What a great pic.

I like the taste of Northern.

Many people up there consider Pike to be trash fish- kinda like saltwater snobs look down on redfish. They prefer walleye fishing.

I had one bite me once. As I reached down towards the water to grab the spoon in a pikes mouth, he flicked his tal1 and got a good chunk out of one of my fingers. It hurt like hell, but no real damage. I have heard the musky stories about them biting fisherman's hands when they are being washed in the water. Never verified so I guess it could be an urban legend but those things are so aggresive I don't doubt it has happened. I think their are even stories of muskys biting swimmers.

We use to keep the "hammer handle" northern to eat because the Y bones would fry right up and be no bother...muskies are great eating, nice solid white meat. My mother-in-law would always ask me a couple times a year to catch her a muskie to cook. Muskies didn't seem to have all the Y bones that northerns possess...

Skyshark, I appreciate the fact that you probably led a very sheltered life up north doing this kind of fishing and have never read any stories about this. I'll find the site I saw that had stories of people getting bit and post it, mainly because they had something that sparkled on their ankle or hand...

One story

When muskie fishing in muskie and northern waters, the potential for having a fish "follow" the lure to the boat without being seen, then laying under the boat when an angler decides to wash his hands over the side then getting struck at is very possible and it has happened. I remember a story in one of the northern tier state papers about a water-skier who went down and got bit by a muskie/northern on the foot/ankle area. The water skier had a shiny ankle bracelet on which probably caught the attention of the fish. So it can and does happen. But why chance the possibility when you are muskie/northern fishing? All it takes is once to make you a believer. You might want to get a copy of Larry Ramsell's book "A Compendium of Muskie Angling History" and read a few stories for yourself or log-on to the Muskies, Inc. website and ask the question to them yourself. I'm sure those guys can round up a few newspaper stories for ya.

Better yet, e-mail Mark1 who posts on this site and ask him. He's a good ol' Minnesota person who has probably read about a few incidents. I'm not saying that these fish attack humans on purpose. I'm saying they are all "accidents" because the person was probably wearing something shiny which made the fish think it was prey.

Nice Pike!
And they filet up nice for cooking. I too have heard lots of stories about people being bitten by pike and musky. I have seen first hand a large pike grab a duckling and pull it under.

The only pike I ever caught, were out of Spinney Resivoir up in Colorado. I caught a couple that were just keeper size. They fought good, and I like the taste of them. I think it is like someone else said, people prefer walleye, crappie, and flounder, because those species don't have a "Fishy-Taste". In my opinion, I want the fish taste. I wish that I had the opportunity to fish for pike more as I had a lot of fun with the ones I caught.

Want a good read, try the fictional novel by Christopher Knight titled "Ferocity", a story about a 12-foot long Great Lakes muskellunge that stalks humans...

That sounds like quite a book! Lol. I'd probably root for the Musky hehe.

Redfin... Man its possible, I am sure anything is possible. I just have never heard of anyone gettting bit by one and it is definatley not something that the average angler in minnesota is concerned about. I think the bigger concern up there is letting whatever is in your front pocket dropping out and down the hole while ice fishing

Took a trip to Ontario fishing a couple years in a row fishing for wlleye, pike and smallies. When we would get a hit and miss right at the boat we would swish our lure in a figure 8 using the rod tip and often would get hammered by a big ol' pike. Better have your drag set right. It would not surprise me at all if one would go after your hand/foot. Incidently each trip had stories of pike hitting smaller fish on the way to the boat and a few were landed that way. They don't want to let go once they're committed.

So......how'd they finally catch the critter? Troll with a water-skier for bait?

Great Pic. I have a picture on my wall of a Northern that the same thing happen to. You can see the bite marks all the way around the fish. Oh and I did almost get bit by a northern. We had a stinger over the side of the boat and I reached down to grab it about the same time a northern came up to grab it. Missed me by a few inches.