Falling for PIKE

OTHER FISH SPECIES MIGHT GAIN ALL THE ACCOLADES, BUT NORTHERNS SHOULD GARNER YOUR ATTENTION RIGHT NOW.

By Matt Crawford

The instant the water erupted in a boil behind the Zara Spook I was throwing atop the edge of a weed bed, I knew it wasn’t the smallmouth bass we were targeting. “Oh, no,” said my fishing companion, although “no” wasn’t exactly the word he used at that moment. “It’s a big pike.” It was one of those glorious mid-autumn days in northern New England when the vibrancy of the colors in the turning leaves was at its peak. The sky was blue, the temps were in the 50s and the smallmouth bite was at full throttle. We had done well that morning on smallies gearing up for the long winter ahead by inhaling almost everything we threw at them. The fact that it was a topwater bite made it all the…

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Game & Fish East (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

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