The one about the big PIKE

I Like Big Pike and I Cannot Lie

“You know what I really want to fish for this weekend?” I ask my husband Sean at dinner Friday night before we set up our fishing plans. “What?” He replies. “I really want to catch a big pike, it’s been awhile, and I want to switch it up this weekend!” 

Saturday morning January 11^th Sean, his brother and I set off to Mille Lacs Lake, our favorite fishery in our home state. It was a cold morning, the temperature was 16 below zero. We headed out to a rocky point where we knew we could set up to fish for walleyes and maybe just maybe catch the elusive Esox Lucius (Northern Pike). Jigging and fighting a fish with a rod is the absolute best but increasing the chances of catching that trophy fish with a few other lines out (one extra line per angler in MN) with either a tip-up or Snare rod is even better to maximize the coverage below the ice! We rigged the snares up for walleye and set up my tip-up with a 9in sucker minnow because “go big or go home right?” We set the tip-up at around 18-19 FOW where there was structure, where we knew one could be lurking around. We set the sucker minnow suspended at 9ft up in the water column to hopefully lure a hungry pike in that could be feeding up looking for baitfish. I jumped in the pop-up to warm up and grab my Black Reign for jigging when all of a sudden Sean yells “Flag!” I almost fall tripping on the hub house door that I didn’t zip all the way open before running out! “Already?!” The tip-up was only set up for less than 10 minutes before a pike fell victim. Who doesn’t get excited when the flag is up and the reel is spinning?! I slowly gave slack to the line and then gently starting pulling up until I felt resistance then set the hook! “It’s on!” My heart was pounding out of my chest! The fish felt heavy but wasn’t putting up a huge fight until she got close to the hole, my eyes went wide “It’s a giant!” by then she took off and did a few runs. I held my breath… don’t lose her…don’t lose her… I kept telling myself. Every angler’s nightmare is losing that trophy caliber fish right at the hole. After what seemed like forever her head eased up the hole and I let out a sigh of relief. She looked like an alligator emerging from the depths. I lifted her out of the water and grabbed hold of her, what an absolute beautiful fish! Sean ran over with the bump board, 41” my biggest pike to date! After a quick photo I placed her back into the hole and with a quick splash of her tail she was off to hopefully be caught again someday!  Such an incredible experience and an absolute blast! You can’t beat moments like this out on the hard water, especially spent with family. It never hurts to put out that extra line because you never know when that trophy is going to swim by and eat! 

Sarah Amy

JT Outdoor Products Contributor