Not much news worth covering today, so I figured I would write up about my fishing adventure today. In Northeast Wisconsin it's been too warm for ice fishing but too cold for shore fishing so I hadn't really planned on going fishing while I was on vacation. However, today was somewhat decent out, 45 degrees with lower wind, so I decided to go for awhile this afternoon.
As you can see I managed to catch what is the biggest fish of the year for me. That's a Northern Pike and a fair sized one as well. I was, of course, fishing for Walleyes, but, of course, I didn't catch any of those. Instead I hooked this fish while using a fire-tiger rippin' rap at a warm water discharge near the mouth of the Fox River as it empties into Green Bay.
It was a strange fight. Despite the size of the fish, it did not really fight that well, to the point where it didn't even pull any drag. It was more like fighting a big stick that occasionally shook its head. Pike can be good fighters so I was surprised that the 25 incher I caught earlier this year put up more of a fight then this one, epically since I was using a relatively light rod with only 6lbs test line. It took me awhile to get him in and then I realized that landing him was going to be a problem. My net was big enough but it wasn't long enough for the elevated position I was in. A fellow fisherman had a longer net but it was way too small for it. I eventually had to walk it the rocks you can see behind me where a third fisherman helped me net it.
Since I spent about five minutes fighting the fish and another five minutes landing him, unhooking him and getting my picture taken, I did not take a weight or measurement. Given the picture and the fact that my handspan is about 3.5 inches (my hands aren't big) I am guessing that this pike was about 35 inches and around 10 pounds, give or take a couple of inches and pounds either way.
I don't think this is a personal best as I caught some pretty nice fish when I went to Canada a couple of times when I was a kid. But it's certainly the biggest fish I caught in 2023 and rivals some of the big catfish I caught the last couple of years. And given how vague my memories are of when I fished in Canada, perhaps it IS the biggest Northern Pike I have ever caught.
I was pretty surprised to catch it where I did. I have been fishing that stretch of the Fox River for a couple of years now and I haven't seen a single Northern Pike get caught. I assumed that it was either a Muskie, a big Walleye or even a big Flathead Catfish, not a Pike. I shouldn't have been too surprised though since Pike can be river fish too and I have caught them in other parts of the river. Plus, baitfish probably like the warm-water discharge where I was fishing, and I am sure they drew other fish to the are.
I didn't have any luck afterwards and didn't stay long. My shoulder was a bit sore from trying to land the thing and my rhythm was thrown off by being excited. I was doing a very slow finesse rest and rip style retrieve and I was so keyed up I couldn't really do it anymore, though I might have had one more bite. The rain moved in and made it a moot point anyways, but still, considering that I thought for sure I was going to be skunked landing the biggest fish of the year has to be considered a success right?
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