Really big northern pike: Couple’s hers is bigger than his best

Stefi Modrzejewski holds a memorable northern pike from Lake County. | Provided

Stefi Modrzejewski made her first ice-fishing outing something special Tuesday with a 39-inch northern pike from a private lake in Lake County.

“She beat my personal best dale!” boyfriend Kyle Miller messaged. ”I’m in disbelief. We had not even set out all the flags and we were off chasing a false flag. As I’m tending to that one, another one pops off and she takes off running. She set the hook and the fight was on!! By the time I made it over, I was helping her guide it through the hole. Her first flag and all by her self.”

They were fishing with golden roaches just off the bottom to avoid the weeds in six feet of water.

The pike is big enough that I think it is worthy of a full-length view.

Full length view of Stefi Modrzejewski holding a memorable northern pike from Lake County.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).