Join the Discussion "Tell me your best pike story - biggest, most unusual - even your first, if you remember it!" Ronnie

Related Resources • My First Pike - Pictures • Twice Caught Smallmouth Pictures • My First Smallmouth - article  • My First Smallmouth - pictures

Past Articles • One Year Ago - 10/23/00 - What Is Fall Fishing? • Two Years Ago - 10/25/99 - How To - Fish Spoons • Three Years Ago -10/26/98 - Fishing Line • Four Years Ago - 10/27/97  - Finesse Fishing

One of the fish I hoped to catch in Wisconsin was a northern pike, since I had never caught one.  They don't live where I normally fish  but I have been reading about them all my life and wanted to experience first hand their pull.  Little did I know the first fish I would catch, and the second one, would be northerns.

Warren and I started fishing Boom Lake on the Wisconsin River section the first day I was there and I tried a jig and pig near a dock.  While reeling it in for another cast a pike grabbed it not far from the boat.  That was my first one and I found out first hand how slimy they are and how bad they smell.  I also got a good close look at all those teeth!

A couple of casts later another pike grabbed my jig and pig right beside the boat and I jerked it over the boat when I set the hook.  Neither of these first two had much of a chance to fight since I was using a heavy rod and line and both were about 24 inches long.

On Friday, the first day of the tournament, I was working a chartreuse spinner bait over some submerged weeds when a much bigger pike hit. This one was about 27 inches long and weighed 3 pounds on my digital DeLiar.  Although it was on a fairly heavy rod and heavy line, it fought pretty good.

I caught some more pike on Boom Lake but those three stand out in my memory.  

As soon as I got to Van Vliet Lake I started catching pike.  I caught about 25 during the next six days fishing there and in Crab Lake.  Most came from shallow, weedy Van Vliet but my fastest action came on Crab Lake while fishing for smallmouth.

Fritz and I had gone exploring, looking for places to fish when I spotted a weedy ditch entering the lake.  I stopped and caught five pike on just a few casts.  You could see them coming a long way in the clear water.

My biggest pike of the trip hit here.  It was 28 inches long and weighed 3-2 - no heavy weight, but a  lot of fun to catch.

I miss fishing there where you never knew when something was going to hit. But it is very cold there now - already snowing some, I hear, and maybe I don't miss it that much!

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