Last week…… searing temps, hi humidity and 80s plus water temps pushed up into the back chutes and bays…….What a great time to put in for vacation
Actually, knowing that the pike were going to be ultra annoyed made it an easy decision to camp out with my eleven yr.old son Jack, for a week of top water blow -ups!
A short refresher course about my boy Jack. This athletic little scrapper is always the one to get dirty, hunt bull frogs, stick poke a snake or two
and clad the catchers gear for the baseball team.
Oh yeah, the perfect candidate
Geared him up with chest waders, armed him with a 7ft. MH spinning rod, loaded with 40lb. braid, flouro leader and an over sized Johnson silver minnow, slapped on a big plastic trailer and Jack was ready to "Rumble in the Swamp Jungle!"
Sliding quietly into the coontail-duck worted back bay Monday night, a guy could just sense that good things were going to happen. After a few casts, Jack rolls his first pike of the week. This critter blew up 3 times with 3 very quick swings and misses from a pumped up 11 yr.old. Trying to calm the lad down a touch, I went on and tried to explain to hold his ground after the hit, keep reeling and when and only when you feel the fish do you sweep your rod like your life depended on it. Boy, did this kid catch on fast.
Showing great determination and stealth, Jack went on and landed some darn nice pike through the week.
Sadly however, 3 of the largest fish of the trip came unbuttoned for Jack by no ones fault other than Mr. bad luck.
One of these gators was a sure 38" tank with wide shoulders. The others were just plain old huge in the eyes of a sixth grader!
Jack and I had a marvelous time, waking at dawn to the awaiting teeth of hungry pike, taking rides, fishing here and there, napping during the dead bite times while anticipating that evening rush of exploding moss, bent rods and the one handed landing of slippery gators.
Remember too, all this can take place sometimes not more than two feet away from your waist. For a huge rush, nothing compares to rolling a big pike 3,4, even five times on a cast only to have him end up in your lap. The next short toss was almost always money………. sure, you know he’s there but they’ll jump start your ticker every #$!!&*# time anyway!
The excitement Jack and myself shared this week will go down as one of the best bonding moments ever for Jack and myself. Excitement, anticipation and a ton of rubber baits decimated by rows of scissor teeth……..worth every penny!
Do yourself a favor if you like water wolves as much as we do. Get some good waders and get after it.
Release these fish in the same bay and I’ll all but guarantee you that
you’ll have a shot at landing the same pike more than once. Sometimes within a few hours…….yep, they’re that ticked off right now.
A few more shots from “pike week, 2011″…..hope you enjoy! I should add that all fish were released except for one unfortunate 30 incher. He went well with a dozen ears of new to the season sweet corn. Thanksgiving dinner pales to the feast we had that night
Awesome!!!! Those are awesome pics and I am sure you guys will not forget the trip. I still remember camping out with my brother for a weekend and fishing all day, etc. That was 20 yrs ago and I remember it like it was yesterday even if it looked like I was not paying attention or enjoying it. Congrats and that is what life on the river is about.
What a great report!
Simply awesome Jeff! 
The pictures are priceless! 
Unfortunately in today’s world, there are very few kids that would walk in that muck and fish. The smile and facial experessions on Jack’s face says it was all worth it and I’m guessing you had a hard time gettin him out of that slop! 
Kudos to you for showing him the way and may the memories of your pike fishing week live forever. 
Holy Cow….Jack shot up 3feet or better since I last seen him!
That was an awesome read and great pictures. It’s obvious you two boys had yourselves a blast.
Nice job on them toothy critters dudes
Great report!! I see a reality show in there. Swamp Pikers of the Midwest!
-J.
Just awesome!!!!! When Jack gets older, that walk in the muck will be some of his best memories. Jeff, great job on giving Jack all the tools he will need!
Thanks Jon, this is no BS here. Last week I went over mid week to check out a certain bay. When I got there a cottage across from me had swamp people blairing on the t.v. I spent the next half hour listening to Troy and the boys while huckn for river gators
Those are some great looking Pike!!
that no doubt looks like a blast Jeff…
Neat pictures Jeff!
