Big fish and huge bait.

[Jim Uran]

I caught this pig last week on an area lake, it was 30" or so, it had something huge in it's gut. I usually throw these guys back but I like eating northerns so I took this swine home and look what was in his guts. He hit a fat rainbow on a lindy rig.

[riverrat56]

WOW!

That right there proves that big baits are the way to go in the fall!

[SpitnArgueDuckClub*]

I agree with fishing big baits but fishing with bait the size of the fish in the northern's gut? My gosh just reeling the bait in would count as a catch in my book.

[Lucius]

seriously. You read how pike can eat up to 40% of their size and 25% of their weight, but to see it in a picture is crazy!!

[Jim Uran]

To see it in person was even crazier, it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen while fishing. Glad I could share it.

[fishinfey8]

how many inches was the fish inside the northern? Thanks for the neat pic.

[mrklean]

dang thats cool

[Jim Uran]

how many inches was the fish inside the northern? Thanks for the neat pic.

It appears he is about 2/3rds the length of the northern so he would be around 20" or so. Didn't measure it though.

[Hoffer]

So I cant tell for sure from the pics....is that a sucker he had eaten?

I was in Canada this Fall. We always mark schools of small fish when we fast troll and wondered what they were. I caught a smaller Northern with a big extended stomach and decided to keep it - both to eat and also to observe once and for all what these bait fish were for sure. Turns out he had about a 10 inch Cisco in its stomach...so we finally were able to identify those schools of fish we would see. They also from time to time would surface - and we thought they might be ciscos but were never sure - and now we know.

Thats a cool pic. Let me know if that is a sucker for sure? At first glance i thought walleye - but the scales down by the tail look like a sucker - as well as the head.

[Sherpa]

It is amazing that he was still hungry with his stomach that full. Very cool to see.

[fishuhalik]

No walleye, that's definitely a sucker!

Also goes to show you sometimes smaller is better. I'm pretty sure if you were dragging a 10" sucker that fish wouldn't have hit!!!

[Jim Uran]

It was a sucker.

[JBMasterAngler]

My guess is he didn't strike out of hunger, but out of anger. I suppose a sucker that size sitting in your stomach can make you pretty gassy

[Esox_Magnum]

If I can find the pic, my buddy caught a 12" pike on a 9" bait.Pike will hit baits as big or bigger than them, so will bass. Walleyes though normaly when you get one to hit a muskie bait its a good one.

[mainbutter]

I agree with fishing big baits but fishing with bait the size of the fish in the northern's gut? My gosh just reeling the bait in would count as a catch in my book.

That's how I often feel when I'm musky fishing

[fishdale]

Cool picture thanks for sharing. I have seen pike sitting on the bottom with 4 inches of tail sticking out of their mouth. I suppose they just wait for the head to start digest for the rest to fit in.

[Traxxx]

Last winter, I was out in the fishhouse by myself, catching crappies one after another. I was sitting over a 25FOW hole, when I noticed a big mark, sitting 8 ft below the ice. This was about an hour after dark. I raised up my lure and jigged for this fish for a while, to no avail. I switched to the biggest buckshot rattle spoon and a shiner head,ended up catching a 36" pike. It got me thinking, about how many times that I have seen this happen before. I told my other guide Jason what had happened. My thinking was from what I had seen many times before, these pike were attracted to the crappies, that were being released down the hole and the pike were just sitting, waiting to pick off the crappies as they went swimming back down. So I told him to put a tip-up in one of the unused holes, in the fishhouse, with a big sucker. He went and bought a couple twelve inch decoy suckers. The first night we tried it, he landed a 40" pike at 10:30 pm. We continued to do this the rest of the winter and ended up catching quite a few nice 30-40" class pike, mostly after dark. So if you're looking to catch the biggest ones, don't be afraid to use some bigger than normal baits.

[gardn184]

I can attest to the pike chasing big baits, I've got a backwoods lake in the U.P. thats pretty much like fishing in Canada, crystal clear water and super aggressive pike, buddy had a 25 inch walleye on that was being chased by a pike as he was reeling it it. The pike was absolutely huge no clue how big it was since my buddy didn't feel like leaving that nice walleye down there as bait but something crazy to think a fish would even chase a walleye that big

[Gordie]

when spearing for pike and useing the monster decoy suckers it fun to see all the snot rockets that either blast it or swim up to it looking at the decoy and you know there thinking should I or shouldnt I eat that thing.

I've had some pike blast a 12 inch sucker that were only 13-14 inches long themselves and if that dont get you to think how big is to big nothing will.