In-Fisherman field editor Steve Ryan (left) and guide Scott Rowekamp were left nearly speechless after landing this 54-inch northern pike in the Yukon River drainage in Alaska while filming for the In-Fisherman television show.
June 26, 2025
By In-Fisherman Staff
Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.
On a trip to Alaska last week to film for In-Fisherman TV
While fishing with outfitter Scott Rowekamp from Midnight Sun Trophy Pike Adventures , Ryan tangled with (and landed) a northern pike that measured 54 inches, making it the biggest pike ever caught on film in the 50-year history of the In-Fisherman television show. It’s also the largest pike Rowekamp has encountered in his 21 years of guiding. Not a bad way to kick off the 2025 fishing season for Rowekamp.
The 54-incher, which Ryan and Rowekamp named Madonna (more on that later), was the capper to a phenomenal big-fish outing in the Yukon River drainage . For most anglers, any pike exceeding 40 inches in length is considered a trophy catch. Pike enthusiasts, however, will travel to specific locations, oftentimes Canada, knowing pike in the 45-inch range are available. Anything beyond 48 inches and you’re getting into rarified air. A 50-inch pike is simply a Holy Grail fish.
Advertisement
Over the course of three days, Ryan and Rowekamp put their hands on five fish that totaled approximately 253 inches in length, including two others that taped out right at 50 inches.
Rowekamp’s guiding season didn’t officially open until this week so when the In-Fisherman crew – Ryan and videographer Dave Penning – arrived, they worked together to gauge areas to target amid high-water conditions resulting from snow melt and runoff. The pike weren’t grouped up to any significant degree and Rowekamp put his years of experience to use in order to identify productive stretches and sloughs. They fished water two hours upstream and downstream from their base camp and by the end of day 2, they were rewarded with a 50-incher – a Holy Grail pike. The fish had a girth Ryan classified as average at best while Rowekamp was hesitant to measure it as he was comparing it to some behemoths caught during the final two weeks of the 2024 season.
While other outfitters, especially in Canada, typically offer opportunities to target other species such as lake trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, or muskie, Rowekamp’s solitary focus has been and remains trophy northern pike. He’s put his guests on more than 70 fish eclipsing the 50-inch mark over the years and he’s handled so many big pike that he’s become quite picky when it comes to actually measuring fish. He’ll rarely measure a pike if he suspects it’s less than 45 inches unless a guest requests it. When he does it’s in the exact same precise manner – and he rounds down on any measurement.
Advertisement
But over time he began to wonder if he’d plateaued. The previous owner of Midnight Sun Trophy Pike Adventures claimed to have caught a 54-incher years ago and Rowekamp quipped that if he ever caught a 54, he’d retire and leave the chase to others.
To open the third day of the trip, the trio made a long run to a channel where a slough emptied into a tributary stream. There was a current seam nearby and a distinct color change in the water. The first pike of the day was a 50.5-incher that fell for a Johnson Silver Minnow . A few more fish in the 40-inch range followed before an exceptionally large fish glided away from the bank toward Ryan’s Silver Minnow.
“It was an old, weathered fish that was wide across its head and back,” Ryan said. “It had a distinctive light coloration and bright fins.”
The fish never fully engaged and after a few more fruitless casts from various angles, they moved on. Noting the unmistakable characteristics of the fish, the talkative Rowekamp marked a waypoint to come back to. He named it “Madonna” after the famous pop star and hoped it’d still be in the same area upon their return. They worked another slough for an hour before returning to the channel Madonna inhabited.
Ryan then tossed the Silver Minnow in the same vicinity and out she came from the wood-lined bank, tracking the lure all the way to the boat just under the surface while revealing her size and features. But no dice. So Ryan traded the Silver Minnow for a 4-inch paddletail swimbait rigged on a 3/8-oz. barbless jighead . The fish seemed uninterested in that and slowly vanished out of sight. Ryan made a few more casts into the deep, dark water between the boat and bank and began to contemplate next steps when he felt a slight tick. He set the hook hard and up came Madonna, thrashing her head toward the surface.
She turned and powered back toward the woody shoreline. It was then that Ryan realized what had happened.
“I just hooked Madonna!” he exclaimed – twice.
He was also aware of the stakes.
“This was work, with the pressure of landing enough good fish for the (TV) segment,” Ryan said. “You only get so many chances to put giant fish on film, and to do so, you must put them in the boat.”
When Ryan got a good look at the fish, he noticed it was only lightly hooked on the outside of its mouth. He knew a prolonged fight would jeopardize his chances of getting it to the boat. Getting it into the boat was going to be another challenge since Rowekamp doesn’t carry landing nets in his boat. He opts to grab the fish by the tail boatside once they’re played out then removes the hook before hoisting them out of the water for photographs.
Ryan figured his best chance to get the fish in the boat was a jaw-grab landing. He moved into the floor of the boat to be closer to the water and possibly have a shot at landing it, but Rowekamp said the fish was nowhere near tired yet. The fish came toward the boat but at the wrong angle for Ryan to attempt to grab it.
“It was pure bedlam,” Ryan said.
With each lap the fish did near the boat, Ryan was focused on the how the jig was positioned. It then dove under the boat and the rod bent over into the handle. Then she headed toward the bow and Rowekamp insisted Ryan get back on the front deck.
“I jumped back on the deck to continue fighting the fish and steered her to Scott, who had two free hands to land the fish,” Ryan recalled. “The process continued to play out as the fish came close to the boat several more times without presenting a perfect opportunity to grab her. Finally, Scott secured the fish by the tail. I offered some dumb advice about not letting her go, when I noticed the jig coming free from her mouth. With his hand on her tail and the fish trashing, Scott lunged with both arms deep into the water and comes up with the fish secured by its jawbone.”
Madonna, which means “my lady” in Italian, had been caught! In the immediate aftermath, Rowekamp surprisingly insisted they measure the fish.
“He goes about his business and then his mood totally changed,” Ryan said.
With a noticeably serious tone, Rowekamp said to Ryan, “You need to see this.”
“The tape measure clearly read over the 54-inch mark,” Ryan said. “We (measured) her two more times and came up with 54.5 each time.”
Recalling that Rowekamp rounds down on length, he can now say he’s caught a 54, a singular goal that he has been chasing for more than 20 years. Immediately after releasing the fish on film, Ryan asked Rowekamp what catching that 54-incher meant to him. Staring somewhere off into the distance, Rowekamp was rendered speechless, a rarity for those who know him.
With a full 2025 calendar and much of 2026 already booked, Rowekamp won’t be retiring anytime soon. Instead, he’s got his sights set on a 57-incher. No word on what he’ll name her.
The show featuring the 54-incher will air in early 2026 when the new season of In-Fisherman TV premieres on Outdoor Channel . To catch up on recent seasons of , including the 2025 season, try a 7-day free trial to MyOutdoorTV .
