Northern Pike
Introduction
The Northern Pike (Esox Lucius) is found throughout the northern hemisphere, including Russia, Europe and North America. It has also been introduced to lakes in Morocco and is even found in brackish water of the Baltic Sea.
Within North America, there are northern pike populations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana, Maryland, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Iowa, Northern New Mexico and Arizona, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Idaho, northern New England, most of Canada, particularly Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Québec (pike are rare in British Columbia and east coast provinces), Alaska, the Ohio Valley, the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries, the Great Lakes Basin and surrounding states, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and parts of Oklahoma. They are also stocked in, or have been introduced to, some western lakes and reservoirs for angling purposes, although this practice often threatens other species of fish such as bass, trout and salmon, causing government agencies to take steps to try and remove them.
The closest native range of the Northern Pike is in Saskatchewan River drainage on the east side of Glacier Park in Montana, but they have since spread throughout much of Montana and parts of Northern Idaho. They arrived in Idaho accidentally, emigrating downstream from waters in Montana where they had been planted by agencies or stocked illegally by anglers.
The northern pike can be easily identified by its long slender body with light spots on a darker greenish background. The upper part of the fish is dark green, becoming lighter, almost milk-white, along the belly. A prominent feature of the pike if its very large mouth with many teeth, and the dorsal fin located far to the back of the body.
Northern pike spawn in April and early May. Spawning occurs in shallow, slow waters of heavily vegetated areas in rivers, marshes, and bays of lakes. A larger female is usually attended by one or two smaller males.
Only a few eggs are laid at a time so an individual fish spawns for several days. The eggs are scattered at random and adhere to the vegetation. Fertile eggs will hatch in four or five days.
The young pike grow rapidly during their first summer. Juvenile fish eat aquatic insects until they are two inches long, and begin feeding on other fish.
Northern pike can grow to nearly 40 pounds in Montana and North Idaho so they provide a truly outstanding sport and food fish in the appropriate waters.
Northern pike are a predatory fish. They feed primarily on other fish, and are known to eat frogs, mice, young muskrats and ducklings.
Pike are typical ambush predators; they lie in wait for prey, holding perfectly still for long periods and then exhibit remarkable acceleration as they strike.
Pike do not swim in schools, but they do group together in prime weedy areas. Where one fish is sighted, there will likely be others in the same vicinity. Most pike are found in five to twenty feet of water, at the edges of dense weed beds, especially weed beds near sharp drop offs.
As northern pike grow longer, they increase in weight. The relationship between length and weight is not linear. The relationship between total length (L, in inches) and total weight (W, in pounds) for nearly all species of fish can be expressed by an equation of the form:
W = cL^b
Invariably, b is close to 3.0 for all species, and c is a constant that varies among species. For northern pike, b = 3.096 and c = 0.000180.
The relationship described in this section suggests that a 20-inch northern pike will weigh about 2 pounds, while a 26-inch northern pike will weigh about 4 pounds.
Most anglers have the best pike fishing experience in the spring and fall when the lake temperature cools. Look for fish in six to twelve feet deep flats with weeds and scattered brush. Cast a 3 or 4-inch red-and-white spoon (or a red-and-yellow spoon in lakes with yellow perch or walleye forage fish). On overcast days, use bright silver or gold spoons.
For trolling and casting, use medium-weight bait casting gear with a fifteen-pound-test line and a twelve-inch wire leader. If the pike do not strike with the wire leader attached, remove it and try the lure again. When using a spoon lure, make sure the ball-bearing swivels are quality swivels that do not inhibit the spoon's action or twist the line.
When fishing a spoon over submerged weed beds, let the lure drop just above the weeds (a 4-inch spoon falls at a rate of about 1 ft./sec) then quickly retrieve the spoon for a few seconds. Stop and let the lure flutter down near the weeds and drop the rod tip one or two feet towards the spoon. The spoon moves slightly backwards at this point, a movement that often triggers a strike from a following pike.
Over sandy or muddy bottoms, let the spoon sink to the lake floor then hastily retrieve it for a few feet then let it sink to the bottom. Most strikes occur when the spoon is resting motionless on the bottom.
Sometimes the pike are interested only in falling spoons. Use a jigging movement, pointing the rod at the spoon and quickly lifting the rod straight up and overhead. Immediately drop the rod again and reel in the slack line slowly. When the line is tight, quickly jerk the rod in an overhead position and repeat the process. Since the pike take the spoon as it is falling, the (firm) quick vertical lift on the rod will hook the fish.
In weedy waters, try replacing the easily snagged treble hook with a single large hook that is easier to navigate through dense aquatic growth, and is easier to remove from a toothy pike's mouth.
In the fall, the cold, windy days that signal changing seasons are excellent pike fishing days. Large groups of pike congregate on flats with bundles of weed growth in water five to ten feet deep. To find pike, use a systematic trolling pattern that covers the whole area. Troll about 20 feet behind the boat until the fish are found, then cast to the small area.
When the pike are scattered in the weedy flats, trolling is the best method. A pike that is following a spoon will often strike when the boat makes a turn, or if the spoon makes a jerky motion. Make several passes over the same areas where pike are sighted or where they have struck the lure.
Spoons are not the only trolling lures that catch big pike; plugs, large spinner baits, and sometimes streamer flies entice eager pike. Large spinner baits remain popular fall trolling lures. Try those with a large, single silver Willow-Leaf blade and a black buck tail body. Under windy conditions try using a yellow body, and in discoloured water use a basic black spinner bait.
Use the same techniques for catching northern pike throughout their range from the U.S. rivers to the Canadian lakes. Fish the flats and weed beds from fall to spring and find the cooler bottom depressions in the summer months for big pike fishing all year long.
Summer pike prefer cooler waters, and tend to cluster in prime areas that are generally six to twelve feet deep. Look for pike where a river enters the lake or in shallow lakes that contain depressed bottoms from old river channels. Rows of depressions contain cooler lake water where large pike gather. Fish live bait on or near the bottom under a bobber for these summer Northern's.
Summer pike fishing is also great with slowly worked artificial lures. With a sand or mud lake bottom, slowly drag a black or brown lead-head jig along a cool-water depression. Other slowly worked lures are the Mirrolures and Mepps Giant Killers.
Pike attack almost anything that looks like a potential meal - usually minnows and other small fish, but also ducklings and muskrats.
Morning is considered one of the better fishing periods as pike are mainly daylight feeders. Medium and shallow-running lures, jigs or large bait are generally used. Many types of artificial lures will work. Jigging a spoon or hook is also an effective way of taking pike through the ice.
Since they have very sharp and numerous teeth, care is required in unhooking a pike. It is recommended that barbless trebles are used when angling for this species as it simplifies dehooking.
This is undertaken using long forceps, with 30 cm (12 in) artery clamps the ideal tool. When holding the pike from below on the lower jaw, it will open its mouth.
The pike should be kept out of the water for the minimum amount of time possible, and should be given extra time to recover if being weighed and photographed before release. If practicing live release, it is recommended to call the fish "caught" when it is alongside a boat. Remove the hook by grabbing it with a pair of needle-nosed pliers while the fish is still submerged and giving it a flip in the direction that turns the hook out of the mouth. This avoids damage to the fish and the stress of being out of water.