First fish of the season swallowed it. I keep wire leaders, but the smallies I'd rather catch don't care for them. Joys of riverbank fishing.
Is that what I've heard called a "cigar"? I don't have a clue, I heard that term used for fishing a long time ago in Wisconsin at Gander Mtn., long story.
The real small northern pike we call hammer handles. That ones bigger than a hammer handle. Nice fish, but yeah. Slimy and toothy.
I actually caught another pike just like that (same fish? but prolly not lol), had a much bigger one that spit the hook, this fat smallmouth and another smaller one, in about three hours.
Nice bronzeback!! Luckily around me I don't have to worry about fish with teeth. I did catch a gar once, but I somehow got him in without him slicing my line. I've only caught 2 pike in my life fishing in MI, but they were both around the size of the one below and pretty fun. My real passion is wade fishing for smallies!
Pike in the 30"+ range are a lot more fun. That smallie put up a lot more fight than the pike that were about 4x the size. I can tell almost immediately what I've hooked. Though I caught a smallish walleye there last fall. I wasn't paying much attention, as it was the right size and shape, and I reached down and grabbed a lip full of teeth I used to use ultralight tackle there, but after losing enough pike I gave up on it. The 30lb braid holds up much better.
Smallmouth do give one heck of a fight, and often a show if they decide to jump. I'm always using 4-6lb Fireline around southwestern OH, but when I go up to Michigan for pike I'll use one of my baitcasters with 14lb mono and a 30lb steel leader. The first pike I ever hooked was when I was largemouth bass fishing without a leader, and I'm sure you can guess that I didn't land that fish. I've never lipped a walleye, but the first time I went trout fishing I lipped one of those. I was ok until the fish started spazzing out and shredded my thumb!
Pike have been wiping out salmon runs in many areas here From ADFG Regs: NORTHERN PIKE 26 GENERAL REGULATIONS (continued) • No limit. • Live Release Prohibited. Anglers are not allowed to release live pike back into the water. Pike not retained for personal use may be disposed of through lawful and safe methods, including returning dead pike to the water. • Northern pike may be taken by spear, sport fishing gear, ice fishing gear, or by bow and arrow (the ar- row must be attached to the bow with a line and the arrow must have a barbed tip). • When fishing through the ice for northern pike, anglers may use two hooks on a single line, provided that both hooks are attached to one single piece of bait. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/r...s/southcentral/2015SCsusitnariverdrainage.pdf
Yeah, that is what it is. They're not cheap, but worse is the fact that that fish is most certain to die. Biggest largemouth I ever caught, over six pounds, had a big rusty worm hook in its jaw. I like to think I did it a favor by catching it again and getting that thing out so it could get on with its life.
I always wonder about hooks and lures when I loose them in a fish. Years ago while bass fishing I caught a 4 lb channel cat that had a stainless steel hook stuck out of his anus, he had to have swallowed it and it went through his whole system before getting stuck coming out. I miles from my truck and wasn't prepared to keep anything that day so I snipped the hook off and turned him loose. Getting caught was probably the best thing that happened to him in awhile!
I've read (I think in the Game and Fish Guide) that if a fish gets hooked too deep, cut the line and leave the hook. Something in the fish dissolves the hook. A bronze colored hook supposedly lasts about a week, they didn't recommend shinny hooks because they last twice as long in a fish. No mention of stainless but I don't see one of those dissolving.
