My First Pike

My very fist pike came from the Red Deer river. We happened to be floating with a guest of ours who decided that he wanted to have me come along to fish with him for the day, so I joined the float. That particular day, the brown trout fishing was a little slower than usual. It was spring, the water color was off due to a recent release from the dam and the bugs were hit and miss. The day was hot and I was sitting in the back of our boat admiring the scenery when I got a little too comfortable and before I could catch myself I dozed off. I don't recall my boat mates being aware of me catching some shut eye, as they were deep in conversation, but it was minutes after I woke that I hooked this big pike. Dave had decided to pull over at a large hole for an early lunch  and our guest insisted I fish the pool, so without pause I took one cast and hooked up. At first I was hopeful that it was a monster brown, but I soon realized the fight felt different and after it dogged me for a while taking line deeper and deeper into the heart of the pool, I knew it had to be something else. We eventually got it to the net and to my amazement, I had gotten lucky and landed a 34 " Pike on 8lb monofilament. I learned about steel leaders that day. Maybe the snooze was the ticket for my success that day...regardless, I was happy.