Today's pike

[salmotrutta]

Caught this pike in pretty deep water, which made for an excellent fight. Here's a clip I shot towards the end with my blackberry:



Where you see him disappearing in the video, he is taking some deep runs. No net and no bank, I had to land him with my bare hands so I made sure he was at least somewhat tired out.

Unfortunately, the spoon ended up being very deep on this guy. Even with forceps, I was unable to safely remove the treble, and as such I gave the fish to a couple guys that I saw fishing nearby.

They are getting chunky now.

 

[buck]

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[salmotrutta]

how do you keep your blackberry so steady?

Not sure, it's a Torch, if that helps explain at all. I have it flipped up when I am filming. Also, at that point, I had already fought the fish for some time, so I was holding my rod with one hand, and the blackberry with the other, letting the drag handle the fish.

 

[grubman]

Another great pike. Looks like the cold is effecting it compared to summer pike that fight really hard and jump, that's just my guess.

Nice one, thanks for sharing.

 

[dockmuskie]

Nice catch!

 

[FishingNoob]

Nice pike. You did well.

 

[Joel52]

Sometimes with Pike it's easier to lift open the gill, pull the hook out through that opening, take the lure off and close the swivel snap to pull empty back up through the mouth. Released many Pike using this method. With larger pike jaw spreaders work well also.

 

[buck]

Not sure, it's a Torch, if that helps explain at all. I have it flipped up when I am filming. Also, at that point, I had already fought the fish for some time, so I was holding my rod with one hand, and the blackberry with the other, letting the drag handle the fish.

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[rich_ace_G]

I think you're on to something here buck.

 

[salmotrutta]

so you weren't actually reeling while filming?

I honestly can't remember, I probably did reel at times. I didn't bust out of the blackberry right away though. This pike put up a good fight, and I hooked him in deep water near the beginning of my retrieve (far away from where I was standing). I filmed the last quarter or so of the battle, at that point it still had some spunk but was more controllable. I had to grab him out of the water with my bare hands and thus wanted him to be fairly tired out. I was holding the rod and fighting the fish with my left hand, and filming with my right. You can see the line at one point in the clip, because I am fighting the pike by angling (no pun intended) my rod to guide the fish towards me, but it's still making runs and so I am fighting it but not reeling constantly.

 

[Joel52]

so you weren't actually reeling while filming?

I think that's what happened from what I've read also. If you look at the video, the lure is not yet swallowed but as it was "played" out, the Pike being aggressive continued to swallow. Good lesson here - if the intent is release, get it out and back in the water quickly and if the fish shakes loose in the process, so be it. Nothing will happen that wasn't going to happen anyway. But if you keep it on the line as was the case here, little or no chance of live release without a bit of work, eh...

 

[salmotrutta]

Sometimes with Pike it's easier to lift open the gill, pull the hook out through that opening, take the lure off and close the swivel snap to pull empty back up through the mouth. Released many Pike using this method. With larger pike jaw spreaders work well also.

I'll have to bring my jaw spreaders with me next time, and I will try the gill opening method next time it's very deep. I should also get a pair of pliers that will cut through the hooks, I have lots of extra trebles and snipping them off should make removing them much easier when they're deeply embedded in the pike's mouth.

 

[salmotrutta]

As for landing it sooner, there was no bank and I had to reach into the water off the platform I was standing on and grab it (no net). I couldn't do that until the fish was fought out. I never use fluorocarbon leaders and I'm usually very quick to land a pike, bass, walleye or trout. This was an exception because I had to reach into the water off a platform and grab it.

The treble is in the exact same spot in the video as in the pics. The spoon itself has a lot of wiggle room because of the large split ring. I remember, because at one point I tried lifting the fish out of the water by the spoon. In the video, the spoon is hanging out of the pike's mouth, whereas in the pic it's angled differently so it looks deeper. The treble hasn't moved. Pike have large mouths, and the sides of their mouths are very long.

This was I believe the 3rd of 50+ pike that I have caught at this location since July, to be harvested. You can catch 5 to 10 pike in an afternoon at this location, ranging from baby size to 40". It's saturated with pike, and keeping (or in this case, giving away) a few pike will hopefully not negatively impact their very healthy population.

I think I have been fairly clear on this. Please direct any further questions or criticisms to me via PM.

 

[Joel52]

As for landing it sooner, there was no bank and I had to reach into the water off the platform I was standing on and grab it (no net). I couldn't do that until the fish was fought out. I never use fluorocarbon leaders and I'm usually very quick to land a pike, bass, walleye or trout. This was an exception because I had to reach into the water off a platform and grab it.

The treble is in the exact same spot in the video as in the pics. The spoon itself has a lot of wiggle room because of the large split rink. I remember, because at one point I tried lifting the fish out of the water by the spoon.

I think I have been fairly clear on this. Please direct any further questions or criticisms to me via PM.

hmmm... looks like it's deeper in to me. In the dock picture it's buried. This one, not so much. Not trying to start something here, just sayin' is all. I've caught and handle a lot of Pike.

 

[salmotrutta]

hmmm... looks like it's deeper in to me. In the dock picture it's buried. This one, not so much. Not trying to start something here, just sayin' is all. I've caught and handle a lot of Pike. View attachment 10525

What you are seeing there is the split ring slack + angle of the spoon. If you've caught a lot of pike, which I'm not doubting, you know the sides of the mouths extend very far down.

Now, to repeat, I tried getting the pike out of the water by grabbing the spoon, which was easy to grab. I then proceeded to physically grab the pike itself, because I didn't want to lift it out by the spoon.

But I do appreciate the nitpicking :roll:

 

[Joel52]

You're welcome. We're all on here to learn.
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/2010/02/gill-plate-grab-catch-release-pike-without-net

 

[CanadianAngler87]

I see what salmo is talking about, in the pic the lure is laying in the length of its mouth. In the screen capture it hanging out the side of its mouth.
Giving the appearance the hook is further inside. But its definatly in the same spot.

 

[theDL]

Wow, this is the 1st time I've ever seen anyone cause a stink about someone keeping a pike. Who cares? It's not like he wasted the fish, or killed it senselessly. Someone ate it, no big deal. I keep most of the pike I catch (within limits), once you learn how to clean them it's easy and they are one of the best tasting fish in our waters. It's better than halk-killing the thing ripping a deep hook out and tossing it back.

@Salmotrutta - you ever try eating pike? It's great! BUT - if you're trying to practice C&R pike fishing needle nose pliers, teeth spreads and a net are a MUST

 

[NADO]

Looked like helpful suggestions to me, playing out a fish is never good if it is to be released. There is definately nothing wrong with keeping pike, they are delicious as long as someone else cleans it for me lol.

 

[salmotrutta]

I see what salmo is talking about, in the pic the lure is laying in the length of its mouth. In the screen capture it hanging out the side of its mouth.
Giving the appearance the hook is further inside. But its definatly in the same spot.

Thanks for not scenarioizing and knowing how to read.