Love it!! GATORMAN!!
Sweet report Jeff. Back to the basics, and more memories than you can shake a stick at. Can’t wait to do the same with my boys when they’re a touch older!
Joel
Great report Jeff!
Congrats to the boy on his new personal best pike.
Some great pictures and memories for sure from that trip.
Jeff is one of you little guys I met on the ice? Great looking northerns.
Nice report and guide trip.
Way to go Jack and Jeff
Great stuff Jeff and Jack.
Great report buddy
I love the photo’s.
Nothing better then that right there my friend, time well spent that will never be forgotten
Coolest Story and pics of the year hands down.
Great stuff Jeff!
Been there done that and sure wish I could turn that damn clock back! Thank you very much for sharing,way cool pics.
Cool report Jeff
That is a great story and awesome pictures Jeff.
Although one picture I see the trolling motor…I would have stayed in the boat. 
Are you fishing through that duck pond weed? I have a pond by my house that has some nice fish in it, but didn’t realize you can fish in that stuff. Any tips!!
Adam
If the mat is too thick the bait won’t penetrate enough to leave a visible trail. If you can see the trail then believe me, the pike can too.
Duck wort has always been key for us. A mixture of coon tail, cabbage and duck wort are perfect cover.
For a search bait and the most versatile pike bait out there go with the largest Johnson silver spoon they make(sharpen that hook, factory points suck, only fall back) tip it with a big k grub. We use to use pork rind when we were kids but not necessary. For the river you cant go wrong with white but honestly, I don’t think it’s priority.
When on top of the mat, don’t get hung up on a straight retrieve. I am constantly twitching the rod tip while reeling in. In looser stuff you can actually walk the dog a little. Not huge side to sides but tighter and faster action. If you can master this retrieve then the hit parade will start.
Also, instead of a straight up hook set, try sweeping the rod hard, horizontal with the water. Seen too many nice fish lost until we started the sweep 
After dropping off weed edges is where the spoon really shines. Drop the spoon for a few secs then give it a short-sharp twitch……….let fall, hang on. Be erratic as hell with it all the way back. We had alot of big pike doing this. Don’t be afraid to work this bait in opoen water too. We were in some perfect spinnerbait bays that produced little until we burned the Johnson right under the surface. Johnson does have different color patterns too but silver has been steady eddy for years. Other baits produce too of course, moss bosses, spro frogs and popper frogs……anything weedless. From what I’ve experienced though, hook up percentages rise with the Johnson. If you can get it ultra sharp then it’s a bad [censored] hook
Times of day are important. On sunny days, mornings shine of course. A wierd pattern for us isn’t necessarily an evening bite too but right around the 4:30-5 pm. time is when the pike get hungry for a few hrs. The last hr. of daylight can be exasperating . Once in awhile you would stick a big fish at dark but not as hot as that 3 hr. window late afternoon. Overcast days, huck away, they can stay hungry all day.
Hope this helps, let me know if that pond produces any good ones
Jeff, You ever notice the pike turning on around brief mid summer rain showers. As a kid if we had a quick afternoon down pour this time of year we where on our bikes heading to the pond to chase pike. For some reason I think it was the noise of the rain sent them nuts.
Heck yeah Mike. A distant rumble of thunder can trigger a hot window, a slow steady rain makes em even hungrier!!
He’s at it again
Jeff,
Just wondering why you put on the waders and go in the water instead of fishing from the boat? Are the weeds so thick that it’s difficult to get a boat through them?
Great report and great photos.
Boone
Too thick for the trolling motors. These fish are also sitting so close to shore that parallel casts along the banks kept the bait in long strike zones. From a boat it’s impossible to fish it thoroughly. The fish we rolled that had there snouts right in the springs a few inches from shore was amazing. We’re talking a foot of water or less.
Plus it’s kind of relaxing