johnnyb Posted August 31, 2009 Report Posted August 31, 2009 So, this past weekend, my cousin Bert and I – Bicephalic, on the board – had the opportunity to do a bit of fishing. We only had Sunday free, so we left at 3:30 am, picked the boat up in Muskoka at 6:00, and trailered it down the road to one of my favourite pike lakes. Bicephalic had never fished this particular lake, so I explained that we’d hit the spots I’ve had success with in the past, and leave everything else alone. Time permitting, we’d fish my lake at the end of the day, where the boat is stored, in hopes of walleye. Got to the first spot, and after a few casts, me with the trusty Mepps #5 and Bert with his trendy swim bait , we noticed a good sized swirl in an area we had just covered. A few casts back over there…nothing. However a few minutes later, Bert gets a light hit, that seems to get heavier and heavier…and is in fact his new PB pike!!! 35 inches, and 8.5lbs…what a way to start the day!!! Things went quiet for a while after that…we caught a few small pike…none of them were hitting extremely hard either. Explored a back lake…but couldn’t cast from shore because of too much cover. By noon, I was running out of spots to work, and we were out in the open with a pretty stiff wind and lots of mist working us over pretty good. Mepps 5 was a dud, swim bait had been abandoned in favour of a Booyah boogie bait…but the fish were still just nipping at them. Since the boogie bait seemed to be getting the most attention, I switched to a large willow leaf spinner bait, which I figured would produce a nice thumping vibe similar to that of the boogie bait. It picked up another couple small ones, but nothing worth battling the wind for. We got into a channel that we would have skipped over, except that it was somewhat protected from the wind. Bert was rummaging through his tackle bag looking for something different to try, and thought he’d switch the white trailer he had on the boogie to a red and white…just for a splash of different colour. First cast…about a 27 inch pike! I had ripped the trailer off of my spinnerbait earlier, so I grabbed one of the red grubs, and within minutes had a pike matching Bert’s :D Over the next hour, we drifted over the same spot 5 times, and pulled out what must have been close to 20 lbs of aggressive, greedy pike…all with our red trailers on green baits...whether it was the colour combo, or feeding time, we didn’t care…the action was hot! By the end of the day, we had a few nice pike for the chain, but had run out of time to fish for ‘eyes when we came back. Minor detail though, as we were happy enough to end on a high note. I also recovered someone’s old tube jig in the belly of one pike…no hook in it though. Besides that, there was a largemouth bass about the size of the tube in his stomach. Match the hatch, people!
Cudz Posted August 31, 2009 Report Posted August 31, 2009 Nice. 35" and 8.5 pounds? That is pretty light for a 35" fish. Big head skinny body. That tube jig looks nasty. Congrats on the pb
MCTFisher9120 Posted August 31, 2009 Report Posted August 31, 2009 Congrads dude!! My 26-28" pike was only like 3 1/2lbs. There skinny right now, would love to see some bigger pike being caught this fall. Thanks for sharing, nothing beats a PB! MTBF
GeorgeJ Posted August 31, 2009 Report Posted August 31, 2009 Wow great outing for you, I ate pike for the first time after an outing on Baptiste last week and it is absolutely fantastic tasting fish!
Leecher Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Great report and pics johnnyb Looks like you'll have some good filets out of those pikes Congratulations to cousin Bert on his PB You got to love it when pikes get active and on the feed!!! thanks for sharing Leechman
solopaddler Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice shootin' there bud! Hoping to get a few of those slimers myself this week.
angrypigeon Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 looks like you kept the pb pike. how white-bucket of you. i hope you enjoyed the great day of fishing - will be fewer of them in the future if you continue your current harvesting habit.
Tie Twist Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, the elusive and rare Norhtern Pike...will it ever recover?
Greencoachdog Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 I am getting so sick of looking at your ugly mug in these reports!!! ... when is the lovely Miss Laker Jesse going to start fishing again??? I thought they outlawed those old clip stringers like that?.. where did you get it?... at an antique store??? Congrats on the PB Pike BTW!!!
