Pike Hunt.

.......weapon of choice.

My mother wanted a pike. We have been out of fish for a while. I haven't been out much at all lately. When I have, I have only been getting into bass..............which I am always reticent to cull. Usually, I will string up some of the better perch.......however, they just haven't been where I have.

............destined for the pot.

My mother has been asking for a pike for a while. Sole reason being, Pike makes excellent fish stock. Better than any other fish we've tried. So, my aim was to get one one on the stringer. We don't waste anything. If its  not on the fillets, its trimmings in a bag, and the rest for stock. To that end, a wonderful website for recipes is Hank Shaws award winning 'Hunter-Angler-Gardener-Cook' He is a James Beard award winner for his blog. For trimmings, recipes like his Laotion Fish Balls or German Fish Meatballs  are amazing. His recipes have all proven to be beyond delectable. The website is http://honest-food.net/. A standard here is grilled fish with his Avocado Salsa, or Basil Vinaigrette.

Wish I could tell you the name of the lake I fished. I don't know it. It does not appear named on maps. It does have a name.............the guy who told me it was a pike lake also gave me the name.........but I cannot recall it at this time. It was my first time on the waterway. As far as I know, it is only pike in the lake.......so like Porridge in that respect. What is really nice, is that it is sheltered from the ( as of late ) prevailing winds.
In the pic below you can see a mirror surface on the water. 30 yards in front of me is Esten Lake. It had a ton of chop on it. So much so that I wouldn't have gone out on it.

Grilled Pike w/Avocado Salsa, Indian Pilau rice and
sauteed yellow beans.

I was only out for a few hours, as usual. It was not an action packed event. I saw one fish crush something on the surface. Another blew up on my topwater but missed it. Third time was the charm though and it was a decent fish of 29" and 6 1/4 pounds. I took it on one of my plugs. Truth is, it is a failed popper. An early make that I missed the proportions on. However, it works great as a shallow retrieve plug, swimming 6 - 12" under the surface with great side to side minnowish action. This was the first fish caught on it. A number of large fish had blown up on it in the past, but failed to get pinned.