biggest pike out there in AB?
 

Just for conversations sake... What do you think the biggest pike in AB is?

I have been argueing with my roomate for awhile about this. He thinks in our area (lac la biche) the biggest there is is 25lbs. I caught one this big a few weeks ago and he said its the biggest one I'll ever get in lac la biche.

I have told him that F&G have netted 50lbs pike in Newell and Wab and he doens't beleive me. I told him I would bet my salary that there is a 40lbs pike in lac la biche.. He thinks I'm delusional...


I'm a pike junkie.. I couldn't care less about a 14lbs walleye, I'd rather a 30lbs pike.. So I'm curious.

What do you think? ANy good stories about some big ones? Pictures would be great.

Biggest one I've seen (caught) in Wabamun was about 25 lbs... Biggest one I've heard of was 33 lbs, but the guy might have been lying to me.

Its interesting to me that when I show people a legit 10lbs pike they say "at least 15lbs". Or when they tell me they caught a 10lbs pike it literally is no bigger than 7lbs..

to see a 20, 25 or 30lbs pike is surreal in size.

I have had more than a few people try to pass off a 15lber as a 20lber lol..

I'm not getting this from pics of pike people post on AO, I'm stating this based on fish I actually see in person.

Well, I'll be honest.. the 25 lber is based on an online "weight calculator". The fish was 45 inches long and pretty thick across. I can't be sure what it weighed, but I was kind of afraid of it.

I completely agree witht this statement. I have been catching and weighing alot of big pike lately. What people think is 10 is often way less. The 19.3lb one we landed was huge. The problem with guessing weight by length is that pike seem to grow long first then they grow from the back bone down to the belly and then finally they get wide across the back. If you think of it like lumber you can have a 2x4 a 2x6 and a 6x6 all about the same lenght but the weight will be very different thats how i find pike to be.

As for biggest in alberta i bet there are the odd 40 plus pike in plenty of lakes the problem is finding them and using equipment heavy enough to handle them. I have hooks as long as a 2L pop bottles, use a heavy duty rod, 30lb test line and 24" 45lb steel leaders. my biggest failure has come at the leader i have straighened a few and a few break. Im hoping to land a 30lber this weekend but ill be happy with 20.

A few tips
-I've tried numerous lines/braid.. 50lbs power pro is 10x betten than anything else for pike. even 30lbs braid would snap on me when I would get a backlash using a big pike lure. 50lbs also lets you crank down on the drag and reel "small pike" in very fast so they easily swim away instead of tiring them out. plus 50lbs power pro makes you more than ready for the once in a life time 30+ pike.

-I agree.. leaders are the hardest peices of good pike tackle to put together. the problem I have is that 99% of leaders break at the snap/swivel. The steel of the leader may be good for 45lbs, but the sh*t snap/swivel snaps at 20lbs.. I finally found a good leader that has snaps/swivels that don't break. Can't recall the name, but I found them at WSS, 50lbs test, 18 inches long.

- are you using bait casters? so much better than spinning gear for pike...

I agree about your weight statements.. I don't like weighing fish ( I don't have a lip scale), but the ones I have weighed shocked me when I saw how much they actually weighed. I thought the 42 inch 22lbs pike I let go last summer was a 30lbs pike until I weighed it lol..

I do believe that the Alberta record Northern Pike was a 38.0 lbs Pike caught in 1983 by David Anderson at Keho Lake

Down south
 

If I was a betting man and from experience fishing in the south I believe the next whale will come from either Chin Coulee or Lake Newell. I have seen and caught 30+ pounders and have heard netting stories of way bigger ones than that. I talked to someone that was diving in Chin and he said he saw a few that were literally like sharks. Almost wanted to get out of there.

My grandfather netted a 44 pounder in newell back in the 70s.

There are many 40's roaming Alberta waters...................

wasn't there a 30 lb winner caught at the badger tourney last year or the year before? Pretty sure it was.

And plenty of 30+ lb pike and probably many 40+ lb pike. Lots in northern AB in lakes that you might now be able to get to.

My personal best is 24.5 LB 45.5" pike in travers, ice fishing no less.

Point him to the Alberta Outdoorsmen page for angler of the year, all of them are over 30 lbs. Lots from Newell.

http://www.albertaoutdoorsmen.ca/ang...-the-year.html

Last year i was fishing at lac la biche lake with some family and my uncle had a pike on that wouldnt fit through a 10'' auger hole.... he ended up fighting with it for close to 1/2 an hour when i started drilling another hole beside his to try and get it up it ran down again and snapped 40 pound spider wire.... so you tell me how if the biggest is 25 lbs how would it do that... not possible ive pulled 25's out of wab. last winter through a 10'' inch no issue... well it was alittle tricky but not like the one at lac la biche... just my 2 cents...

