That would be epic. When I told some of my friends, they all said Oh that was a baby. I guess they were right.

I scooped him up in a net and put him in the boat. I had no idea what he; you live and you learn. However, he is the biggest fish I have caught to date.

Thank you Ray.

Hi Fred

Thanks for the reply, and the information. I really didn't consider the length, nor did I know what it was so I just checked the NH Regulations. The minimum length for a Northern Pike in NH is 28 inches, so I did the right thing by letting it go regardless of if it is good to eat or not. As the cop said when he pulled me gave me a really big ticket "Ignorance of the law is no excuse young man." That was a long time ago, but still rings true today.

Thank you Ben. Based on your reply, the next one that I catch may end up on the table.

HI

Harry from Amherst NH here. Last week I was fishing the Connecticut River, the Brattleboro Vermont Area, and I caught a this really big fish - like 26 inches long. It kinda looked like a pickerel but not exactly, but it did put a really good fight so it was a fun fish to catch. Not knowing anything about what this Damn Yankee fish was, or if it was even edible, I let it go. When I got home, I searched the State of New Hampshire website for the list of fresh water fish and determined that I had caught a Northern Pike. A further search said that they were very bony, but they were very good to eat. I read the same thing about Pickerel too. So, my question to you lads who are reading this boring monolog is "Do any of you have any culinary experience with northern pike"? If so, how do you filet and prepare them. Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Harry from Amherst NH.

It has nothing to do with fishing, it's a Redneck golf betterment aid. You use it to learn how to keep your head down while hitting golf balls. How it works is you take the liner out of a hard hat, attach a "Y" shaped rope to both sides of the liner, the tie other end of the line to the eyelet of the gizmo. You take this thing and your golf clubs to the driving range, get whatever club you are learning to hit out of the bag, put the hat liner on your head and take hook thing and tuck it between your legs and adjust the rope to get the hook thing for a really snug fit in your crotch, and start hitting golf balls. The idea behind this thing is that you'll learn rieal quick to keep your head down when you are hitting golf balls. The problem is this thing is all bent to hell, and the eyelet at the top is missing.

Personally, I dip the fish in a milk/beaten egg liquid, and then put them in a paper bag with a mixture of yellow corn meal with a dash of red and black pepper, and some Tony Cacherie's (spelling may not be correct) seasoning. Shake the excess corn meal off, and deep fry them - basically float them in the oil so they cook all around in one shot.

They call them kivers, or kivies, up here in New England. I don't know why. They say kivers are small. They do know what a bluegill is, but they do not know what a Bream is. All catfish are horn pout. They get me really confused when they talk about fish species. Oh well, that what I have chosen to live with. However, that is a nice Bream you caught there.

Harry

I fish the Connecticut river up here in lower New Hampshire. Besides worms, I've caught really big Bream, Perch (White and Yellow) and Rock Bass on a H&H with a yellow and black skirt. I hope this helps.

Good for you. I just checked the Connecticut river temperature. It's all the way up to 43 degrees. Hopefully it will be approaching 50 sometime next week if it stays warm. It's been a long winter so I am ready to go fishing. Enjoy your supper.

Harry

I understand. Even though I live up north now, I still got that southern vibe flowing in my veins. However you wanna say it or spell it, I still call them good to eat.

Back when I was a kid growing up in Natchitoches Louisiana (yes I am a name dropper), we used Grey Crickets to catch Bream. This was on both Toledo Bend, and in Black Lake. Since I moved up to New Hampshire, I discovered that I can't get Grey crickets so I have to use worms in the Connecticut river. I discovered that they got fairly big bream in the river, but they are a lot deeper than the small ones. So, try going deeper and see if that helps. Good Luck.

No Sweat. Feel free to keep in touch and let me know what the fish are doing as the year progresses. and I'll let you know when I'm gonna be fishing and what the results are.

Be Safe.

Harry

Thanks Bernie. I was just wondering if you were the Bernie that I worked with. It's a small world you know. I worked at VY for about 36 years up until ENTERGY shut the plant down, and lived in Hinsdale for about the last 10 years and still have very good friends there. I come back and go fishing and golfing as much as I can. For some reason, I have a fondness of that stretch of the river. Please feel free to keep in touch and update me on what the fishing conditions are and who knows, maybe we'll run into each other at some point.

Stay Safe!!!!

Harry