Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:22 pm Post subject: Beseck Lake 02/16
TurtleKiss (aka Kira), asianfisher (aka Billy) and I fished Beseck Lake, today. Billy had saved the six golden shiners that he caught in Papermill Pond a couple of days ago and we wanted to use them to try for some northern pike. Billy arrived at the lake about 45 minutes before Kira and I. When we got to the boat launch ramp at 11:45 am, he was skating around on the lake. I could see only one other person out on the ice. It was sunny with only a slight breeze out of the south and the air temperature was already around 40 degrees. We loaded up our gear and set off across the ice. The ice was hard, but pretty bumpy from all the traffic that had been on it when it was snow and slush. I had no problem crunching across it in my Hillsound Trail Pro crampons and Billy was flying across it on his skates. Kira, on the other hand, struggled just a little bit:
We had decided to fish around the area where the channel to the dam meets the main body of the lake. Billy and I drilled holes with my eight inch hand auger and we set 13 or 14 tip-ups by 12:45 pm. Six were baited with the golden shiners and the rest with small to medium sized minnows. At about 1:00 pm, we got our first flag on the tip-up that was the farthest out in the main body of the lake. I ran over to it, but line wasn't spooling off by the time I got to it and the minnow was gone:
Just before 1:30 pm, a flag went up on the tip up that was closest to the shore on the north corner where the channel meets the main body of the lake (i.e., by the red, cantilevered dock). It was one of the tip-ups that was baited with a shiner. Billy and I were pretty far away from it and, as we ran over, we watched Kira pull a ton of line out of the hole. When I was about 50 feet away, I saw her pull a massive pike about one foot out of the hole. I saw the top its broad head thrash from side to side when it snapped the 50 pound braided line that was spooled on the tip-up and sank back down the hole. It was definitely a 30+ inch pike. sonofab!$@# Yes, we had failed to put steel leaders on our shiner baited tip ups. No, we weren't very prepared. Heck, we had been lucky that Billy happened to have some 5/0 soft plastic bait hooks in his bucket on which to put the shiners in the first place. Lessons learned. Meanwhile, Billy and I had no action at all while jigging, not even a nibble. However, at 2:30 pm, we got another flag and, this time, Kira pulled up a 20 inch pike:
This one had taken a small minnow. Big bait, big fish. Small bait, small fish. Speaking of small fish , I finally got my first nibble while jigging just before 4:30 pm and landed a largemouth bass:
It was a four incher, Dawg! Whoo hoo! I had been expecting the flags to fly as the sun went down, but it never really happened. We packed up as darkness fell and got off the ice at 6:00 pm. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:57 pm Post subject:
Nice job on the PW, Phil!
Kira we need to get you some practice holding pike/pickerel by the gills. You could have pulled that sucker right out of the hole...No Fear!! Sorry to hear you lost it though. Sounds like it was a nice one.
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject:
The pike was thrashing pretty wildly, Dawg! I think the only thing that would have helped would have been a steel leader. Yeah, I still feel like an idiot for not bringing any. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:23 pm Post subject:
DirtyDawg10 wrote:
Nice job on the PW, Phil!
Kira we need to get you some practice holding pike/pickerel by the gills. You could have pulled that sucker right out of the hole...No Fear!! Sorry to hear you lost it though. Sounds like it was a nice one.
FEAR! I was under the impression that steel leaders were being used. _________________ Kira
*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*
good work guys and girls!!too bad on the one that got away
going to besek myself Friday look for a bright orange overalls...
p.s im diggin the pete maina bear hat..lol
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:00 am Post subject:
I know...I almost lost my pike at Bantam last year due to no steel leader. I had on 17lb mono I think. The only reason I kept it was I got it in a rear naked choke and didn't let go. Sometimes it's unavoidable. At least you got a good look at it though.
Pulling a big pike through a hole in the ice is kind of tricky. I would suggest boca grips. Using the line to pull it out usually doesn't work as either the line breaks or the hook pulls out. The big ones are just too heavy. Got to get a grip on the fish itself somehow. Glad to hear that you got some action from a big one, though. _________________ Go big or go home!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:41 pm Post subject:
Damian - We had two sets of grippers with us. The big pike was pretty wild, kinda like the Alien popping outta that guy's stomach in the first movie, only bigger. I would have tried one of Dawg's wrestling moves, myself. Seriously though, I wonder whether a smaller hole might have helped to keep it from thrashing so violently. Maybe an eight inch hole was too big. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:25 pm Post subject:
Yeah, the big pike hit one of the big goldies, which was probably nine or 10 inches long. The black 50 pound braided line that was spooled on the tip-up had a snap swivel on the end of it and a decent size split shot about eight inches up the line. We put a big, probably 5/0, soft bait hook on the snap and hooked it through the goldie's lips from underneath. We also had a snelled red number 4 baitholder hook through its tail as a trailer. The pike obviously swallowed the goldie, because it bit through the braided line just below the split shot, which we found on the ice after it escaped. The goldie was set in our shallowest hole, with just enough line to keep it off of the bottom. Other than the hooks, we didn't maim or injure the goldie in any way. It was free swimming.
We had a couple of other flags on goldies that were bitten but not swallowed. It's frustrating when you see a goldie with damaged scales on both sides of its body. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Yeah, I hear you about hammered bait w/ no fish on the end of the line. I kind of take it as a good sign, though. At least you know the fish are there and want your bait. So, the goldies were alive. I think it makes a big difference. Not a big fan of dead bait. Maybe freshly dead, but not frozen. Even when catfishing, I have much better results from live bait as opposed to frozen chunks. _________________ Go big or go home!
Was going to try for trout up at West Hill (same day as you), but slipped on some ice on my driveway. Banged up my right rib cage pretty good. Had X rays taken and luckly nothing broken, but very very sore!
Phil that picture of you (+ look on your face) with that tiny 4" Bass you should post as a temporary avartar -> At least till open water
Think you won the trophy for the SMALLEST PB
Kira -> Sorry to hear you lost that Big Pike! -> Must have been fun hauling that one in! -> Least you got to see it before it broke free!
(By the way -> I assume that's your Valentine day DO! in the picture )
Billy -> What can I say -> Your a never say die Sportsman,
yeah, i dont do well on frozens either, as for leader, Seagar 40 or 50 pound test flouro leader is the way to go, i always carry some made into quick strike rigs for baits 9 inches to 14 inches, and some only with one treble hook for baits in the 5-8 inch size, I have never had a pike break me off yet and i believe i get more takes due to the invisibility of the flouro opposed to steel. dont get me wrong i have used steel and even have a tip up or two with steel on it but the more i use flouro the more it convinces me its worth it!!!
Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:35 am Post subject:
SeaDog1 wrote:
Kira -> Sorry to hear you lost that Big Pike! -> Must have been fun hauling that one in! -> Least you got to see it before it broke free!
(By the way -> I assume that's your Valentine day DO! in the picture )
No, I just have some pink in my hair now. Matches my baitcasters. _________________ Kira
*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*
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Yes, we had failed to put steel leaders on our shiner baited tip ups. 
No, we weren't very prepared. Heck, we had been lucky that Billy happened to have some 5/0 soft plastic bait hooks in his bucket on which to put the shiners in the first place. Lessons learned. Meanwhile, Billy and I had no action at all while jigging, not even a nibble. However, at 2:30 pm, we got another flag and, this time, Kira pulled up a 20 inch pike:
, I finally got my first nibble while jigging just before 4:30 pm and landed a largemouth bass:
Sorry to hear you lost it though. Sounds like it was a nice one.
-> Must have been fun hauling that one in! -> Least you got to see it before it broke free! 
)
