Fishing Forum

So, I'm fishing the Spanish Fork river by the baseball parks, since it's close and when you only have an hour to fish, a 45 minute drive is out of the question. I was fishing one of the pools and something flashed at my gulp minnow and bites off the back half of it.

I put on a new minnow and cast to the same spot and reel/jig it back. Same thing happens. It bites off a little less of this one, but it still bites right through it. I figure it's one of the larger browns because their teeth can be pretty nasty and gulp minnows aren't known for their durability.

Rig up another one and cast it out. This time I give it slack as soon as I see the flash and just let it sit for a couple of seconds. When I set the hook, I could tell there was something on, but it wasn't big. I reeled it in and I get it out of the water just long enough to see the culprit... A 10"-ish northern pike. [shocked] It completely swallowed the minnow, jighead and all. It cut the line when it thrashed as I lifted it out of the water.

I got a very good look at it and it definitely wasn't a trout, walleye, or anything else like that. I've seen white bass this far upstream, but that's usually later in the year. I've seen carp as high as just shy of canyon view park. I've seen one other pike caught out of a utah-lake feeding river, but that was only about 100 feet from the lake.

Here's the big question. I've never caught a pike before. Does this count towards my bucket list even thought I didn't land it? []

Matt
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It absolutely counts. Especially after that story!
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Yes it counts and not surprised they are that high up the creek. I have seen walleye up stream at either big or little cottonwood creek about 9th east before. Ncie catch. Hope you can land it next time.
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I've had about a dozen Tiger Musky brought to boatside, controlled, and they shook off either taking my jig, or releasing it. Far as I'm concerned - they were caught (in my book) just because I didn't net them and drag them out for a photo is fine by me.
I have one "trophy photo" because Bamaboy was there with a bigger net, and able to help me land it, and took a nice photo for me. He was in his boat, I was in mine.

But a shot like this is still a catch on my notch-list. You can even see my line coming from the fish:
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I gave it a visual measure of 60 inches too [:/]
(refraction)

And another showing off his lip-jewelry (and the side of my boat). Who needs to wrastle with all them teeth anyway.
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Release.Tiger by the tail.
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Is there a mandatory kill on Pike there? I know UL there is. Suckers!

I guess it's like tarpon fishing. If you touch the leader, it's considered caught [] Actually, I've only ever technically "caught" one tiger where I actually picked it up and took it out of the water (I was bank tangling). The rest have been in my tube and I just pulled the hooks out with pliers rather than bring the unruly beast into my deflatable vessel. Those things with a mouth of trebles make me a little uncomfortable when I'm in a tube, down close to there level and very sinkable. I guess now I have a good pair of grippers, I just haven't chased them since I bought it.
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[quote morcey2]
Here's the big question. I've never caught a pike before. Does this count towards my bucket list even thought I didn't land it? []

[/quote]

Nope, doesn't count! For the first one, you must catch it…that means you have the opportunity, if you choose or not, to keep it and eat it!

Sorry, but pike should still be on your bucket list!
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[quote wormandbobber][quote morcey2]
Here's the big question. I've never caught a pike before. Does this count towards my bucket list even thought I didn't land it? []

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Nope, doesn't count! For the first one, you must catch it…that means you have the opportunity, if you choose or not, to keep it and eat it!

Sorry, but pike should still be on your bucket list![/quote]

+1

Better luck next time![]
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You guys are a tough crowd. My personal philosophy is that if I don't have a net with me and I could have landed the fish had I had a net then it counts as a landed fish.
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So, how about it stays on the bucket list, but with an asterisk?

Matt's bucket list-of-Utah-fish-I-ain't-caught-yet:

Grayling
Wiper
Tiger Musky
Striper
Golden trout
Northern Pike longer than 12" *


*a small northern may or may not have been caught on April 12, 2014. Reports are inconclusive.

That way, a real pike is still on the list.

(and, yes, I have caught a Sacramento Perch. )
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[quote kentofnsl]You guys are a tough crowd. My personal philosophy is that if I don't have a net with me and I could have landed the fish had I had a net then it counts as a landed fish.[/quote]

Thats just it, it is personal opinion.

I stick close to the rules of the DNR for weight and C&R record fish.
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[quote morcey2]So, how about it stays on the bucket list, but with an asterisk?

