I fished two consecutive days out west Friday and Saturday looking for pike. Both days we woke up at 2:30 to make sure we were the first ones on the ice at about 5am. We fished a mix of everything from suckers, perch, and big shiners, both dead and alive. Friday saw a lot of flags with a lot of small pike and one bass. A few big runs and one nice fish lost at the hole was enough to make us want to make the trip again on Saturday. So once again we made the 2:30 wake up call and made it on the ice at 5am in the dark. We set up in the same spot as the day before. I decided to try fishing all dead baits because the day before it seemed most of the fish came on dead bait. My first flag was a good runner but turned out to be a nice bass instead of a pike. First time I've caught a bass on dead bait. It was a few hours later and I got another flag on a big freshly killed pond shiner. It was running good when I got to the hole and I waited for it to slow down and when it started running again I set the hook. Right away I knew it was a better fish. After a short give and take battle and a couple passes by the hole, I iced my personal best pike. After a few quick pictures I released it. No weight or length as the scale and tape measure were left in the truck.
