A really big fish story

COEUR d’ALENE — Thomas Francis knew it was no ordinary pike at the end of his line in Hayden Lake on Tuesday.

“It was like a freight train,” he said. “She hit it good.”

He was used to catching 20 or 30 pounders and they put up a good fight.

But this was different.

“She dug herself into the bottom and didn’t want to come up,” Francis said.

Slowly, she did. In another five minutes, the pike was netted and on board.

Francis took a look, along with fishing buddy Taylor Hale, and knew he had hooked something special.

Something big.

“This isn’t like our other fish,” Francis said.

The next day, after finally finding a certified scale, the 49-inch pike with a 26-inch girth weighed 40.76 pounds.

That made it the largest pike to come from Idaho waters, and the third-largest in the United States.

It’s already listed with Idaho Fish and Game under certified weight records. It beat the previous mark of 40 pounds, 2 ounces, caught by Kim Fleming in Lower Twin Lake in August 2010.

Francis almost couldn’t believe it. As the Post Falls man talked about it Thursday, he was still overjoyed and beaming with pride.

“I’ve been chasing a record pike pretty much since I moved here in 2005,” he said.

Originally from Boston, Francis comes from a family of anglers. He grew up working on fishing boats and going after striped bass.

When he moved to North Idaho, he found that trout received the most attention from fishermen.

Not him.

“I want something with teeth, that’s big and mean, so I went for the northern pike,” he said.

Success came slowly. It took a few years to find the best ways to catch pike consistently. He caught smaller fish over the years and then began hooking 20-pounders regularly, which he released.

Francis believes a 50-pounder is out there, which would top the current U.S. record for northern pike of 46.02 pounds caught in New York's Sacandaga Lake in 1940.

“I want a world record," he said. “Fifty is my goal. I think Pend Oreille or Coeur d’Alene could have it. It’s hiding in there somewhere.”

Catching the record pike in Hayden Lake was only part of the battle. The second was having its weight certified.

That effort started with flagging down a boat after catching the pike. Those anglers had a scale, but it topped out at 30 pounds.

Next, they tried Super 1 in Hayden, but its scale didn’t go past 40 pounds.

Fins and Feathers on Sherman Avenue had a scale. The pike weighed 41.22, but there was a problem: The scale wasn’t certified.

Francis was amazed at how many people and the North Idaho Pike Association, of which he is a member, tried to help him find a certified scale.

“They treated me really well. I made some friends from it,” he said. “It showed that people cared.”

Running out of options, the pike was put on ice overnight by angler Phil Biggerstaff, also a North Idaho Pike Association board member.

Its size surprised even him.

“I’ve seen lots of pike. None like this,” Biggerstaff said.

He estimated it was probably 10 years old and near life’s end, her teeth worn to nubs.

“She was a sight to be seen,” Biggerstaff said.

It was a sleepless night for Francis.

“I hadn’t stopped shaking,” he said.

The next morning, they visited Idaho Fish and Game, but it didn’t have the necessary scale. Finally, they took the fish to UPS, where it officially weighed 40.76.

It had lost nearly a half pound overnight, but Francis didn't despair.

“At least it still made it into the records,” he said.

The 37-year-old didn't want to reveal the lure he used at the end of the 80-pound fishing line.

He said he usually releases pike and considers them an “awesome resource.”

“I don’t kill pike. That was probably the hardest part. That was kind of rough for me,” he said.

Despite its size and a possible record, Francis still considered putting it back.

“I didn’t kill this fish for a trophy," he said. "She just died from the battle. She wasn’t strong enough. She didn’t have a lot of teeth left."

The fish is at the taxidermist.

Biggerstaff believes a world-record fish will be caught in North Idaho, and perhaps not even that long down the road.

"I think we're going to see a 50-pound fish," he said.

If it’s out there, Thomas Francis is confident he'll catch it.

Francis fishes local waters almost daily, and also visits regional waters for trout, cutthroat and rainbow trout, even traveling to Louisiana for shark.

An injection molding process technician, he said fishing creates calm on hectic days.

“It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. Just being on the water, just being out there," he said.

A big fish helps.