Blue Pike

[Dr.Ed]

Hey all! Some years back I wrote an article for Gannett about blue pike in Lake Erie. I know all about them, but would really really love to get in touch with some old-timers, meaning 80 years old or better, that may have fished for blue pike back in the 40s, 50s or very early 60s. If you know anyone, by all means let me know. I'll keep you all informed, for sure. They were smaller than walleye, with larger eyes and had a bluish tint. They were actually a sub-species yellow walleye. All gone now. But the myth and mystery remain.... By all means, let me know...

Our family came back to Ohio in the summer of 1950. My dad and some of his friends kept their boats at the municipal park at Avon Point in Avon Lake. We would launch before sunset and run out about 2 miles and search for rocky bottom using a 6 oz lead sinker on a string tapping the bottom until we hit solid rock. Then it was anchor down and with what are now crappy rigs start jigging nightcrawlers on #4 bait hooks set one and two feet above a 2 oz lead drop sinker. We rarely had to move before the bite was on. As darkness approached a Coleman lantern was set out on a 3 foot metal arm stuck in an oar lock. It wasn't long before shiner minnows were drawn to the light and netted by my dad who exchanged the worms for minnows and things really got busy pulling many doubles of 12 to 15 inch blue pike. We used wet bushel size burlap bags as we had no coolers. This is where I learned to snap the fishes necks to put them out of their misery and preserve the taste altered by the adrenalin flow. Now I use a talleywhacker a.k. foot long wooden club on all fish prior to the cooler. Here is the bottom line. There was no limit so we created one. Time to go home when 2 bags were full. I'm guessing 100 fish per bags. Most of the night was spent cleaning and, oh yes, we scaled every one of them. In those days that followed we dipped the filets in egg, rolled them in saltine cracker crumbs and deep fried them in Crisco. Salt and tarter sauce and chow down.