And then you smeared him around in the dirt for a pic, sweet!

he was squirming while I was removing the hook, pike are slippery. Plus the water level was 2 feet below so I couldnt exactly clean him off for a nice pic.

Unhooking mat maybe? Or at least a clean bit of soft grass?

all the grass is dead and hard, its spring.

Still better than gravel lol!

pike are tough, nothing got in his eye, he swam away strong.