Patrick Scott, 11, St. Anthony • 30-inch northern • Pelican Lake

(As told by his sister, Bridget Scott) My brother loves to fish. On July 1 at Long Lake in New Brighton, he caught his first-ever northern pike — not very big, but his first northern. He talked and talked about the fish, and our Dad said to Pat, "We need to help you find a spot with northerns of at least 20 inches so you can see what they can really be like to catch." Four days later, while fishing for bass with a plastic worm, he pulled in this 30-inch northern at Pelican Lake.

NIGHTTIME SURPRISE: Josh Colville of Deephaven caught this huge 6-pound bucketmouth on a lake near Bemidji. "I caught this bass, my personal record, around midnight trolling for walleyes with a Rapala shadow rap. First time I've ever caught a bass that time of night."

MISSISSIPPI PIKE: Colville's girlfriend, Megan Feyereisen of Chanhassen, caught this 31-inch northern on the Mississippi River, about 30 miles from the headwaters, near Bemidji. This fish is a personal record for Megan, as well, but we never got a chance to weigh it, Colville said.