Deep Thought,
Actually, we were on a quite large lake in northern Alberta province. In the spring and fall it is famous for lake trout but in the summer that species goes quite deep leaving the surface to the pike. Pike are so aggressive that we would sometimes catch fish so little that the spoons we used outweighed them. Naturally, with barbless hooks they all went back into the water. Jim caught one that measured 42" and my biggest was 40". Both the tinies and the monsters were catch and release, but each day we'd keep on around 30" for dinner (and breakfast the next morning.)
Actually, we were on a quite large lake in northern Alberta province. In the spring and fall it is famous for lake trout but in the summer that species goes quite deep leaving the surface to the pike. Pike are so aggressive that we would sometimes catch fish so little that the spoons we used outweighed them. Naturally, with barbless hooks they all went back into the water. Jim caught one that measured 42" and my biggest was 40". Both the tinies and the monsters were catch and release, but each day we'd keep on around 30" for dinner (and breakfast the next morning.)