Pikes will get very large even when they’re cooped up in the inland lakes, that one beats me. A former coworker was teaching his girlfriend of the time how to cast early one spring day, and what they thought was a log went for it. They couldn’t keep it, but he had her photograph him holding it, huge thing.
The largest I ever caught was just a couple of feet long. The bay we fished in was only around 6 foot deep. The walleye and Pike seemed to come in mostly on overcast days, maybe something to do with their eyes being sensitive. I did catch a 4 foot bowfin. I didn’t even know what it was and it sure did stink. Lucky me, lol. Drummond Island was a cheap vacation back in the day.