Now that's a pike right there!

[anglure]

    BEAUTIFUL Northern !!! Nice catch !!! 

[Ascott3006]

Congrats

[Fishhead680]

Great fish! Nice going on the release to hopefully make another future angler for life. Also, nice write up on the catch. Good job all around!

[SSmokinn SS]

Thanks for the all the kind words guys!  I tested the cabela's gripper with a 10lb dumbbell in my garage and it read just shy of 9 lbs, so take that what you will.  If I had to estimate, I'd say the fish was 41" and 21lbs.  I can also say that I was fishing out of a 8" hole and the fish's belly barely fit through, so that's 24" girth, and when it's gill plates flared out it was much bigger than the hole.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm not a "take tons of measurements and get weights to the ounces" kind of guy.  Sometimes to the chagrin of the people I fish with, since I always catch the big ones 

For those interested I caught it on a 3" swimbait and 1/2oz jig head, on 10lb floro leader in 60ish ft of water.  Saw it on the vex sitting around 2 feet off the bottom and not reacting, so i dropped down and jigged above it's head.  The pike just slowly swam up and sucked in the lure, kind of like a crappie.  On the hook set, it did two big head shakes and then just sat there.  Honestly, I thought it was a wrapped up laker because it was just dead weight and small pulls coming in.  Once it got to the hole, I got a good look it through the clear ice and almost fell out of my seat.  It did run a little under the ice, but nothing too crazy.  It wasn't until I tried to get it's head through the hole that it fought and spun.  Thankfully i had the grippers to reach in, clamp down and hold on, most likely would have broke me off there.

Anyway it was an awesome catch, easily my PB, and I was happy to be there with other ice fishermen (and an ice fisherwoman) to witness and enjoy it with me.  That's what it's all about after all.  You just never know what you're going to catch, which is part of what makes it so much fun!  Good luck and tight lines everyone.

awesome story. Sounds like one heck of a fun time.

If your scale is off by 1lb at 10lbs, likely its off at 2lbs at 20lbs. With inaccurate scales, usually the higher the weight, the more inaccurate.

I think your being Generous estimating 41" btw. if that fish is 20-22lbs, its 43-44" all day. I know you didnt measure at all, but most guys forget to measure them from their belly side because the lower jaw sticks forward a good 1-1.5" then the top jaw.