First Pike 1/2/12

We've been putting this off for way too long, so to start the new year we decided to head down to Redman and try our hand at fishing for Northern Pike.  There's been a lot of rumors and discussions on the fishing boards on how best to catch pike there, and we finally made it down to give it a shot with some minnows.  It just happened to be a freakishly warm week for Utah, so it really felt like spring fishing.  The sun was out, with no wind to speak of, and we were all very comfortable fishing from the north shore of the small reservoir.  I was the first to catch a pike, which put up a pretty good fight even though it had a strong resemblence to a pencil.  It turned out to be the smallest fish of the day.  My oldest managed the second fish to shore, a much better pike but still not a 'keeper' by any stretch.  Then I caught the lone catfish of the day (which the boys thought was pretty cool).  Next came our baby boy's pike, which seemed like a pretty big fish to us novices, so we kept it to try for dinner.  Finally, Deli managed her pike as the bite was slowing down.  It put up a great fight and was by far the largest fish of the day measuring out at just under 25" long.  We fished until late in the afternoon but started to leave as the temperature dropped.  Another fisherman we had been talking to reeled in a bass (caught on a Kastmaster lure) and offered it to us, and we gladly accepted.  The meal turned out to be a good one with pike being surprisingly good, and bass dissapointly not.  I know a lot of people like to eat bass, which is probably why I was so dissapointed, but we all agreed to practice catch and release on them from here on out.  Good start to what I'm sure will be a great year!