Matt's bucket list-of-Utah-fish-I-ain't-caught-yet:

Grayling
Wiper
Tiger Musky
Striper
Golden trout
Northern Pike longer than 12" *
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Well grayling should be pretty easy for you. Even easier if you enjoy hiking around the Uintas. Trial lake is the exception to needing to hike for grayling.

The wiper is a willard thing. My advice go with someone who knows the place!

Tiger Musky, spend lots of time casting!

Striper, easy to do if you can afford to drive to Powell.

Goldens......gonna try for that myself this year...again[frown]

For a northern, just make a few casts at Yuba and you should be good to go in no time.

Have you caught a pumpkin seed sunfish yet?
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[quote TyeDyeTwins]

Well grayling should be pretty easy for you. Even easier if you enjoy hiking around the Uintas. Trial lake is the exception to needing to hike for grayling.

The wiper is a willard thing. My advice go with someone who knows the place!

Tiger Musky, spend lots of time casting!

Striper, easy to do if you can afford to drive to Powell.

Goldens......gonna try for that myself this year...again[frown]

For a northern, just make a few casts at Yuba and you should be good to go in no time.

Have you caught a pumpkin seed sunfish yet?[/quote]

I have caught a pumpkinseed, but I cheated on that one. I caught it in washington state when I was a teenager. [:p] It wasn't in Utah, but the species is so I counted it. The rest of the species have been caught here.

I've had several trips to Powell scheduled, but all of them have fallen through for one reason or another. I love the taste of white bass and if striper is anywhere near as good, I could handle a freezer full of filets.

Yuba is on the list in the nest couple of weeks. I've also seen and had pike on in the Sevier river below Yuba. Never landed one though.

Matt
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Hey bro YOU hooked it, YOU saw it. Its YOUR bucket list. I think it counts! Thats MY opinion. Good job. I still have a pike on my list.
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[quote morcey2]So, how about it stays on the bucket list, but with an asterisk?

[/quote]

Again, my personal opinion is that it should still be on his bucket list. Sure, he almost caught it, but he didn't….

Imagine if we gave people credit for doing something they almost did more often….Karl and John would have NBA championships because they almost won two, Jack Nicklaus would have a ton more golf majors because he almost won a bunch more (how many seconds did he have in majors?), and how many homers would Hammerin' Hank be given credit for if he counted all those balls that almost went out?

Sorry, dude, but you almost got that pike off your bucket list, but not quite!
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I look at it this way: If from the start you are planning on a leader touch to count then they do..And if you are trying to release a fish with out putting it in the boat then it counts but if it gets away at or by the boat or gets off or brakes the line and gets to the water, then its a lost fish NOT A CATCH..
You call it ?? Was it caught or did it get away??
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[quote bassrods]I look at it this way: If from the start you are planning on a leader touch to count then they do..And if you are trying to release a fish with out putting it in the boat then it counts but if it gets away at or by the boat or gets off or brakes the line and gets to the water, then its a lost fish NOT A CATCH..
You call it ?? Was it caught or did it get away??[/quote]

I'll answer that question in about two weeks. I'm currently planning a trip to Yuba then and the results there will be the controlling factor. If I catch any there, then, no, I didn't catch this one. Otherwise, I did catch this one and it has made me an expert on E. Lucius behavior.

Or I just call it Schroedinger's Pike and say it was both caught and not caught but I didn't look. (that would have been funnier if it had been some sort of catfish.)
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In all fun, I wouldn't call it a 'catch' because you didn't actually release him (the normal way). To me, you have to actually release the hook from the fish's mouth.

We all have our standards as to what constitutes a so-called 'catch'. Some have higher standards than others...it's no big deal.

It's your bucket list
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Did you catch it? Did you hold it like you did in you photo? If you had a bet on the line with your buddy to who catches the first fish and after that happened he would say. "you win the bet", would you agree with it? If a center fielder had a home run ball in his glove but it slipped out over the fence did he prevent the home run?

Sorry but you did not catch nor land the fish. The asterisk is not even like the one after Barry Bonds HR record. You never actually caught the fish. At least he hit the HR's.
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Utahshooter, I think you're taking this waaaaaay too seriously. I think this is more like the home run that went off of Jose Canseco's head. The batter didn't really hit a home run, but it sure was scored as one.

And it was even funnier when he tried to say it bounced out of his glove.
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a pike that small is a "flipper inner" - he could of netted it , but why do so ? ill give it to ya!
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