Bondar Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 looks like you kept the pb pike. how white-bucket of you. i hope you enjoyed the great day of fishing - will be fewer of them in the future if you continue your current harvesting habit. not once have a seen a decent post from you Great fishing , nice catch Congrats
ohhenrygsr Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 oh man i could just imagine the stomach pains and indigestion that pike had lol. Not to mention getting that tube out of that anus
Greencoachdog Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) oh man i could just imagine the stomach pains and indigestion that pike had lol. Not to mention getting that tube out of that anus You've been there done that eh???.. I mean tube in the anus and all... doncha yanno! Edited September 1, 2009 by GCD
ehg Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice job on catching the pike. Just curious if they actually are good to eat, some say they are as good as walleye.
highdrifter Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 What??!! Oh I get it... That must be a brookie lake and you guys are doing a cull!! You must be putting on a big feed.
Paully Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice job on catching the pike. Just curious if they actually are good to eat, some say they are as good as walleye. If you fillet it properly (remove The Y bone) They really are good to eat.. almost like walleye. Just keep them small... FishCrisp and a few brewskies and your off..
Leecher Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice job on catching the pike. Just curious if they actually are good to eat, some say they are as good as walleye. Pike is as good as walleye to eat.... if you had a filet of each and cook it, you would not be able to tell the difference.... same texture once cooked.... white flaky meat Leechman
Greencoachdog Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice job on catching the pike. Just curious if they actually are good to eat, some say they are as good as walleye. Pike are excellent table fare Erik!!! I didn't realize how good they were until I attended my first June OFC G2G at Lakair, there's a Pike tourney on Saturday and then they fry up all the medium sized Pike for a feed... most delicious!!!
bicephalic Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) looks like you kept the pb pike. how white-bucket of you. i hope you enjoyed the great day of fishing - will be fewer of them in the future if you continue your current harvesting habit. Yep - I did. We released several over the 7 lb range over the course of the day (and a multitude more over the course of our fishing careers so far), and from the healthy fishery we were in - a fish on every 5 minutes, I think it can support it. Besides - You'll notice I'm holding the fish with a lip gripper. What you can't see on the other side of the fish is the gill damage caused by a deep hooking (which was bad enough that it wouldn't support it's weight with a gill hold)...but you're right - we should have thrown a half dead giant fish back so the turtle population could thrive too. You not agreeing isn't going to make my barbecued pike steak taste any less delicious. Thanks to everyone for the positive posts. Edited September 1, 2009 by Bicephalic
johnnyb Posted September 1, 2009 Author Report Posted September 1, 2009 LOL -- I was right about to post, cousin...you probably said it better than I was going to Nonetheless, Angrypigeon, whether it helps you to know this or not, I've been fishing that lake for 15 years, and have only watched the pike population improve in size and numbers. Flip through my posts, and you'll see that this doesn't reflect my "harvesting habits"...it's actually quite rare that I'll keep a large haul...but this time around, we planned a nice big fish fry, and even though we released many more than we kept, we ended up with a nice haul. You know what? You should come with us sometime...maybe that's your problem...nobody's nice to you... I am getting so sick of looking at your ugly mug in these reports!!! ... when is the lovely Miss Laker Jesse going to start fishing again??? I thought they outlawed those old clip stringers like that?.. where did you get it?... at an antique store??? Congrats on the PB Pike BTW!!! Thanks Dawg....the LLJ (lovely Laker Jessy) has been shorebound for a while, growing our lovechild...but don't you worry...she'll be back out soon And those chains are brand new!! I just picked 'em up at the Wal-Mart in Wetumpka, just off #231!! When the fish is destined for the pan, it gets the chain When I get a fancy boat like you, I'll hide the chain in my livewell
PikeMolester Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, the elusive and rare Norhtern Pike...will it ever recover? To me here in Montreal....it seems exactly that...elusive
lucabrasi Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice Job!!! Man I should be out there chasing some pike around instead of casting cleos off piers this time of year.
bicephalic Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 To me here in Montreal....it seems exactly that...elusive That's cause all pike are leafs fans dontcha know!
Mike Pike Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Mmmmmmmmmmm Muskoka Pike. I remember chasing 'em when the walleye weren't co-operative. We'd fillet out the y-bones and fry 'em up instead of the walleye. Never heard a complaint. Congratz!
Kinger Posted September 1, 2009 Report Posted September 1, 2009 Nice fish. And pike is just delicious as long as you Y bone it, you are laughin'. Will the pike pop. ever recover haha.
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