Keep the stories coming!

Much better than schoolwork :D

Well my bro and i went out one day at wabamum. Got most of it on vid. pulled over 30 pike out. the last one on the vid was just over 44 inch long, we estimated at about 28-30lbs. And this wasn't the biggest we seen out there. So yeah theres a 40 in wab somewhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-jKpvMbFCM

All this about wabamum...have to get up there and try it this year. Where does a guy ice fish on wab?

If only Youtube wasnt blocked on my schools wifi... D:

I would have to say that there are a few 40 + pounders out there. I have one buddy (also a AO member) who usually can manage to catch a 28-32lb pike out of Pigeon each winter. I know a couple years ago he managed to get two 30 + pounders out of Pigeon in a matter of weeks.

Yes Keg River, you are right on the current registered Alberta 38lb record caught by David Anderson in 1983 @ Keho Lake. There have been many bigger ones caught though. Once of our fish and game members caught a legitimate 44 pound pike up north three years ago. I also know of a 40 plus pounder caught in one of the live traps during a walleye study in Pigeon Lake.

I know of more than a few that were well over 35 lbs. caught in lake Athabasca on the Alberta side, but these fish have never been registered , in fact the guys do not even know about AO, a couple don't even own a computer!:sign0161:
Cat

Great stories..

I need to get down to Wab and newell lakes this summer.

The problem I find with going after big pike is I can't find a decent fishing partner to do so. All the guys I go with get frustrated if I target 30lb plus pike. I truely believe the big ones behave very different than the little ones (under 40 inches).

Maybe next summer I'll camp at newell for a week and see if any AO guys would like to target big pike for a week.

I also want to try a few lakes north of Ft Mac that I have heard have a good population of big ones.

Anyone else out there own a bunch of muskie lures and use them for pike like myself? I'm talking believers, big grandma lures, 6 inch lure jenson's etc... On my christmas wish list is a 7'6 heavy trigger rod to make a new pike set up.

I know not many AO members like giving out secret spots, but if your willing I'd love to here some lol.

I have also heard a few years ago biologists netted a 55lbs pike out of Newell. Anyone else hear this?

Lake athabasca is on my to do list this summer.

There is a youtube video somewhere of a 55inch pike caught and released. It was a spring pike so it was really skinny. I am thinking that fish in the fall would be a record breaker.

There is a Northern in Sylvan that would be pushing 60". I seen this fish on more than one occasion in the same spot, it was like time stopped when she came in and put her nose on my smelt and then swam slowly away for what seemed like 5 minutes. My leg shakes thinking about it while writing this.

Looking down on her in 15fow her back looked like it was close to a foot across. This is no horse @#$% story fella's, if someone where to catch her "Molly" she would be the Alberta record hands down not even a minor debate.

X2 ,Lake Athabasca.... couple guys i work with went up there last winter on sleds for a 3 night trip, largest was over 40# !They had a bunch over 30 , and lost track of the number they caught ! He says he doesn't care about a record , just having fun !

Great video!! That pretty much describes a good day at Wab!! Might take a little work finding them now that the inlet is no longer, but hey doesn't mean there not there!!

I wonder what there is in Bistcho Lake. I have seen claims of 30lb and bigger from that lake.
Many years ago I went in one winter with family and tried it.
We only fished for one afternoon. The largest we caught was 22lbs. We had to skidoo in. There was no road that came close at that time.
I know there is commercial fishing on the Lake but to the best of my knowledge they target Walleye and Whitefish. There is Jacks fishing Lodge, Topowan-whatever. But other then that there is no recreational fishing on the lake.

I was told that you can now drive to within two or three miles of the lake at any time of year. With so little fishing pressure, and such a large lake, there should be lots of large fish and a few real monsters in that lake.

Can't say where but this gorgeous weather is bring the 48 inchers to the fore. If I recognise your name and you're in the Southern part of the province, I'll tell you where and what to use.

I have caught pike in Lac St. Anne that would not fit up an 8 inch hole...

I have seen monsters in the North Saskatchewan.

I have heard of monsters in the large Bow River back eddies

I electrofished monsters upstream of the Town of Athabasca.

I saw a monster eat a toy poodle in Baptiste Lake

Monsters are around...you just need to put the time in to find one...and when you do...please release it. Take a length, girth and lots of photos (remember to let the fish breath under water)... Then get a graphite mount done. Way nicer...easier to repair...just an all round right thing to do. Also frame the photo of you with the fish and hang beside the mount.

I've ice fished Sylvan for year's and caught a few hogs and Ive seen some gaints, There very well maybe a 60" in there He may have got really lucky last year.Attachment 28178

http://monsterquestreview.blogspot.c...ater-fish.html


This was a sweet episode of Monster Quest

east Twin Lake.....