8/2/14 Hail of a day for Pike fishing

Mike and I went to one of our local rivers in search of Pike. Mike got the action started with a couple misses. He seemed surprised with the size of the fish he was seeing even though I told him that this spot holds a lot of big Pike. He got a small pike to boat side but he lost it in an attempt to land it. I hooked and landed a beast that we guesstimated was over 35 inches. We fish downstream for a while and landed a few smallmouth bass and Mike got a nice 31'' Pike. It had been a bright sunny day, but Mike and I noticed that the weather seemed like it was taking a turn for the worse. Clouds were rolling in and we started to hear some not so distant thunder. With this change, we decided that it would be best to head back towards the launch. Not long after that,  it began to rain. Then it began to rain harder. We took shelter under a tree. It rained harder, so we got out and took shelter under some large trees. And then it hit me, literally and figuratively. It had begun to hail. After a few minutes it started to settle down and we could get back to fishing. Mike and I each caught one more Pike. At least 7 other kayaks came down the river, which is unusual as I had never seen another person in this place. I still had the last fish in hand when they first appeared. I got the fish released. I could see they had fishing rods and I didn't want them to discover that they were floating over a gold mine of Pike fishing. We exchanged pleasantries and Mike and I downplayed the size and number of fish we had caught. By the time they moved on, it was time for us to begin the trek back to our vehicles. All in all a wonderful day on the river! the last picture is a rare photo indeed. Mike NEVER has to paddle his kayak! The first picture is of a fish I caught the night before on a fly. My camera was dead when I got onto the water so I had to settle for a picture with my cell phone. One last thing worth mentioning, the last Pike released very well and was NOT in bad shape on release. I am very conscious of how I handle these fish and take plenty of time to revive them properly before release.