Little kids and huge pike.
 

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Just got back from a few days of camping with the family. A good time was had by all and we all managed to land some pike in the 36" range. The high point was obviously the big one pictured above. My 6 year old technically caught it but it took the efforts of both girls to get the beast reeled in. Although both girls have caught their share of decent fish in their short lives I think both found getting thrown around by this fish a pretty overwhelming, not to mention quite intimidating. Since we were close to shore we worked it to the beach for a quick picture and then let it go in good health.

I never put a tape to it but when I held it next to the young lady who hooked it for a quick reference, with its tail touching the ground the tip of its jaw was a few inches over her shoulder. This would put its length in the 42-43" range. It fell to a 1/2 oz Len Thompson and was landed on 10 lb line. Quite the trophy!

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Awsome

Summer holidays, fishing, big fish, big smiles all around. Great day for your kids. :sHa_shakeshout:

Call that family holiday a " Home Run " !!

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing.

Dodger.

great pics, thanks for sharing.

Kids should not swim in that lake with fish that big lurking below:)

Good on ya

nothing better in this world

Awesome stuff! Thanks for sharing!

Hog pike man. That lake must be loaded with Whites or Perch in order to make thick fish like that. All the fish pictured look very healthy girth-wise. If that one beast is indeed 43" she may be close to 25+ pounds with a girth like that. Once in a life time fish for most seasoned anglers, and these young pro's pulled it off before grade school was even finished!!:sHa_shakeshout:

So impressed by your kids but even more impressed by their awesome father / mentor setting such a good example with fish handling and obviously setting them up with the right gear and in the right spot. Those memories will last a life time man thank you so much for sharing. Stories like this are needed when the world seems like such a negative place nowadays.

Cheers!

Wow, thanks for the compliments.

Good eye on the condition of those fish. We live on the shore of Lesser Slave, which has good whitefish populations, and can produce some good looking pike once they get a bit bigger... but yeah, those fish we caught this weekend were some of the nicest I've seen in awhile. Not just deep bodied but really nice width across the back, I too would be curious to know what their main forage is. The second pike pictured, for its size, is probably the most stocky, broad shouldered pike I can remember seeing.

As a sort of interesting back story, this particular lake was where my grandfather taught me to fish... and later in life when I met this really interesting girl that I would later go on to date and eventually marry... I took her there on her first camping trip ever and taught her to fish.

Thanks for sharing and great job on getting the kids hooked on fishing!

I love big pike, nice job Dad!!!

Best Dad award, fishing will be in their fun time, thanks to you

Nice job, that lake looks beautiful.

I wish more people would make posts like this!

Awesome!

One thing you are not is bush-league!

Great Job Bushleague. AO Dad of the year!

BW

If your daughters can find husbands like you, what more can a guy hope for😀 Sorry to get a little personal, I have a daughter as well I try to get out as much as possible, in hopes she will find a husband that is into the finer things in life

A great feelgood post....thanks!!!

Nicely done. Congrats.

Great, I’ve been out done by an 11 year old, lol.
Nice catch, and in more ways than one from the lake.
Pass on my kids and my congrats.

I’d guess most people would kill to be able to make a post like this, lol. I’d take out a full page in the newspaper to brag about that hog if I caught it. [emoji846]

trophy
 

Trophy in more ways than one!!! The pics are awesome. I've got a couple of pics with my little girl and fish, where the fish are not even one quarter the size of that biggest pike and still trophy experience/memory. Video games got nothing on these type of experiences.

Yeah there is a Pike lake I go to up HWY 813 that has fat pike like that, and its definitely due to the forage. A healthy whitefish population usually means healthy pike.

When they are thick across the back like that its so hard to grab them lol, a net is a must. They have so much more power in their runs as well quite the change from some of the skinny snot rockets you see elsewhere.

Fantastic post - thanks for sharing!

Lol, she's 6, not eleven. During the fight she asked me to take the rod a couple times and I told her "I think you better fight this one yourself, it might be the biggest fish you'll ever hook". Somewhere around the 15-20 minuet mark we hadn't even seen the fish yet, the pike was still fighting pretty hard, she was getting exhausted and started crying, the experience had gone from intense to traumatic for her. Obviously she needed some help but I still didn't feel good about taking the rod so my 8 year old daughter finished the fight. Before we even got a glimpse of that fish both girls were already scared of it, the fish having grown to monstrous proportions in their imaginations... and when we finally did get it beside the boat it didn't disappoint by much... That half hour or so left a big impression on all of our memories that will not soon be forgotten.

I bet those kids will remember that day for a long time. Good job Dad and thanks for sharing.