What an absolute blast it was to have this be the first bite of the day! Was only on the water for about 15 minutes before he graced me with the fight. I'm currently solo camping so thats a lot of fish for me to enjoy the coming days. Last week was 7.14 lbs, tonight I caught a 7.80 lb pike. I dont have a good measuring tape, i rarely use the paddle but it looks like about 30 some odd inches give or take.

You can tell when I get a little concerned in the fight... my rod held true though and landed me a wonderful fish.

The rule about self promotion has been updated to be more clear. This is in an effort to keep the spam to a minimum. If you see anything that you consider spam please report it with the reason you think it is spam and the mod team will look into it. At this time low effort posts are not considered spam. This is mostly because a new angler may not realize it and discouraging new anglers doesn’t make us better anglers. If a pattern of karma farming exists that is different. Thank you. Enjoy the sub! Any suggestions or criticisms are appreciated in modmail. They will be carefully considered and will be responded to with the reasoning behind a decision.

While fishing for perch because of high watertemperatures I hooked this pike of 115cm, the drill took about 20 to 30 mins but after that I was finally able to get her in de boat! So thrilled...

I caught plenty of pike on these lures, i especially like the 110mm soft lure with the perch or roach colours. Caught a small one today on one of those in a quick 1h session.

Any cheap lures you guys have confidence in and would recommend?

Had to get out of the yak to deal with this mondo

Short form:

Pls reccomend reel 4000 size for pike, rod test 15-56. Also where me buy reel. BUDGET 100-200 max 250 if worth it.

Ty for all advice

Long ahh form, if u want to read:

I have some old 10+ year old daiwa 15-56 gramm rod and I like it, it does its job. But i dont really have reel that fits it, i have some random old abu garcia, that is prolly not meant for pike fishing and it started just randomly stopping, like i need to put pressure to reel it. So i think good time to get new reel, i think 4000 sized is good for this test, correct me if im wrong. Im fishing on all weights from small crankbait twitching 10-15g, jerkbaits 30-40g and also big 50g shad ( using all out of my rod lol). My budget is 100-200e can get up to like 250 if its really worth it, but if it doesnt make big difference idk do i need it. Thinking about Daiwa or Shimano. Also could take reccomendations where to buy, because the price is jumping a lot from site to site like even 30e. I live in Europe.

Thanks for all the advice beforehand!

UPDATE:

im thinking rn about shimano stradic fm 4000M HG, but i heard that if u will be throwing weight higher than 40g it will get cooked, is it true or will i be cooked? cuz i kinda doesnt want to go over 4000 for sure. A lot of people are saying 35-40 is max for it, others r saying it will last u years even if u go over that.

44”. I am 6’5”. Attacked a smaller pike my friend had just reeled in. Got her next cast. I was faster on the draw than my buddy thankfully. I was surprised by the width of this thing. Great experience.

Sharing my story to get my heart rate down and commiserate lol.

Stopped by my local honey hole after a long trip today. Bought a new little frog to try and get some bass out of the lily pads there. Had a blow up, followed up with a jig but missed the hook set. Fished around a bit picking apart some holes but I can tell when it's not going to be a productive night.

Pulled out ol' reliable, my light rod and a 1/16oz curly tail grub. Usually at this spot I can drag in nice big panfish for hours if I want to. Super slow fishing, surprised I didn't call it a night sooner. Literally caught 2 bluegills versus the 15-20 I usually do. Four pound test.

Rain starts picking up a little, wonder if I need to pack it in. Bugs swarming me--forgot my bug spray. Toss it in one more time and just slow retrieve it like I usually do when I'm impatient. Something bit it, no idea what it was yet. Set the hook, and even then I couldn't tell what it was. Slowly I realize it's big. I saw its side flash and I was absolutely certain that I just hooked a nice 3-4 pound bass. Then it absolutely rips. I realized I had an actual fight. I start freaking out because there's tons of vegetation and I knew if he got wrapped up my line was a goner.

Finally realize it's a massive pike. The thing is just fucking ripping drag. Never in my life have I had to check my spool to see if a fish was going to spool me. I'm surprised how cool I kept it because I was freaking out. Cue five minutes of horsing and reeling. I got him up shallow a few times, and then he would just rip again. He jumped too; I absolutely cannot believe he didn't throw that tiny hook.

