Today I was going into the lake with my good buddy John and his father who was up visiting from Lanark.
After friday, I thought that for this trip I'd try a little more for pike.
The 35 minute flight put us on the lake at 9:00am. It was way warmer where we touched down, the layers came off quick, it was around zero or maybe above, and the sun was beaming.
I led John's dad right to the best hole I had on friday, and John and I started drilling all around him. One thing that a friend had said to do for pike though was to drill a hole about 30 yards away from where we'd be fishing for eyes, so John and I each set up a rod/tip-up/homemade googly goop contraption, out there.
John's dad started things off by catching an eye within... maybe three minutes.
I jigged abit for eyes but was more interested in the pike set-up. John then started catching walleye, and so him and his dad for the rest of our 4 hours seemed to just go back and forth bringing walleye after walleye to the ice. Here's one of John's beauties...
Not long after this photo the bell starts ringing on my pike gadget and I go "SPRINTING LIKE FLOATFISHIN" to it's call. A short battle and up comes a 28 inch pike...not what I'm hoping for I send it back to the depths and re-rig my 4 1/2 inch Williams Whitefish tipped with some leftover Eye entrails from fridays catch.
I walk away awhile, have a beer, jig for eyes, which I still haven't caught any, shoot the breeze with our pilot Clifford... then there's the bell!!!
"SPRINTING LIKE FF" I'm back to it's call, but low and behold it's just a little beggar of an eye that tripped the alarm... back down the lure goes.Time passes and then BING, I get an eye on while jiggin'. Well, right then John yells BUNK your other rod. "SPRINTING LIKE FF" I'm back to it's call. HOLY SH!T... It's something big. I pull up some of my line only to find my lure wrapped around........... John's line. He's already at his tip-up shouting "I'M SPOOLED!" Cut your line. I can't cut it, I've got nothing on me and it's 30lb braid. Quick I take off the lure and get it off his line. Johnny boy then pulls in this nice 12 lb, 36" pike.
By this time it's getting around noon and were leaving soon. The boys are doing really well for eyes and I'm on the board by this point with 4 or 5 and a pike. John's dad, who is 70 years old and a ninja around the hole, had been slaying eyes over the last 3 hours or so and has probably caught close to 20. John's got a good dozen and Clifford's probably batting about 10.
DING DING DING. This time I'm not running like FF. I drop the walleye on the ice that I'm playing and start walking over to my pike rig. Watching the door stopper spring loaded rod tip it doesn't look as though it's really getting all that much play anyways. Then BANG. Tip goes straight down and the reel starts screaming. I'm SPRINTING, but this time faster than FF. I grab the line with bare hands to slow it down and it slices two fingers. John's on his way and I yell at him to bring me a glove. He gets there, I put two on, and can't grip sh!t. Take my left glove off, wrap the line around my right glove, and stop the fish in it's tracks. Then, with little trouble, I bring him in. All 40 1/4 inches of fish.
Quick steps, cause it won't open up to get the hook out I take it to my operating table, where someone snaps this photo.
And here is his majesty.... before he went back to swim again.
MY FIRST TRUE TROPHY NORTHERN.
By 1:00pm after 4 hours fishing I'm sitting like Andy Dufresne on the school rooftop watching his inmate buddies at Shawshank tar the roof of the school on that perfect spring day. John, his dad, Cliff and I are all going home with 4 walleye a piece after another half day of catching about 50 walleye, and, I GOT MY TROPHY.
The ice can go away now.
