Monday morning a little after 9:00, a big pike exploded on nice perch I had just hooked while on Minnesota’s Lake Winnibigoshish.
If you have never witnessed a pike attack before picture a bus with teeth smoking a VW Beetle at an intersection…then swallowing it whole.
In this case, I never even realized I had a perch on. All I saw was the pike as streaked by my ice hole doing maybe 100. It was only after I had finally worked it close that I saw it had a perch, my perch, sideways in it mouth.
And then things got really nasty.
The pike released the perch momentarily, giving the terrorized “bait” a second or two to swim frantically back and forth beneath the ice, before the pike smashed it again so hard that scales flew and the perch went rigid.
What a way to die!
While pike have impressive dentures, besides the razor sharp teeth ringing each jaw the roof of their mouth is covered with short, rear-pointed pain makers, they still lack the pearly whites that sharks use so well. And as brutal as the pike attack on Monday was, it didn’t hold a candle to the dismantling of this tarpon from Boca Grande Pass in Florida. During this television shoot we witnessed several shark attacks, all ending in much the same way as this one;
I didn’t land the pike on Monday. It swam around for over five minutes with my perch stuck sideways in it mouth, with most of the battle occurring a few feet below my feet and easily visible in the clear water of winter. It never did swallow the perch, nor was it ever hooked.
The perch was so lucky. He is now filleted and sitting in my fridge at home. Guess what we’re having for dinner tonight?—Steve
