Bigger-than-average pike are in Minnesota waters, but they aren’t easy to find or catch

It wasn’t long ago when if you walked into a mom-and-pop bait shop in the Upper Midwest, you’d see a plus-sized northern pike mounted on the wall. A faded, stuffed pike was almost as ubiquitous as a scruffy bait shop cat or dog in most of the shops.
Today, finding a northern worthy of a mount or a replica is a tough task. It’s not impossible, though, and regulations meant to take a lake full of hammerhandles to one that might offer up a 40-incher are more common than ever.

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