desmobob Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I was out fishing on southern Lake Champlain today. I had a good morning, then a very slow mid-day. As it got late in the afternoon, it started to rain steadily. It was calm and quiet and the sound of the light rain put me into a trance. I was working a long weed line, throwing a T-rigged Havoc Pit Boss and pulling out a nice bass here and there. There was lots of time and casts between fish. I was on autopilot, casting and retrieving, and trying to stay awake in the quiet rainy gloom after an early morning and long day of fishing. At the end of a retrieve and before making my next cast, I automatically glanced over the gunwale to make sure my Pit Boss was looking good, the hook point was still skinned, there were no bits of weed hanging on it, etc. Just as I lifted it out to cast, a northern pike that was at least 8 or 10 pounds came rocketing completely out of the water after it. We were eye to eye for a moment before he crashed back in. I swore so loud I'm pretty sure a few of you guys on the eastern side of the Mississippi may have heard me. If his trajectory was a little different, he could have landed in my lap. I'ver been startled a few times before by bass and pike making a grab at a lure just as I'm lifting it out to cast, but this pike really scared the daylights out of me by shooting all the way out of the water an arm's length away! Turns out it was the beginning of a pike-fest with me landing, getting bit off by, or loosing, two or three pike for every bass. I got tired of re-rigging after every bite-off and I finally called it quits before I ran out of hooks, worm weights and baits. I hate loosing gear, but I sure like the way pike fight! The biggest one I hooked (same size as the one that almost gave me a heart attack) jumped almost continuously. As a matter of fact, I had made a cast then tucked the rod under my arm so I could wipe off my glasses when the pike came flying out of the water as he hit the dead-sticked Pit Boss! They are amazing predators. If they got much bigger, I'd probably give up swimming. Tight lines, Bob 3 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted July 10, 2015 Super User Posted July 10, 2015 Great story. Those pike can get your attention. Carry a few light weight leaders or some tie-able leader material with you next time and you will be ready for them. Quote
long island basser Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Cool story, thanks for telling it. Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted July 10, 2015 Super User Posted July 10, 2015 Sweet! Pike on a alpha strike.. Sounds fun to me. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted July 10, 2015 Super User Posted July 10, 2015 I live in Minnesota so we have our share of pike up here.... They can be small or large but all have sharp teeth. On days they go on a feeding frenzy you can go through several break offs and $50-100 in lost lures. I do one of two things: 1) tie on a leader, or 2) use 7-9 inch lures (Dr. Spoon, bigger Bucktails, large Swimbaits, etc). Keeps some of the smaller snot-rockets away while still catching the larger gators and even many of the bigger bass. Quote
Super User lmbfisherman Posted July 11, 2015 Super User Posted July 11, 2015 Great story and sounds like an overall fun day. I live in Ontario and pike is just part of fishing. Funny thing is, this year I haven't caught a single pike yet nor have my lures broken off by them. The last two years I've caught more pike than bass. So I'm a little perplexed on why that is, but it has saved me lots of lures so far. I had a similar situation on Lake Manitouwabing, I was in my Kayak when I threw out my spinnerbait one last time before heading in, literally about an arm's length from the boat I see this massive head come right at my SB. I was in awe by the size of him, I was so in awe that I watched him take my spinnerbait and I didn't set the hook. He took it straight down tried to set the hook but it was too late. THis lake is known for huge pike 40+ inches, being that close to it was a bit scary. Quote
desmobob Posted July 14, 2015 Author Posted July 14, 2015 I was back in the same area this weekend with a friend who rarely goes fishing. He was dangling the T-rigged D-Bomb I had rigged for him over the side while he watched me untangling my cast from a shoreline root ball. Suddenly, a big pike took a slash at it and startled the heck out of him. I thought that was pretty darn funny. Pretty darn funny indeed, until a big pike later ate my new Megabass PopX and swam away with it like it had been his all along. I'm really starting to dislike northern pike in a big way. Tight lines, Bob Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted July 15, 2015 Super User Posted July 15, 2015 A pike and muskie strike can scare the living daylights out of you. What gets me is that sometimes they are not bothered by the boat. Quote
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