Gone thinking…

This weekend, I had the opportunity to fish with the “Esox Man” himself, and it was a trip that I will remember for a long time. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Pete is the most skilled and hardcore angler I personally know. He’s been fishing for a long time, and was definitely an influence for me, when I first started to pick up fishing. I think about some of the advice he gave me when I first showed interest in fishing, and like the words of a wise Jedi, they make more sense as time passes. It was an opportunity for me to learn a few things about fishing from the Esox Man, and sure enough I did.







We met early, and our intent was to be out on the water by 7:30am. We drove up to Delavan Lake in Wisconsin, and spent the morning catching up on our daily lives. We drove into the launch, and I watched Pete launch his boat with amazing efficiency. In no time we were on his boat and driving slowly out into the lake. It was an exceptionally nice summer day, dry with a light breeze. Pete explained the characteristics of the lake for me, and we discussed how all lakes seemed to require that anglers pay their dues (before they really start catching fish). We got to the edge of the weed line, and we were casting. He took the front and continued to drive the trolling motor, and I took the back. Immediately Pete started to bring in fish, the first one was a nice looking perch. Then boom, came the pikes. It was my first time to see a pike being caught, and I could see why you needed to handle it with caution. There is something about catching a fresh water fish that could hurt you. Pete’s passion is taming muskies, so these were small puppies to him, but still he was cautious. The ability of that fish to thrash around was amazing, and this is dangerous when it’s doing that with a treble hook at the tip of its mouth. (I’ll do a separate blog entry about the Esox Man Pete, as that mindset & culture deserves a long and careful examination).







The day got better as hours passed. More fish, more conversation, and more synchronicity on fishing together. Pete was doing most of the catching, but it was only natural. I was busy trying to watch and learn, and I did learn a lot this day. Some good sized bass, and still more pike. We discussed everything from the criteria of a good fishing partner, to the philosophical concept of catch & release, and of course about fishing trips to different parts of the world. We even discussed some heavy topics, but sometimes heavy topics on the water feels less heavy. Perhaps, the perfect situation helps one see things in the right perspective … as one should really see it. I remember what Pete said to me when I started to fish some years ago, “catching fish is sometimes not about catching fish” It’s about taking time to think about things that are really important in life … family, friends, and our own individual pursuit of happiness. When a fish meets us at the end of our line, that’s an extra bonus. Like the T shirts from fishface.com says, we have “Gone Thinking…”







(On Pikes from Wikipedia)

The northern pike, Esox lucius, is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and freshwaters of the northern hemisphere. They are also known by the literal translation of their Latin name, "water wolf". E. lucius is found throughout the northern hemisphere, including Russia, , Europe and North America. It is even found in brackish water of the Baltic sea.

Pike grow to a relatively large size; lengths of 150 centimeters (59 in) and weights of 25 kg (55 pounds) are not unheard of. The heaviest specimen known so far was caught in an abandoned stone quarry, in Germany, in 1983. She (the majority of all pikes over 8 kg (18 pounds) are females) was 1.47 m (5 ft) long and weighed 31 kg (67 pounds). The longest pike ever recorded was 152 cm (60 in) long and weighed 28 kg (61 pounds).

Pike are typical ambush predators; they lie in wait for prey, holding perfectly still for long periods and then exhibit remarkable acceleration as they strike. The fish has a distinctive habit of catching its prey sideways in the mouth, killing or immobilizing it with its sharp teeth, and then turning the prey lengthwise to swallow it. It eats mainly fish, but on occasion water voles and ducklings have also been known to fall prey to pike. Pike will aggressively strike at any fish in the vicinity, even at other pike.