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Pike
The
pike is a large species of freshwater fish, natively found in North
America and across Eurasia. There are five recognised species of this
large predatory fish which are the Pikes are also one of the world's oldest fish, thought to have been found on earth for the past 65 million years. Pike are most commonly found in large bodies of deep, slow-moving water such as lakes, rivers and occasionally in large streams. Pike inhabit areas where there is plenty of cover from the reeds, where they are able to lurk until dinner swims past. Pike are found in North America, Canada, across Europe and into parts of western Asia. Pike are generally quite large in size, but it is the female pike that often become the largest predators within their environment. Pikes can range in size from just 19 to 70 inches in length depending on the species and the area which it inhabits. The grey-green scales of the pike give it perfect camouflage when it is hiding amongst the reeds. The pike is one of the most easily recognised fish in the world, mainly due to their elongated body shape and sharply pointed head. The teeth of the pike are one of it's most characteristic features as they are pointed and very sharp, to make catching prey more efficient. Although young pike may have the odd nibble on plants. pike generally have a purely carnivorous diet. Adult pike primarily feed on smaller fish in the water that the pike is able to ambush from it's hiding place amongst the aquatic weeds. Pike also hunt a number of other animals in the water including amphibians like frogs and toads and invertebrates such as snails and spiders. Due to their large size and naturally aggressive nature, the pike tends to be the most dominant predator within it's environment and adult pike therefore have very few predators in the wild. Smaller pike however are preyed upon by mainly land-dwelling animals from foxes to large birds of prey. As a rule of thumb, the heavier the pike, the more likely it is that the fish is a female as male pike rarely attains weights of 10 pounds or more. A large female pike can lay up 200,000 eggs at once although this number is often much lower, but is entirely dependent on the size of the fish. Female pike usually spawn in the spring when the weather begins to warm, meaning that the pike fry (babies) have the longest time possible to develop before the cold winter sets in.
Today,
although still common across much of it's native range, pike
populations are being affected on both the North American and
European continents mainly due to over-fishing and chemical
pollutants in the water. American Pickerel The American pickerels are two subspecies of Esox americanus, a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes: the redfin pickerel, E. americanus americanus Gmelin, 1789, and the grass pickerel, E. americanus vermiculatus Lesueur, 1846. They are not to be confused with their aggressive counterpart the Northern pike. The redfin pickerel's range extends from the Saint Lawrence drainage in Quebec down to the Gulf Coast, from Mississippi to Florida, while the grass pickerel's range is further west, extending from the Great Lakes Basin, from Ontario to Michigan, down to the western Gulf Coast, from eastern Texas to Mississippi. The two subspecies are very similar, but the grass pickerel lacks the redfin's distinctive orange to red fin coloration, its fins having dark leading edges and amber to dusky coloration. In addition, the light areas between the dark bands are generally wider on the grass pickerel and narrower on the redfin pickerel. These pickerels grow to a maximum overall length of 16 in and a maximum weight of 2.25 pounds The redfin and grass pickerels occur primarily in sluggish, vegetated waters of pools, lakes, and swamps, and are carnivorous, feeding on smaller fish. Larger fishes, such as the striped bass (Morone saxatilis), bowfin (Amia calva), and gray weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), in turn, prey on the pickerels when they venture into larger rivers or estuaries. These fishes reproduce by scattering spherical, sticky eggs in shallow, heavily vegetated waters. The eggs hatch in 11–15 days; the adults guard neither the eggs nor the young. The E. americanus subspecies are not as highly prized as a game fish as their larger cousins, the northern pike and muskellunge, but they are caught by anglers. McClane's Standard Fishing Encyclopedia describes ultralight tackle as a sporty if overlooked method to catch these small but voracious pikes.
E.
americanus americanus is sometimes called the brook pickerel. There
is no widely accepted English common collective name for the two E.