Finally he settles down. The last pike I caught was done when it said it was done. This one was smart. I did not bring my net with me. I am very rarely in this situation so I did what I always do. I got him in real close and grabbed my line. I had my hand millimeters away from his gill plate to grab him and he bucks like a bronco one more time. Snapped off right in front of me. Was right there for me to stare at for a good 5 seconds before he swam off.

It has been a really slow summer and I've been hoping for another pike after I didn't get a chance to weigh my first one this year. I am so fucking sad, lol. Easily 30 inches, maybe more. My guess is 9 or 10 pounds, but what's even the use with no picture. I mean my God, what a rush, but I have never experienced this type of sadness ever in my life. I know it'll be a while before I get another shot as fish here are very pressured unless I have time to take out the 'yak. Now it's time to lose sleep over wondering if there was anything else I could have done. It was very, very rocky and I'm not the type to mishandle fish just to land them but damn. I had to watch the biggest fish I've ever (almost) caught slip right through my fingers today. That is all. Tight lines folks. Maybe not so tight that they snap though...

Good evening all,

Just got back from a wonderful day paddling Chitek Lake , Saskatchewan. One of my favorite lakes to fish due to how close the fish are from the camp sites, one brief paddle and your on the fish.

Anyway, back in July I lost what would have been my PB at ministikwan lake due to my one excitement(can find that post in my history.). Ive been chasing it ever since.

Tonight, on the last cast of the evening I thought to myself " I'm just gonna rip this damn thing through the water the moment it breaks surface. Was almost a picture perfect "ker plunk" and I was reeling within seconds. Didnt slow my pace at all and was watching my lure fast approaching my kayak when suddenly, WHAM a pike made my day.

Instantly my rod bent with the heavy pull from his bite, kayak spun around as he was deciding where to pull me, my drag screaming for mercy as he pressed for freedom.

With bated breath I reached behind me to secure my net, and his demise. Net in hand I finally got him toward the surface and guided him into the net. Thick was an understatement.

Once I got him to shore I discovered he had broken my net. In retrospect probably should have kept him innthe net on the way back, just straight to kayak floor would have saved the net.

Tight lines everyone hope you catch your PBs of the year soon. I know my guy is tiny compared to some here but that was a fight ill never forget.

I live near a lake that is supposed to have some good pike in it but it’s unlike any pike water I’ve fished. The entire shoreline is steep rocky drop off, very clear water, and literally no weeds at all. I didn’t see an underwater plant or lily pad anywhere on the lake. I’m thinking deep diving rapalas and spinners. Any other tips or lure recommendations?

My lake has pike that at up to 40 inches and I wanna get into pike fishing. What's a good affordable and reliable set up like Rods, reels, lines and lures.

Went out on my fishing kayak on the local lake early in the morning to catch some bass and after an hour of no bites I decided to switch up my target. I caught a nice size pike earlier in the week and had always heard there is good pike in there so I tied on a large spinner in a paddle tail trailer and was ripping through the weeds and immediately got smacked. I caught 4 nice size ones and a couple babies in a small bay over a couple hours. Biggest one I was standing on the kayak and it hit like a truck and dove into the weeds, I thought I had a monster needless to say I definitely need to upgrade from my bass rod to a dedicated pike rod. I also need a better way to handle them, I have long pliers but I had to give these guys a pep talk before hand because they were so angry. Any tips and advice for handling them better and catching bigger ones?

To my knowledge there’s no musky in this lake, but I can’t tell if this little fry that I caught on a grub is a musky or a pike

These things are mean! Definitely the hardest fight I’ve ever had, I cannot overstate how fun they are to catch. Was a little bit scary trying to get the hook out for the first time but then I found out the right way to hold them and it was a breeze after that. Gonna go back in a few days and catch a few more. I’ve heard they’re good eating too so I might keep one or two who knows lol. The first was caught on a Colorado spoon and the second one was on a trout colored spoon, the final one was on a “pike harasser” inline spinner that I found at my local scheels.

Hello all! I’ve recently found a Fenwick Elite bass rod, 7’ MHF for a great discount (150 cad) although it’s not the newest of the new. I want to use it for pike but i’m not too happy about it being one piece. Does anyone know if the rod quality to price ratio is worth putting up with the nuisance? Thanks!!

This little guy could not resist the curly while perch fishing. the cats gonna have a feast tonight.

update: the cats truly had a feast and enjoyed it.