Help!!! What is It??

Camping and fishing can be boring for a young girl. I had many days when we would go camping and fishing where I was bored to death! I remember one such day, I was 12 years old, we were in Cassville, Wisconsin on the Mississippi River. My step dad had went out fishing in the boat and my mom I had stayed at the campground. I was bored, there wasn't any children around to play with. So I took my fishing pole down to the boat dock. I didn't have any bait for my hook but like I said I was bored. I stood on the boat dock and casted my rod into the river and then I would slowly reel it in, then repeat. I don't know how long it was that I stood there on the boat dock throwing and reeling, but it was for a while. All of a sudden my line caught a snag, as they say. This is what I thought anyway. I tried to get it to come loose but couldn't. I was getting madder and madder. Finally, I pulled with all the might I had and I could feel it loosen a little. So I started reeling it in and it was coming, although it felt like I had a tree limb attached. Then BAM! my line started running out. I had a fish on my line. I thought..how? I had empty hook...I planted my feet firmly and started pulling my rod and reeling the line in. My little arms were getting so tired but I kept it up until I finally could see a fish flopping in the water. I was able to pull it up on the boat dock. It was the biggest fish I had ever seen. I had no clue what kind of fish it even was. It looked mean and it wouldn't stop flopping around. I didn't know how to take a fish off my line. I took off walking with fishing pole in tow with the fish still attached and headed towards our campsite. I passed other campers/fishermen on the way and they were all telling me what a fine catch I had. When I got within yelling distance of our campsite I did just that. I started yelling for my mom. She came running, thinking that I was hurt. She sees the fish flopping all over the place. "Where did you get that?" she asked. I told her the story and I asked her, "What is this thing?" My mom said that she thought it was a northern pike. She had me help her put it in a bucket of water because she didn't want to try and take the hook out, so she just cut the line. When my step dad came in from fishing he told us that it was indeed a northern pike. he wanted to know how I caught it and when I told him he said UNBELIEVABLE! I wish I had a picture of the fish I caught but pictures were a rare thing for me in those days. I did however find this picture of a northern pike online.