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I headed out around 11:30 last night to work a local lake that is known to have some small to middling largemouth bass and the occasional smallmouth. It's also the lake where I have caught a handful (5 - 6) big walleye, including 3 on a 7" Slammer one memorable night a few years ago, but recently it's been pretty much all bass, and mostly smaller ones. So why go there? It's close to where I live and when I drove by the other day, I noticed the water level was really low, which means that there are a couple of spots that tend to concentrate the fish. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it had been a while since I'd caught a bass at night (okay, 7 days, but that's an eternity at this time of the year). The night started off decently, with a trio of small smallmouth pouncing on the 7" Slammer. It used to be light trout, but now it's best described as heavy rash with flecks of light trout. Wickedly effective though and while I know I should retire it, I can' t help but throw it. Here's the best of the smallmouth - like I said, nothing to write home about. The one thing that smallmouth did remind me of was that I'd left my normal camera at home, and all I had was the camera on my ancient iPhone (it's one of those single-digit models). I would really regret this later on. After the 3 smallies, a largemouth that was maybe an inch or two longer than the Slammer took a whack and came to hand, and then another economy-sized smallie. It was a good night - lots of action, and the odd sounds of baitfish dying in the dark, sounds that were suspiciously catfish like - that classic hissing strike. I fired off more than a few casts in the direction of the distressed baitfish but to no avail. Then things got interesting - I lobbed a cast past a prominent rock and as the Slammer came waking back, it got crushed. I could tell right away that this was something bigger than the pint-sized bass I'd been playing with so I went ahead and flipped on my headlamp - the fish had weight and arced away from shore before I convinced it to come back my way with the seasoned MH Okuma. Walleye, and a big one! You've got to love the way those eyes light up in the dark when you hit them with the headlamp. Instead of flipping the fish to shore, I beached her and then really really wished I had a good camera with me. I tried to take three pictures with the iPhone and only one was sort of okay. Alright, it actually sucks, but it's all I've got of this 27 - 28" walleye. It was pretty warm so I didn't keep her out of the water long enough to get a weight, but she was solid, and feisty. After that, my night was made - it had been years since I'd caught a big walleye on a wakebait and I'd just done it again. Still, there was more shoreline to cover so I went back to work. About 50 yds down the shore I picked up another largemouth, still nothing huge, maybe 12", but again, a strike's a strike in the dark. After I released the bass, I fired off another cast to the same spot, and the Slammer was hit before I could even move it. The fish wasn't big, in fact, it felt quite small but when I swung it out of the water, the shape was wrong - too long, too skinny. Headlamp on, and there, gleaming in the light, was a hammer handle of a northern pike! What??? I knew there were a couple of pike in the lake, but I had never caught one, and I'd never heard of a pike being caught at night. The night was now not only made, but trending towards epic. I released the pike, washed off the slime it so kindly left on my hands, and kept working the shoreline - maybe another 100 yds to go before the habitat went bland again. Another mini-smallmouth made it's presence known, and then I had two good strikes, one of which was very walleye-like and the other which was probably a decent bass, given the way the fish jumped and then casually tossed the Slammer back in my direction (it missed). At the very end of the decent habitat, I fired off one final long cast and, halfway back, the Slammer took one more hit - this time the hooks held and to my surprise, a 2nd northern pike flashed across my vision as I swung it onto shore. This one was at least twice as heavy as the first, maybe approaching 24" long - not a giant or even a respectable fish, but still, a northern at night is a northern at night. The final tally for the session. The first two northerns I've caught at the spot in over 12 years of fishing it And a hefty walleye to boot, with lots of little bass tossed in for good measure. Yeah, it was one heck of a night.