americanus subspecies; "American pickerel" is a translation
of the systematic name and the French brochet d'Amérique. Chain Pickerel AKA: chainsides, jackpike, pike, jackfish Chain pickerel are aggressive fighters once hooked, thus making them an exciting catch. They are active through the winter, under the ice, so they can be caught by ice anglers. The chain pickerel is distinguished from its relatives, the northern pike and muskellunge, by its prominent chain-like markings on a contrasting lighter green background. The fish is characterized by a slender body that is somewhat compressed and deepest near the middle. Its head is large, naked, and depressed above, with fully scaled cheek and gill covers. Chain pickerel have a conspicuous dark bar beneath each eye and the pupil of the eye is yellow. The snout is long, broad, and rounded with a large mouth and a sharp set of teeth. The lower jaw extends further forward than the upper jaw and is equipped with four sensory pores on the underside. The dark upper side is interrupted by light vertical bars. A large dorsal fin is located back towards the forked caudal fin. Chain pickerel are the smallest gamefish in the pike family. They can live for 10 years, reach a length of 3 feet and weigh 7 pounds or more. The chain pickerel’s original range was Atlantic and Gulf Coast tributaries, but the fish has been introduced elsewhere. Chain pickerel are distributed along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia south to Florida. The species is found in the Mississippi River drainage from the Gulf Coast as far north as Illinois and Indiana, and may be found in Gulf drainages as far west as the Sabine and Red rivers in Texas. Pickerel are attracted to weedy pools in streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Their ambush style of feeding requires cover such as submerged aquatic vegetation, tree limbs or man-made structures such as pilings, rip-rap, or sunken ships. Pickerel tend to be solitary fish, lurking hidden in the aquatic vegetation, waiting for prey to swim or drift by. Pickerel are sight-oriented predators and are predominately active during the day. They are quite opportunistic feeders and strike with incredible speed when some unwary prey swim nearby. The main diet of the pickerel consists of small fish, crayfish, frogs, mice, newts and insects.
Pickerel
are excellent sport fish sought after by diehard anglers year-round,
even in the coldest part of the winter. They are good fighters on
light spinning and fly tackle and will readily take a live minnow,
streamer fly, spoon, spinner or a variety of other lures. A
steel or heavy monofilament leader will help keep their sharp teeth
from cutting the line.
Muskellunge
The muskellunge is the largest member of the pike family. The muskellunge is one of the largest and most elusive fish that swims. A muskie will eat fish and sometimes ducklings and even small muskrats. It waits in weed beds and then lunges forward, clamping its large, tooth-lined jaws onto the prey. The muskie then gulps down the stunned or dead victim head first. Muskies are light colored and usually have dark bars running up and down their long bodies. That’s the opposite of northern pike, which have light markings on a dark body. Muskies are silver, light green, or light brown. The foolproof way to tell a muskie from a northern is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer. The muskie, unlike the northern pike, has six to nine pores (usually seven) on each side of the underside of the lower jaw. The lower half of the muskie’s cheek is not scaled. The lobes of the muskie’s tail are more pointed than those of the northern pike. The muskie’s coloration, too, is distinct from a northern pike’s and takes three common forms that depend somewhat on the muskie’s place of origin, but all have a light background. Muskies generally have three different variations; dark spots on a light background (spotted phase), dark bars on a light background (barred phase) and the third pattern, which is occasionally seen throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, is the “clear” phase of light sides with no marks or very faint marks on the rear third of the fish.
Because
muskie are perceived as trophies – and because large fish are
scarce and old – most states impose a minimum-length limit and
low possession limit. Tiger Muskellunge
Rounded Tail Fins The tiger muskie is the hybrid of the northern pike and muskie. It is usually infertile and has characteristics of both parents. The hybrid has distinct tiger bars on a light background, similar to the barred coloration pattern of some muskie. Its fins and tail lobes are rounded like a northern pike’s but colored like a muskie’s. The cheekscale and mandible-pore patterns are intermediate between a northern pike’s and muskie’s. The tiger muskie grows slightly faster than either pure-strain parent in the first several years of life. It can exceed 30 pounds. Some tiger muskie occur naturally, though most hybrids are produced in hatcheries. They are useful in stocking because they grow quickly and endure high temperatures better than either paren does. Hybrids are easier to raise in a hatchery than pure-strain muskie, they reach legal size sooner and they are easier to catch. Because tiger muskie are usually sterile, their numbers can be controlled by changing the stocking rate. Fish managers use the pure-strain muskie in lakes that can sustain naturally reproducing populations. The tiger muskie is reserved for lakes with heavy fishing pressure in and near the Twin Cities. Tiger muskie are subject to the same low possession limit and minimum-size limit that protect pure-strain muskie. Muskie apparently have evolved to avoid head-on competition with northern pike. If northern pike find their way into muskie water, they seem to proliferate at the expense of muskies. Why does the northern pike compete better? That question continues to puzzle fish biologist, though many believe that the earlier-hatching northern pike prey on newly hatched muskie if the two species use the same spawning areas. In waters where muskie evolved without northern pike present, the muskie chooses the same weedy, flooded wetlands that serve as northern pike spawning areas elsewhere. If pike are introduced to these lakes, as they have been in Wisconsin drainages, the northern pike spawn in these same areas – but about two weeks earlier. So when the muskie fry hatch, they may be eaten by the larger young-of-the-year northern pike. To make matters worse, young muskie routinely hang just below the surface of the water, where they are easy prey for birds from above or fish from below. Where the two species have coexisted for thousands of years, as they have in the Mississippi River headwaters, the muskie seem to have adopted different spawning areas. In Leech Lake, for example, muskie spawn offshore in 3 to 6 feet of water. Northern pike, meanwhile, use the weedy shorelines of bays and presumably have less chance to prey on the muskie. Other evidence suggests that riverine conditions help muskie hold their own against northern pike, which prefer slower, weedier water. Researchers have speculated but haven’t proved that northern pike-muskie competition may be affected by other factors, including disease, dissolved oxygen concentrations, water-temperature fluctuations at spawning time, and prevailing water temperatures.
