Pike vs. Walleye

[out_fisherman]

Pike have taken a backseat to walleyes because in terms

of tourist dollars, walleyes are the big ticket draw.

3 or 4 decades ago, there were people who made a living

guiding for trophy pike in many lakes you would be

surprised at. But, over the years, most lakes have

turned into "hammerhandle factories", and most pike

caught in them now are lucky to get to 36". The state

is trying to correct this with the "all pike 24-36"

must be released" law. I don't regard them as trash fish

at all, in fact the taste is (in my opinion) more

flavorful than walleye. An excellent article to read

is from the 25th anniversary edition of "The InFisherman",

in which Denny Schupp (40-yr veteran of the MN DNR

fisheries) outlined just how lakes can get out of balance.

(This edition is from March, 2000 - your library might

have it.) This is an eye-opening article about pike.

Basically it says that removing too many large pike

from a lake 'trips the trigger' and there are no longer

enough large pike to prey on smaller pike (seems they

turn cannibal at around 24" or so, and their preferred

prey size switches to larger baitfish like cisco.)

I would urge all interested in pike to read this one!