Michigan Fisherman Catches Whitefish, Gets A Bonus Northern Pike

It was two for the price of one for Sault Ste. Marie's Steve Miller this week.

The Soo Evening News tells the tale of Miller's fishing foray at the St. Mary's River.

Miller casted off from his friend Keven Savoie's boat on Monday. He thought a small whitefish hit his line. It did, but at the same moment, he got a bonus he wasn't counting on.

The moment he started reeling the smaller fish in, a giant Northern Pike went to eat the Whitefish, and the fight was on for Miller.

For a moment, Miller thought he had a salmon on the line, and was just hoping his four-pound test line would hold.

It did, and then Miller saw the reality of his catch, a 33-pound Northern Pike.

The Evening News picks up the story from there:

...there was another thing that made this unusual.

The pike wasn’t even hooked.

The fly was buried in the mouth of the whitefish — which had served as the prize in this tug of war. Had the pike just once released its grip on the smaller fish, it would have left Miller with a sad tale of the one that got away.

The pike’s stubbornness and a little bit of luck produced the river’s equivalent of killing two birds with one stone. It also provided the 35-year-old Miller with a meal and a story he can share of the time he landed two fish on a single fly.