Excellent morning at Wabamun on shore

[jonkemper]

Went to Wabamun with the wife again this morning, Had a pretty awesome morning catching 11 pike total between us in 3 hours. (9 for me and 2 for the wife, she got tired quickly lol).

7 of my fish i was happy with the way they were hooked and how healthily they swam away. 1 of the other 2 managed to get my leader wrapped around his head and under his gills on the opposite side from the hook. Had blood before i even got him out the water. :( Took him a while to recover but swam off quite vigorously and was as happy as i could be wit that release.

the other 1 im worried the poor little guy is now fish food for some other fish. He hooked himself right under the bony structure on the bottom of his mouth where the gills attach. Very little blood at all, but worried the hook did some kind of damage to either his gills or nerves. Would not revive properly at all. almost as if the fish was paralyzed. He was aware of his surroundings, biting onto weeds to steady himself in the waves. 10 minutes and he was still floating, limp :(

All my hooks are de-barbed, so not really sure what went wrong.

So even though 2 im not happy with, i still had 7 good catches.

wondering if anyone else has had issues like this with fish, hope its not something im doing that causes it.

Pictures below :)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11800352_10153654217368714_8567152024925318895_n_z psiflupbhm.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11800352_10153654217368714_8567152024925318895_n_z psiflupbhm.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11800178_10153553767597704_3993421448745294178_n_z psse6xyylf.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11800178_10153553767597704_3993421448745294178_n_z psse6xyylf.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11745512_10153654217433714_915809186710201379_n_zp svylopx1h.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11745512_10153654217433714_915809186710201379_n_zp svylopx1h.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11781596_10153553768457704_5637565533078786865_n_z psxeyptgeg.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11781596_10153553768457704_5637565533078786865_n_z psxeyptgeg.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11693856_10153553768367704_4831268000428991359_n_z pshjxb8gru.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11693856_10153553768367704_4831268000428991359_n_z pshjxb8gru.jpg.html)First fish for me, expression is probably due to wearing pink gloves lol.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11707497_10153553767967704_106492722060277653_n_zp szf5uxwjp.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11707497_10153553767967704_106492722060277653_n_zp szf5uxwjp.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11173315_10153553767717704_8348794538251308986_n_z psgq79ikxj.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11173315_10153553767717704_8348794538251308986_n_z psgq79ikxj.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11698633_10153553768262704_5936522987756992567_n_z psvizm0qnr.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11698633_10153553768262704_5936522987756992567_n_z psvizm0qnr.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11745876_10153553767647704_7753176975974069817_n_z psfkdkt65i.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11745876_10153553767647704_7753176975974069817_n_z psfkdkt65i.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11230723_10153553768047704_3064611155604402844_n_z pshu72zkw7.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11230723_10153553768047704_3064611155604402844_n_z pshu72zkw7.jpg.html)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11694774_10153553767847704_5892222344877682882_n_z psqziq9taj.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11694774_10153553767847704_5892222344877682882_n_z psqziq9taj.jpg.html) This guy went after my Len Thompson no.4 spoon i was trying out to see how far i could cast it. fish on as soon as i started to reel it in lol.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/jonkemper/Fishing/11214242_10153553767567704_8790958890145647463_n_z psx5v5pmnq.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/user/jonkemper/media/Fishing/11214242_10153553767567704_8790958890145647463_n_z psx5v5pmnq.jpg.html)

Didnt get a picture of the one snagged up on my leader, wanted it back in the water as quick as possible.

[Fenix_84]

Great catches, as for the bad hooks it happens all the time, the pike struggles does a roll and gets caught up in the leader/hook.

The main problem I had was lures with multiple treble hooks. The fish gets caught on one treble, struggles then the other treble hook digs into the side of the face. I only use lures with a single set of trebles now, minimizes damage and makes releasing the fish a lot easier.

Looked like a lot of fun, thanks for sharing.

[kevinhits]

catching any size of fish is a great day...LOL...I wouldn't worry about the pike that did not release as you would of wanted to...Pike are a very relisiant fish...I hooked a small pike in the gill yesterday and carefully pulled it out with a barbless hook...It still bled a little but they will be fine....

Happy fishing with the wife....Wish mine would love to come:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[Joe Quiroga]

Looks like a great trip. I had one a couple weeks ago, little pike about two pounds. Must have been right in the path of the hook, I got him square between the eyes lol.

Fortunately no harm done, wigged my wife out a bit lol.