Pikey

On Friday night I was up in Bountiful playing saxophone in a jazz trio for an art show, which meant I didn't get home until pretty late. Normally this isn't an issue, but when you're supposed to go fishing early the next morning it can make things a little tricky. The morning came quick, but I was good to go after two hours of sleep and the prospect of catching my first pike on the fly helped to get me out of bed.

The first place we tried had some really low and dirty water, but we still gave it a solid effort which only produced a very short lived fight with a miniature pike that ended with a long line release. Seeing the writing on the wall we decided to change locations in hopes of changing our luck. Even with the rising temps we found willing fish right away. Luc got the skunk off with a catfish he pulled in on his spinning rod.

The cats would continue to play throughout the day as we took turns reeling them in on the spinning rod, but they wouldn't come to a fly. The pike, on the other hand, were all too willing to slam a chartreuse Clouser Minnow on a slow retrieve and I soon brought my first pike on the fly to hand.

Luc was having trouble closing the deal with the pike but he figured it out after a little bit to not only catch his first pike on the fly, but also his first pike ever.

It's a good feeling to scratch a fish off the bucket list and we were pretty happy with the results of the day. The heat of the day had me burning up and with the lack of sleep we decided to call it a day. How I stayed awake for the ride home (and the concealed weapons class I went to that night) I may never know. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder