This American and European predator is second only at the salmon in the list of the most targeted freshwater fishes.

The Esocidae family of fish, categorically known as pike, numbers some of the most popular, aggressive, and important sportfish of cold and cool waters in the Northern Hemisphere. The northern pike is surely the most appreciate and researched.

Malevolent-looking and spear shaped, the northern pike might well have been named "water wolf". Often likened to the notoriously vicious barracuda of saltwater, it is the namesake member of the esocidae family of pike. Although disparaged by few people who catch it while seeking other species of fish, the pike is a worthy angling quarry, one that grows fairly large, fights well, and accomodate anglers frequently enough to be of substantial interest in the areas where it is found.

The majority of northern pike are released by anglers, but a minor amount of commercial fishing for them exists in North America and also in Eurasia. This species is not usually thought of as a good food fish, but it is actually excellent, especially those specimens that come from cool, clean waters. Although bony, the flesh is sweet, white, and flaky, and cooking preparations are best with the skin removed to avoid flavors that may accompany its mucus-coated skin.

The northern pike has an elongated body and head. The snout is broad and flat, shaped somewhat like a duck bill. The jaws, roof of the mouth, tongue, and gill rakers are armed with numerous sharp teeth that are constantly being replaced. A single soft-rayed dorsal fin is located far back on the body.

Male and female pike are similar in appearance, and both are variable in color. A fish from a deal stream or lake will usually be light green, whereas one from a dark slough or river will be considerably darker. The underparts are whitish or yellowish The markings on the sides form irregular rows ol yellow or gold spots. Pike with a silvery or blue color variation are occasionally encountered and are known as silver pike.

Pike are normally 16 to 30 inches long and weigh between 2 and 7 pounds. Female live longer and attain greater size than males. Pike up to 20 pounds are common in some Canadian and Alaskan rivers, lakes, and sloughs, and fish weighing up to 30 pounds and measuring 4 feet length are possible. Fish exceeding 25 pounds a quite rare, and the North American record is a 46 pound, 2-ounce New York fish caught in 1940. Larger northern pike have been recorded from various European countries, and the all-tackle world record is a 55-pound, 1-ounce German fish captured in 1986. The average life span of northern pike is 7 to 10 years, but in slow-growing populations they may live up to 26 years.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS

The northern pike occurs around the world in northern or arctic waters, extending from northwestern Europe across northern Asia to northern North America. It is densely distributed throughout Alaska with the exception of the offshore islands, and widespread throughout Canada and the arctic islands above Hudson Bay, being conspicuously absent from the coastal plains (most of British Columbia and the Canadian Atlantic coast east of the St. Lawrence River). In the United States, it is found in more than 20 states.

Pike are voracious and opportunistic predators from the time they are mere inches long. They are solitary, lurking near weeds or other cover to ambush prey. Their diet is composed almost entirely of fish, but it may occasionally include shorebirds, small ducks, mice, frogs, and the like. Other pikes well as whitefish, walleye, yellow perch, and suckers, are common food items in waters where these species are abundant. The northern pike is highly specialized for feeding individually on large food items, and it may attack and eat forage that is one-third its own length.

ANGLING

Born in weedy waters, pike spend much of their life in similar habitat, holding motionless in the vegetation, camouflaged to strike suddenly at passersby. Key locations in lakes include weedy bays, river inlets where weeds are plentiful. Shoreline points with beds of cabbage weeds on their open water sides, reefs with weeds, marshy shorelines, lily pads, and reedy pockets is along sandy and rocky shorelines. Many other areas may hold pike, but some form of vegetative structure obviously hosts a significant portion of the pike population. Some pike, especially large ones, inhabit open waters where they forage on schools of baitfish, so it is not necessarily the case that every pike in a given environment will be in the weeds.

Pike remain fairly shallow in the early part of the year, and some (mostly smaller ones) stay in shallow water throughout the season. Bigger pike, however, usually gravitate to deeper, heavy-cover haunts as the water warms. During early summer, they move to cabbage weeds for example, in water that exceeds 6 to 7 feet and drops off to 15 feet or so.

In rivers, pike are a lazy fish and usually try to establish an easy ambush position. Look for them where small rivers and streams merge with the main flow, in the small eddy beneath a beaver hut, downstream from islands, in shallow backwaters, under docks, on shorelines just below riprap or wing dams, on the. inside of large eddies, and where brush and slow water meet. 

Pike are attracted not only to a lure's size and shape, but also to its swimming action, flash and visibility, and noise. They are one of the more curious freshwater fish, and getting their attention is often a key to catching them. That would seem true of most fish, but many other freshwater species are keenly aware of the presence of certain lures in their domain yet remain otherwise disinterested.

Lure types and the techniques used to present them vary greatly for northern pike, although many would be pike catchers stick to the simplicity of casting spoons in and around weeds. Although casting weedless spoons directly into a mass of shoreline vegetation and retrieving outward can have merit, it is a fairly standard tactic that suffers in heavily fished waters.

All types of plugs can be useful in catching pike, surface plugs, shallow-running plugs, and medium to deep divers but shallow runners are especially popular, as are long and slender plugs that imitate small fish. Most anglers think only of shallow running minnow-style plugs for pike, these are useful, of course, and are perennial pike catchers but anglers should broaden their arsenal. 

An overlooked hot pike plug is a super-shallow-running (1 foot deep and less) bulbous crankbait that rattles noisily. This plug not only calls pike up out of deep weeds in the summer, but it can also be worked in back-bay shallows in the spring. In lieu of this particular lure, you could try a surface plug, such as a walking-type stickbait or a propellered plug (perhaps even a popper), to get a pikes attention and bring it up for a strike. Another option is a medium or deep-diving crankbait that possesses rattles; these are worked stop-go fashion over and through the weeds. Still another option is a non-rattling deep-diving plug; this type should first be worked around the edges of the vegetation to entice the pike to move out of the weeds, and then worked through the weeds in a slow, twitching style.

Some of my best and preferred plugs are Rapala Husky Jerk in the 8, 10 and 12 centimeters, the Rapala Original and Countdown in several size in the colours silver-black (S), vampire (V), perch (P), green-yellow (FT), rainbow trout (RT). As crankbait, also Rapala Rattlin Fat Rap are insuperable mainly if retrieved slowly in cold waters.

A spinnerbait is another effective northern pike lure, fished through weed-beds, around timber, up against stumps, in and about brush, and across rocky points. Their weedless nature is especially beneficial, and they work especially well in the spring, when pike stage in extremely shallow water during spawning and post-spawning periods.

Jigs work well for these fish, although when used without a wire leader, many jigs are lost to a pike's razor-sharp teeth. 

Fly fishing for pike has gained a following in recent times, simply because these fish are aggressive and are often available in shallow water, which makes presentation less difficult. In the northern parts of their range, where pike stay shallow in cool water well into the season, pike can be stalked and sight-fished. 

Fishing with live or dead baits is a small overall component of the pike angling scene, although in some areas a dead bait still fished on the bottom in spring takes the larger pike.

Baitcasting, spincasting, and spinning gear are all suitable for pike fishing, although baitcasting is most preferable for large lures or baits or when the opportunity exists to catch large fish. The generally stiffer baitcasting rod has an advantage over other types of tackle in hook setting, which is not always accomplished well in the big toothy maws of a pike. Line capacity is not a big factor in pike fishing. Rods should be 5'/2 to 7 feet long, with a stiff butt and midsection, and a rather fast tip. Most pike anglers prefer heavy line; 12- to 17-pound test is favored, but many opt for 6- to 10-pound-test line where the cover is not thick.

Steel leaders are used by many pike anglers, but avoided by others. A large pike may take a lure deep or get some of the line in its mouth, and certainly many lure-hooked pike get free when they cut leader-less line. Yet many fish are caught without the use of leaders, although this is sometimes pure luck. Small, 6-inch, 20-pound-test leaders do tint hamper casting but afford some protection.

Pike aren't hard to subdue. They do a lot of thrashing and short-distance darting, and some don't really fight until they eyeball the boat or angler. Reel drag is significant when playing larger fish, but only briefly. The heavy weeds these fish prefer can cause a problem with light lines; big pikes tend to make long, steady runs through thick vegetation. A leader can be beneficial in these instances.