Big Gator Pike 9/6/15

[JDTuna]

I wasn't planning on fishing the river this weekend, but the offshore tuna trip was cancelled and I had little bit of time so I gave it a shot. I had fish almost immediately, but the hooks pulled on the first two fish. I continued down the river and caught and released a 20-22" pickerel. After I released the fish, I had a look at my leader and it had a little nick in it, but I was being lazy and just kept fishing.

I continued to fish slightly downstream from where I usually stop, and had a quick blowup but the fish quickly lost interest. I took one more cast, and my lure got slammed by the one I was looking for.

I saw the fish hit the lure, and then it powered toward the nearest snag. All I could think about was the fact that I hadn't changed my nicked leader (won't do that again). Thankfully, everything held and after a short, tough fight I had the fish at my feet. The pike taped out between 36 and 37". After the release, I fished a little while longer and released another 30" fish before I called it a day.