A PIKES DIET

[smellzalilfishee]

was just watching the dicovery channel and this show on fish said pike do not eat perch. they said this was the only freshwater fish pike don't eat but they did'nt say why?? does anyone out there have a clue on why this is??

[cluelessfisherman]

I have seen more than one perch in a pikes stomach when cleaning them. Seen perch up to 6" in an pike and most of the pike I keep are 18-21".

Discovery channel better check their facts again...

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Clueless - -

[Mueske]

I'm with Clueless,

Growing up on Leech Lake I saw lots of pike with 6" or larger perch in their gut. My favorite channel on the tube is wrong if they said that.

Kevin

[brian6715]

I saw that show too. The reason the discovery channel gave is that the top fin on a perch is to big for the northern to eat. Well if i was a northern i would much rather have a perch over a sunny! But Discovery is still unreal.
Brian

[Tim L]

Knew a old timer thats all he used for bait was perch?

[Fisher Dave]

Is that the new *pet* name your wife came up with for you Tim?

"Old Timer"

[the big dipper]

my experience is that pike love to eat wood.
especially large chunks of wood with fluorescent paint and wire attachments (aka. treble hooks).

They also love to eat metal, foam, polycarbonate and other forms of plastic.

I've also heard rumors of pike eating or attempting to chew small outboard motors off the back of boats, smaller waterskiiers, boat anchors,canoe paddles, duck decoys, windsurfers, and scuba divers.

[Aquaman01]

Most DNR surveys & mapbooks refer to perch as a forage for pike. Maybe it's just those hollywood pike that can't handle perch spines.

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[delmuts]

hey big dipper !! can we train them to have a jet-ski diet too ???? del

[smellzalilfishee]

alright- i e-mailed the Discovery channel..Whe'll see what they have to say for themselves.

[Tim L]

Fisher Dave OUCH that one hurt. the old lady still laughing.

[Guest]

I had some 15-16" Walleyes on a stringer hanging from my Canoe in the BWCA and I "Caught" a 12lb. Northern who wouldn't let go of this Walleye.

We all know how Walleyes react when they are threatened--they flare gills and their dorsal fin. This Northern didn't seem to care one bit...

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Chells

[jwilli7122]

Chells- A guy in my party had the exact same thing happen a couple years ago in Quetico. Only the walleyes were about 14 inches and the pike was 10 lbs even. It was cool to see.

The species I find most often in pike stomachs is probably a tie between "miscellaneous minnow" and - the king of spinyness- the sunfish.

As anyone worth a couple of Daredevles can tell you, the northern pike is not a picky eater.

[This message has been edited by jwilli7122 (edited 04-07-2003).]

[Guest]

I had a dead Duckling "pop" out of one on Pelican Lake once too

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Chells

[musky hunter]

I would say pike do indeed eat eat perch. Back in the 60's, when I was much younger (I was only 12 or 13), I would catch a perch with a worm, put it on a big hook under a bobber, and throw it out and wait for a big pike to have lunch. It worked. But don't do this now, it's illegal in Minnesota.

[ISU Fisherman]

Here's my Pike eat anything sorry. I was fishing at Lake Osakis near Alexanderia MN. All week there was a small duck family (a mother and 3 little ones)in a little bay where we always Northern Fished. Whenever we would troll too close they would all dive and swim a few yards and resurface. On the second to last day, we got too close and they all doove under. Only 2 little ones surfaced and a couple feathers were the only thing we ever saw of the last little ducky.

[Perchpapa]

I would say that Pike eat perch. I think if you take a look at most stocking reports for bodies of water that have high counts of perch that they are most recently stocked with pike to take care of an over population of perch. Especially in smaller bodies of water that get under fished. Good luck.

Perchpapa