Today I set out hoping to add several new species to my list. I was targeting nine possibilities: Rock Bass, Pumpkinseed, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass, Carp, Brown and Black Bullhead, Mooneye, and Goldeye. Ironically, I caught none of those—but I did add a new species, and a fun one at that: the Northern Pike.

My plan was to leave Rochester early and fish multiple locations around Winona and Lake City, essentially making a loop between the three cities. The total distance for the day was about 135 miles: 56 miles from Rochester to Winona, roughly 45 miles along the Mississippi River from Winona to Lake City, and 34 miles back to Rochester.

I got up very early and decided to clean out and organize my tackle box—which had become a mess and even smelled a bit unpleasant. I’d accumulated a surprising amount of lures and tackle over the past month, and it took nearly an hour to sort through everything. Still, it felt like a good, productive start to the day.

I left for Winona around 8:00 a.m. When I arrived, my first stop was Fleet Farm to pick up some nightcrawlers. From there I headed to McNally Landing on the Mississippi River and fished for about 15 minutes without success. I then tried the tailwaters below Lock and Dam #5 for another 30 minutes, but again had no bites.

Next, I decided to head into Winona to fish Winona Lake, mainly targeting Pumpkinseed Sunfish. However, while driving along Prairie Island Road, I noticed a slough off the road that looked like prime Largemouth Bass habitat. I parked, walked down a short hill, and gave it a try.

The slough turned out to be a side channel of the Mississippi River—shallow, muddy, with no noticeable current, and filled with vegetation and fallen logs. Since it was early May, I could fish there comfortably without being overwhelmed by insects. I tied on a relatively small Rapala crankbait and started casting toward the submerged logs, which I’ve always heard are good holding spots for bass and other fish.

After only a few casts, I felt a strong bite, followed by a surprisingly long and powerful fight. To my surprise, it wasn’t a bass—it was a Northern Pike. Unfortunately, just as I got it to shore, it thrashed hard and escaped back into the water. That was a big disappointment, since Northern Pike was a species I still needed for my 100‑species list.

I remembered that using a wire leader with a snap is a good idea when pike are around, to prevent them from biting through the line. I rigged one up, attached a Rapala diving crankbait, and went back to work. About ten casts later, I hooked another Northern Pike.

This time, I landed it successfully and carefully carried it—still on the line—about 20 feet away from shore so I could unhook it and get a quick photo. I was able to measure it as well. It was a relatively small pike, clearly smaller than the one that escaped, measuring 15 inches in length. I tried weighing it with a Rapala scale, but it didn’t register—probably because the fish was too light for the scale. A reasonable estimate would be about 1.5–2.0 pounds.

I fished the slough for another 30 minutes but didn’t get any more bites. From there, I headed to Winona Lake to try again for Pumpkinseed Sunfish. I set up a simple bobber-and-worm rig, but surprisingly got zero bites.

After that, I started driving toward Lake City, stopping for lunch at Reads Landing Brewing Company, about five miles southeast of Lake City. I had a solid burger and one of their home‑brewed beers, which happened to be brewed in Rochester.

My final stop of the day was Lake City, located on Lake Pepin, where I was hoping to catch a Rock Bass. The conditions weren’t ideal—it was very breezy and mostly sunny—and I think that largely shut down the bite. Even so, I did manage to land a Freshwater Drum using a small jig with pink feathers and a worm, fishing it vertically by jigging. The drum measured about 16 inches, roughly the same size as one I had caught the week before at Coralville Lake near Iowa City, and likely weighed around 2.5–3.0 pounds.

In the end, I caught three fish representing two species. While it wasn’t a numbers day, adding the Northern Pike as a new species made the trip well worth it—and left me very satisfied.