I know better.
​Man! What an experience though! LOL

​Had to share.. Exciting... Educational... (to me... haha!)
 

sam am I

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Jun 26, 2013
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Very cool, congrats!!!

They can get pretty big too in some parts!! This tubby one seems is lurking around getting bigger.

I have a 30lb, 40" lil guy on the wall ;) ..........yes, WATCH those teeth!!
 
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Old Ironmaker

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Way to go Bud!! Nothing like catching your first ever no matter what fish it is. Many ways to handle a Pike, as long as you keep your fingers out of it's mouth. The best is to lift it with your fore fingers above the gill plate on the bottom of the mouth, takes some bravery the first time. If you are going to get into Pike fishing invest in a Jaw spreader. They can clamp down like a Pit Bull. I'm sure you can see a video on You Tube showing how to handle them. Do not grab them by the eyes as some do. Holding behind the head on smaller fish is fine, not a death grip, firmly but gently. I once saw a newbie try and lip one, not a good idea.

Good fishing.
 

WIMUSKY

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Sounds like you caught a little pike fever at the same time. Cool. Be warned, once you have the fever it's next to impossible to get rid of along with resisting the next hot or cool looking pike lure. Next you'll have to get a tackle box specifically for those lures. Do you have muskies too? If so, you're doomed. Start saving now for pike/musky gear....... :)

I caught the fever over 35 years ago. :fish2:
 

Old Ironmaker

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WIMUSKY, thank goodness I never caught the Musky bug. I don't know how you guys can toss 25 buck lures all day the weight of a brick. I was given a Musky charter as gift for my 60th, The West Arm of Lake Nippising in central Ont. In over 35 years of fishing in 83' I accidently caught a 48" Tiger Musky on Lake Scugog in southern Ontario, Pike/Musky hybrid. It's mounted in my kitchen. That day I went out with Dan Columby I caught no less than 4 nice fish. I had to ice my shoulders for a week. You Esox guys are Cookoo. And I think I have a lot of coin tied up in tackle, nowhere close to you nuts.
 

WIMUSKY

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WIMUSKY, thank goodness I never caught the Musky bug. I don't know how you guys can toss 25 buck lures all day the weight of a brick. I was given a Musky charter as gift for my 60th, The West Arm of Lake Nippising in central Ont. In over 35 years of fishing in 83' I accidently caught a 48" Tiger Musky on Lake Scugog in southern Ontario, Pike/Musky hybrid. It's mounted in my kitchen. That day I went out with Dan Columby I caught no less than 4 nice fish. I had to ice my shoulders for a week. You Esox guys are Cookoo. And I think I have a lot of coin tied up in tackle, nowhere close to you nuts.

Lol....... Ya, a person needs to be a little cuckoo in the head alright. Throwing those lures all day does wear a guy out... Feel the burn! But, we do it just to catch even 1 fish. Sometimes just a follow does it for the day.....

That's about it, guys like you go out for the 1st time and catch a wall hanger and other nice fish! Guys like me who fished for 35 years+ still haven't caught a hanger. Biggest one was 45". Looking for 50"+(about 30lbs). A lot of lakes up here anymore have to be 52"+ to keep one.

Biggest Pike was a 39" caught in Canada on an Ultra-lite fishing for walleyes. That was fun. Looking for a 42"(about 20lbs).....
 

WIMUSKY

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Ok, we need pix. 1st is the musky. These were shot waaaaay before digital. Just retook the pics with my digital. Try not to laugh, it was a long time ago. Ok, laugh...... :laugh:



 

aspeck

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Congratulations on your "first" catch! You didn't hook a fish, it hooked you! LOL!

I usually don't sling lures for gators, I do, however troll for them ... much easier on the arm, till they are hooked. Have caught a few in the 40-50" range. Largest pike are in the same range (in Canada). Buddy had a pike hooked that went under our jonboat (about 50 inch beam) and it's head was on one side and tail could still be seen on the other! It came to the surface just out of reach of the net and I swear it smiled at us, flicked its tail, and was gone. Definitely a fun fish to battle once you get them near the boat. And when they take the lure right beside the boat, that is always such a rush ... dang, I am ready to go fishing now!
 

Panoguy

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Jul 29, 2011
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150
Yeah... pike, baby!!!
I live in upstate NY, Lake Champlain area, pike are plentiful & always a hoot to catch. Get yourself some steel leaders though, pike teeth make short work of mono line!! (as you've discovered)... and watch your fingers when unhooking. I use a pair of pliers on the lower lip, myself.
 

jbuote

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Dang! I never got any notifications that there were more responses here.. LOL...

​Thanks everybody!! (It's been a while I know... Sorry about that! lol)

​Yeah.. I'm looking forward to the next Pike battle.. lol.. So far, that was the only one.. :pout:

​No Idea if there are muskys here or not.. Hmmm.. :D

​Definitely will be fun telling the "Unexpected Pike" story.. hehe..

aspeck Hope you managed to go fishing by now,.,. lol

Steel leaders.... Now that's a good idea! hehe...

Thanks again all!!!
 

82rude

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Wow! nobody else just lips them?Dont mind my typing its a little off with just 1 finger.:lol:
 

KC8QVO

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Jun 19, 2012
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Between posts 9 and 10 there was a 3 month gap in posts.

As far as Pike go - I've been fishing for them, and sometimes not, and catching them since I was real little. In the past 15 years or so I've been fly fishing a lot. Several years back I started tying double hook articulated streamers with thick deer hair meat heads. Catching pike on those, and a fly rod in general, is a blast. My lake rod right now is a 6wt. However, I have been looking at getting a 10wt for several years. The 6 is on the small side for the big streamers but I have special line on it (scientific anglers version with a heavy shooting tip and snakeskin or whatever the bumpy coating is). If it wasn't for the line I wouldn't be able to get the streamers out on that rod. I wouldn't recommend any lighter than an 8wt for big fresh water fishing (lakes, rivers).
 

Janster

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Aug 25, 2017
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Older post - but my husband had a similar situation on an unknown - rather small - electric only lake a couple weeks ago.

We?re so used to fishing jigs & bouncing stuff off the bottom and getting stuck on everything down there..... My husband thought he was stuck on a log that he pulled off the bottom. It was a dead pull......like a large log. That is, until he got it closer to the boat and we could see it. It was a MUSKY!!!
.....OMG!! OMG!! I managed to grab a couple photos while the fish was still in the water. I?ve watched many videos on how to handle picking up a musky - I was ready to grab it but it kept thrashing around. It broke off ...... We were so disappointed!! It a good sized one....36? or so.
So, the next day....we bought a net and have some gloves in the boat!! Never again, will we lose one!!

May you & Everyone have luck to catch those big ones!!
 
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