Fishing Persistence Finally Pays Off - 23" Northern Pike at 3 lbs.

Buzzbait

After shooting a 50th wedding anniversary yesterday and working on the computer late into the night and then doing the same thing all day today optimizing the images on the computer, I decided at the last minute to go off to do some fishing to wind down after a long day.

I decided to go to Big Bend Lake in Des Plaines and got there around 4:00 PM. After throwing some casts into the lake, I saw another angler out on the other side of the lake and so I decided I'd get closer to where he was to try my luck. I wasn't sure how to get there, but since the lake isn't all that large, I figured my best bet would be to just start walking along the perimeter of the lake until I got to him. Along the way, I kept casting into the lake but I got nothing. I finally reached his area and saw two other people fishing there too. I looked over to the left side of the pathway and found a "stream" there and thought I'd give it a try since I didn't really want to disturb the other people there. It turns out that it wasn't really a stream, but rather it was the Des Plaines River (DPR) which runs right next to Big Bend Lake at that point.

I casted out my line into the DPR perhaps 10 times and was just thinking that maybe it wasn't worth fishing in this area and then WHAM! I actually saw the fish strike my lure and then jump! It was maybe 8 feet away from me because I could clearly see him strike it. Man, he hit it hard! It took me totally by surprise! The fight wasn't too long since he was so close to me already, but it did take some pulling and tugging to get him to shore. When he hit, I could clearly see him... a Northern Pike! After reeling him in, I put my gear next to him to take a photo of him with my cell phone. I didn't have camera gear with me, so the phone was the best I could do. I had pre-measured my rod so I knew exactly where 18 inches was and he was way past that point. Later, I measured the rod to the point where he lay and it turns out he was 23 inches! I used my Boga Grip to hold onto him (pike have sharp teeth) and to weigh him... 3 lbs.

To date, he was the largest fish I ever caught and I released him with the help of the other angler whom I had seen from across the lake. He came over to see what I got. He also helped take a photo of the fish and me together because I could not hold my phone with one arm and take my own photo. Afterwards, we had a good time talking for a few moments about fishing in general and then he went back to his own fishing. He was fishing for carp which is ok, but the technique is a little too passive for me since all you do is put some corn kernels on your hook and put your line in the water and sit back and wait for something to grab it. Of course the action starts at that point.

For me, I prefer to continuously cast and retrieve. It's a more pro-active way to fish. Using this technique, I caught this pike with a "buzzbait" attached to my line. A buzzbait is a "top water" lure in that the lure stays on top of the water rather than being submerged beneath the surface. This was the first time I ever used this kind of lure for bait. Basically, a buzzbait is a large hook which has a skirt made of plastic attached to cover the hook. It also has a couple of metal "spinners" attached which is used like propellers to spin around and splash and make noise on the surface of the water as the lure is retrieved to the rod. I used a baitcaster rod and reel to catch this fish, also my first time using this kind of equipment. In the past, I only used spinning gear, but I always thought that baitcasting gear would allow me to be more precise in my casts. I was right. This is better for me!

The other angler told me that he had never seen anyone ever catch a pike with a buzzbait before. Apparently, pike usually lie in wait and then ambuse their prey, so maybe they don't usually go to the top of the water to attack? I don't really know... (10-09-09 Edit Note: Other anglers have since told me that spinnerbaits and buzzbaits work well for pike.)

Persistence finally paid off! I have had a really bad run of luck this season, but then again, I have been using this season to learn different techniques in fishing. I have fun just being out there to cast and retrieve even if I don't catch anything. But it sure is better to catch something! Be sure to click on each image for a closer look.