In Pursuit of Prize Pike

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In Pu

to i u s r

f

Prize

PIKE

Lunker northern pike are as much a part of Minnesota’s oversized lore as Paul Bunyan. But what is the true story of big pike in Minnesota waters?

Lyle Swanson

At age 57, caught the trophy northern pike he had been chasing for most of his life. To do it, he hiked for hours through deep snow, drilled ice holes with a hand auger, and endured two nights of subzero temperatures in a tent. “I was getting old. I wanted to catch that 20-pound fish, a 40-incher,” Swanson says. After decades of striking out on easier pike waters, Swanson joined a group of younger men, including his son, Shane, on a trek seven miles deep into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. There, Swanson hooked his trophy on Basswood Lake. Trophy pike aren’t intrinsically hard to catch. The challenge in Minnesota is finding one, according to Rod Pierce, a DNR fisheries biologist who has studied Esox lucius

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Minnesota Conservation Volunteer

By Michael A. Kallok Photograph by John Swanson


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