The
muskie long has been recognized as special – a large, rare
trophy. Its habitat requirements are more particular than that of its
close relative, the northern pike. In many areas, the muskie’s
existence is rather tenuous – threatened by fishing, habitat
loss, and competition from other fish species. So the goal of muskie
management is to create or protect self-sustaining populations and to
produce a few large fish for the angler skilled and dedicated enough
to catch them. Northern Pike
AKA: American pike, common pike, Great Lakes pike, jackfish, longhead, and snot rocket. Found in the freshwaters of the Northern Hemisphere, The Northern Pike is a voracious fish. Hiding in the shadow ready to attack its prey, the pike displays to nature a fearless attitude. The Northern Pike (Esox Lucius) gets it name from its resemblance of the pole-like weapon known as a pike used in the middle ages. Its predation status makes it a fish to be feared by smaller fish. Northern Pike are found in freshwater throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Because of their body shape, their appearance is distinct from other freshwater fish. The Muskie is the only other freshwater fish that sometimes gets mistaken for this species. The pike has a long, slender body that is olive green in color and fades to yellowish-white on its belly. The sides of the fish are marked with lighter colored spots that usually match the belly color. One dorsal fin is located near the end of the back and this fin, along with the others, is marbled with spots. The pike has a long, flattened snout and a mouth full of unbelievably sharp teeth. The difference in appearance of male and female pike is size. The female fish are naturally larger than the male. Both genders grow continually with age. The average weight of a northern pike is between 3-7 pounds and 24-30 inches long. The largest pike ever caught was 58 inches long and weighed 68 pounds. Northern Pike spawn in the spring when the water temperature reaches at least 48 degrees Fahrenheit. As the female spreads her eggs on vegetation in waters no more than a foot deep, the male fertilizes them. Usually there are between 15,000 and 75,000 eggs. After the sticky eggs are attached to the submerged vegetation, the male and female both leave. The eggs hatch in about two weeks. The newly hatched “fry” feed on their egg sack until it is gone and then switch their diet to zooplankton. After about two weeks, they begin to feed on small fish. Pike grow most rapidly during the first two years of their life. Sexual maturity is reached between ages 3 and 5, with the males reaching this point earlier than the females of the same age. The average lifespan of a northern pike in the wild is 7 years. Northern pike seek areas of dense vegetation in streams, lakes, and large rivers. They tend to occupy the shallow waters near the shore with covering. They prefer cool water, and therefore will head to the deeper water around midsummer. What Do Northern Pike Eat? Pike are carnivorous fish and consume a large amount of food each day. Their diet consists mainly of fish that are smaller than them but they also eat other creatures like frogs and waterfowl. Pike lurk in the vegetation, making no movements, just waiting for a creature to get close enough to strike it. Pike are not picky with the species of fish they go after; they will eat just about anything smaller than them. Northern Pike Fishing Tips
Proper
Handling and Release
A big muskie is an old muskie. Females require 14 to 17 years to reach 30 pounds. Northern pike grow even more slowly. Once taken out of the water and hung on a wall or carved into fillets, a trophy is not soon replaced by another fish of its size. So, the key to creating trophy northern pike and muskie fishing is catch-and-release angling. Unfortunately, some fish are mortally injured by improper handling and cannot be successfully released. All northern pike and muskie are difficult to handle because of their slippery hides (slime coat), lack of good handles and sharp teeth. Big fish are particularly troublesome because of their great size and power.
Careful handling makes catch-and-release work:
Here are some effective methods for handling large northern pike and muskie: Hand release: Grip the fish over the back, right behind the gills (never by the eye sockets!) and hold it without squeezing it. With the other hand, use a pliers to remove the hooks, while leaving all but the head of the ;fish in the water. Sometimes hooks can be removed with the pliers only; the fish need never be touched. Landing net: Hooks can be removed from some fish even as they remain in the net in the water. If that’s not possible, lift the fish aboard and remove the hooks while the fish is held behind the head and around the tail. To better restrain large fish, stretch a piece of cloth or plastic over the fish and pin it down as if it were in a straight jacket. Stretcher: A stretcher is made of net or porous cloth about 2 to 3 feet wide stretched between two poles. As you draw the fish into the cradle and lift, the fold of the mesh supports and restrains the fish. This method requires two anglers. Tailer: Developed by Atlantic salmon anglers, a tailer is a handle with a loop at one end that is slipped over the fish’s tail and tightened. The fish is thus securely held, though the head must be further restrained before the hooks are removed.
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