Further North

...and depending on water temps, it's a good way to kill a great fish.

We fished a local river about two weeks ago - caught 20+ pike in one day, one about that size, but couldn't find a single smallmouth. I went back up to the same river with a different friend last Saturday and that changed to about 50/50 pike and smallies. I fished it with two friends Monday, and it was more like 40/60 pike smallies...

What I found: ""She accomplished this award by catching 10 different species of fish all of trophy size and they can be from anywhere in the state," said Zlokovitz." https://www.wmar2news.com/local/cecil-county-girl-awarded-the-master-angler-milestone Still incredibly impressive, and even more at her age.

No reason to feel sorry, but I appreciate the sentiment. Life is good, and I still fish as often as I want, and more than most.

Allergies.

Very cool! That hour ride to and from fishing would have been tough for me...I'm used to good fishing near lodges.

Any pike caught on light line with no wire are a gift from the fishing gods... Braid is useless for pike and musky...without a wire leader. ...I chase pike and musky a lot...and I've never seen a leader that long get swallowed and cut, must have been pretty cool.

Not without electronics. Without FFS. ...but to answer your question, we'd find out who the real anglers were in a hurry.

I hope so. ...I'm left wondering how we'll deal with it on species like bass and muskies where most of the mortality comes from handling.

https://realtree.com/fishing/mississippi-reduces-crappie-limit-on-popular-lakes-due-to-live-sonar?fbclid=IwY2xjawEVBh5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdFE1Rk05kqaL4CUilo2V9Pk7uqM_r1ZXKCBzdPFHJ9T9Lqdoq-uUnu3pA_aem_pikRQ15MDhMCz7IDD_A39A# Good move, IMO.

Fun story...Thanks for sharing it! ...I'm waiting for you to take up the fly rod for muskies to increase the challenge a bit. 😉

Go with a net. Lip grippers are jaw breakers on big pike. I have a pair of these in each boat for de-hooking big pike and muskies: https://www.menards.com/main/tools/hand-tools/pliers-plier-sets/masterforce-reg-15-triple-joint-needle-nose-pliers/68103/p-1503642864338-c-9156.htm ...going barbless makes it a lot easier, and you won't loose any fish because of it. I have a pair of these in both boats as well: https://www.menards.com/main/tools/hand-tools/shears-snips-bolt-cutters/knipex-cobolt-reg-8-bolt-cutter-with-notch/7131200sba/p-1444437030809-c-1550852385007.htm?exp=false ...way better to cut a hook than tear a fish to heck trying to get a deep hook out...and great to have if you don't de-barb your hooks and someone manages to get hooked with a pike-sized lure.

Not your fault, I should have picked up on that.

I've been using a Shimano Aldebaran for similar size baits. I have it on a ML 7' 9" TFO Inshore rod, works great for smaller tunes up here in Wisconsin.

I had a 28" pike eat a blockhead popper I was fishing with a 6 wt. fly rod a couple weeks ago...8 lb. mono leader, no wire...the hook got caught in the corner of the pike's jaw, away from teeth and gill rakers...landed the fish...but it was pure luck. Tieable wire rules for esox.

...another thing about the single strand nickel-titanium leader material: It'll take hundreds of hits and landed fish without kinking or getting beat up. There's a video on the Knot-2-Kinky website showing how it'll actually stretch and snap back. The real key to using is your connection to the main line - your knots have got to be 100%.

Yessir! That's the Knot-2-Kinky I referenced in my post above: Great stuff. https://aquateko.com/products/knot-2-kinky-single-strand-nickel-titanium-leader-wire I frequently have one leader last a full season, or more. I put my swivel at the end, just before the bait/lure so I don't risk running the swivel through the tip guide. A few things to look out for, for people who have not used this product: It is super thin, and will cut you quickly if you try to grab the leader with a fish on it. Either avoid grabbing the leader...or wear gloves. The tag ends of the knots are razor sharp and will slice you instantly if you grab the leaders around the knots...like when you're switching baits/lures...or unhooking a fish. The knots look awful - they will not snug down...but that's OK...I've had them last all season. You can coat the knots with UV cure material to help with the last two things a bit. I tried it a few times and don't bother any more.

A lot of the tieable wire is much more flexible than heavy mono or fluorocarbon...particularly in the lighter weights. I use a fair amount of 13# and I haven't seen any negative impact on lure action. That's not an argument, or a counterpoint...just some information. Not many people (particularly in the conventional fishing world) are using tieable wire at all, and even fewer are using the light weight wire. Yup.

20 - 25# mono is not enough to stop pike from cutting it. I've seen 50# fluoro cut like is wasn't even there... This is the answer. It's not the weight of the braided line that's the issue, it's lack of a bite guard. ********** I use tieable wire on almost all my rigs, both fly and gear. For my fly fishing rigs - since my leaders are mono - I use an Alberto Knot to tie in about a foot of tieable wire. For my conventional rigs - all using braid - I use an FG Knot to connect the tieable wire to the braid main line (exception: I run single strand Knot-2-Kinky on a couple rigs, that takes me back to the Alberto knot. Tying in tieable wire allows me to put a swivel at the end of the line and avoids any possibility of running a swivel through my guides. I use tieable wire exclusively because I think that by the time you get fluorocarbon leader heavy enough to be effective (at least 80# - 100#) it impacts the action of the fly/bait/lure too much.

We saw high 40s here on June 29th. I love it.

I understand completely. There are differences between fisheries. Lots of contributing reasons. Pressure, habitat, forage...

My #1 bait for muskies: 5" Strike King Smokin' Rooster, Texas rigged over wire with a 1/4" oz. weight. ...to the point that I started makingmy own when Strike King stopped making them.

Perhaps it's a local thing? I don't know, but I do know what I've experienced. We caught one in a river yesterday on an 8" Buford...

I don't know anyone personally who does it, but I know of several who do it...some even publish YouTube video about it... I actively pursue muskies in our rivers and lakes, and in lakes in Canada. The number of muskies I've caught that have eaten "smallie baits" or baits/lures/flies sized for bass dwarfs the number I've caught on big "musky sized" offerings.

I think that's a solid move, and it'll add to the data we have to good decisions moving forward.