Minipi Camps Web Log

Catching a 17 pound pike on a Porky’s Pet

If you’ve visited the Minipi Photo Gallery you’ve seen pictures of big pike. Well here’s the story behind one of them told by a skilled Oklahoma angler named Kevin B. Joyce, who caught his pike while fishing with Minipi Chief Guide Raymond Best. Together they landed that 17 pound, 38 inch pike (check it out at the Photo Gallery, “Big Pike on The Fly"), on a Sage XP 5 wt with a 4 x leader and no steel wire on the tippet. 

Here’s Kevin’s story:

“It was August 3rd, 2005, a pretty hot day on the lake [Anne Marie] and the brookie fishing was a bit slow. My brother John and I were in the boat with guide Ray Best. We pulled out of “Lover Boy Run” to see if anything was happening near “Lilly Pad.” When we got there, I cast a Porky’s Pet (red/white/black Deer Hair Popper) and was working it back when this huge pike came at it like a crocodile after a duck. And when it hit, it made a few tarpon-like jumps before heading off on the first of several long runs. Now I have fished all over the world, and I have caught pike this big or bigger on flies in other Canadian provinces, but this was my first trip into the backing.  After awhile I got the line back on the reel and finally managed to get her up to the gunwale and lined her head up with the net.

Ray reached out with the net and slipped her in head first, jaws wide open. But when Ray raised the net, it was empty. The fish was gone! It’s razor-sharp teeth had sliced right through the webbing and she was off again on another run. My line was feeding out right through that hole the pike made in the net, so Ray had to hold the net up in front of me and move it around to keep the line from fouling as I played the fish.  Finally, after a ten-minute tussle, we got her back to the boat and with some niffty maneuvering with that bottomless net, Ray got the monster over the gunwale and into the boat.  The best thing about this was that my brother happened to be playing with his camcorder at the time and we got the whole struggle on film.  Actually I was surprised at how short the fight really was. I ‘d swear it lasted 30 miniutes but the timer on his camcorder showed a bit less than that.

Landing this big fish on my 5 wt. Sage was quite a miracle, especially since I was really fishing for brookies and had no bite guard or wire of any kind on the end of my 4 x leader. But I give a lot of credit to Ray Best, who did an outstanding job chasing her down, maneuvering the boat, and finally getting her into the boat with that bottomless net.  It was quite an experience, one that I will never forget.”

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