My wife and I took some friends out in the Lowe a couple of nights ago. I talked them into letting me troll for 2o minutes around an island that usually holds some nice fish. I tied on my favorite jointed Rapala and began a quick troll in 6 feet of water.
Within a couple of minutes, a huge pike ‘fell’ for my Rapala and the fight was on! After about 10 minutes, 
my friend, Matt, scooped it into my rubber meshed net. I was using my dad’s old fishing rod with a front drag dial on the spool. Having a drag ‘dial’ on the front of a reel is absoulutely ridiculous! It is so awkward to dial in your setting – especially in the heat of the fight. I love Shimano’s Fighting Drag reels where the drag control is ideally located at the back of the reel.
Despite my reel issues, the fish made it into the boat and I estimated it to be 12 – 15 pounds with the length at around 39 inches. Fortunately, I had pinched the barbs back on my treble hooks and easily removed the hooks from the pikes toothy mouth – without pliers!
Go barbless baby!
We took some quick photos and returned the brute back to the lake. There is some video footage coming. Please visit again.
The moral of the story…in the early evening try some shallow water trolling (6ft) with your favorite pike lure. Many Lake Vernon pike have have fallen to the ‘charms’ of my favorite Rapala.
Actually, I was just able to upload the video to YouTube. The only problem is that the sound is not working duento technical issues. The video is 11mb.
well…maybe I should go with the majority…thx Mike!
ya i would have to agree with Barry ,that fish is around 7 pounds . girth is alright sized but it only looks to be about 29″ and barbless is the way to go if you intend to c&r
Barry, great comments! Thanks for your visit. I still stand by my estimate though : )
nice fish……….nice video and a great idea on the barb less hooks……only thing….your pike was no more than 6-7lbs.