First fish is always one you'll remember

There are a lot of fish in the world, but whenever I catch the first one of a new species for me, it's an event I'll remember, until dementia sets in anyhow.
Northern pike are one of those species. I don't remember ever catching one as a kid (that dementia thing again), so as far as I'm concerned, I'd never caught one before. On a recent fishing trip to Montana, that changed.
Using a Pinnacle Accent CR spin rod with a Shakespeare reel and brand-new Trilene 8-pound test line, I was frustrated by two big northerns that snapped my line as I got them up to the net, taking my last two jointed Shad-Rap lures with them.
I switched to a big, fire-tiger Rapala, set my drag lighter, and the next time I hooked up, that pike was brought to net and boated. It wasn't a big pike by any standards,  but it wasn't exactly a hammer handle, either.
Pike are big, nasty fish that fight hard and taste great. I filleted a few of them after watching this YouTube video.
Now that I've landed my first pike, I'm ready to catch my biggest pike.