question

[mark mercer]

ok i know this question doesnt exactly pertain to pike but i figured id ask, i ice new jeresey every weekend (when there is ice) since i was a little kid. last weekend i  had something thats never happend to me before. fishing a private lake i was using a steel leader on a tip up with an 3-4 in minnow. i was fishing at a suspended depth when my flag went up. i went over to set the hook,but when i did i just felt a massive amount of weight and then nothing. much to my surprise i pulled the line in and saw that the fish whatever it was had broken my hook right off the steel leader !! ive never heard of this before. this lake was a private lake and isnt stocked with muskie or pike, we catch pickeral quite frequently but none that were ever big enough to do that. i was wondering if any of you pike fisherman have seen that happen? anyway i know this post was a bit long but i figured id ask.




p.s. i was using quality hooks and quality steel leaders.

[grumpymoe]

i've seen it happen with a large northern (steel leader cut) but never to me.. given the right fish and position in the mouth, there's no reason a large fish couldn't cut through. not too likely that it was something small. grumpy

[fishguts.]

mite use a little liter grip next time. let the line slip through your fingers iffin he runs. i fight all my pike as if the hook was just barely in his lip,, espically when he sets to the hole.

[TJG]

Pike fry and fingerlings get mix in with other species all the time up here.
Not on purpose mind you.
Or maybe someone moved it in there one night.
Could have been a faulty hook or leader, also quality does not always relate dierectly to amount spent
I have seen Jumbo perch and 20" walleye straighten out a new "quality" 1/2 oz jig!
Later TJ

[Germ]

Could have been all these things i agree with the last one the most...The hookset is what did it..I mean i know you want the fish just maybe a lil less muscle next time there hercules..LOl and switch hoooks. just in case.