Syracuse.com - Summer fishing tale: The big pike that got away on the Erie Canal

[HuntingNY-News]

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Camillus boy eager to use goldfish he won at the State Fair as bait.

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<div id="asset-11626110" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img height="320" width="240" src="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/sunnyjpg-ea6447e40ddfc753.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="sunny.jpg" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="byline">Submitted photo</span><span class="caption">Henry proudly shows a sunfish he caught.</span></span><span class="photo-bottom-left"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span><span class="photo-bottom-right"><!-- IE6 HACK --></span></span></div>

<p>I’m just a sucker for fishing stories involving kids — particularly ones that get me laughing.</p>

<p>I asked readers recently to send in their best fishing stories from this past summer. The best one came from Brian Steitz, of Warners, and it involved his son.</p>

<p>The father wrote:</p>

<p>“My 5-year-old son, Henry, has really caught the fishing bug this summer. He begs to go fishing almost every day. And once he starts fishing, he does not want to stop. He can go for hours.</p>

<p>“Last week we stopped at the dock at the Erie Canal park in Warners near our house. The normal allotment of small sunfish were taking our worms when all of a sudden a large pike appeared from the weeds. That got Henry going.</p>

<p>“He tried everything to catch that pike, from worms to lures, but with no success.</p>

<p>“A few days later he went to the State Fair. At the fair, he won a couple of goldfish on the midway. He brought them home and put them in his fish tank. .¤.¤.</p>

<p>“The fish died a few days later. Unannounced to his mother and me, Henry got a net and removed the fish from the tank. When my wife and I got home from work we found the dried-up goldfish on a table in our garage.</p>

<p>“Needless to say, my wife screamed. When confronted, Henry said he was saving the goldfish for bait for the pike from the canal. He was sure the pike would go for it!”</p>

<p>For the story, I’m giving Henry (his dad can use it, too) “The Strike, Tournament Edition,” which is the newest edition of Bass Pro Shops Wii fishing game.</p>

<p>My hope is that it keeps the boy exciting about fishing during the upcoming winter months. He also won’t have to rely on any dried-up goldfish to reel in a big one.</p>

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog