Pike lose their teeth?

[Spear guy 84]

I've been told by several old time spear fishermen that around February pike begin to lose their teeth and are no longer aggressive, and they pull their houses off and there season is over? Is that true about their teeth? I've seen some very nice pics of pike on this sight that have been speared into late February. ???

[MJ1657]

I don't know about them losing their teeth but I wouldn't stop spearing in February. I've had some great luck late in the season.

[mwal]

I do not believe losing teeth stories. I think pike lose teeth all the time due to being an aggressive predator and they regrow all the time. I think fishing/spearing can slow down as the season wears on due to angler pressure and the fish may have moved to different locations towards spawning area's. Perhaps the weeds have died off in the area you were camped out in and oxygen levels have changed and you have not moved your shack but the fish have moved on. Maybe the bait fish moved on. Sometimes it just the nature of fishing.

Mwla

[Hoey]

I used to spend a lot of time sight fishing pike through the ice. I believe that pike do loose/shed teeth, and/or regrow/grow new teeth. Generally it seemed to me that they were less aggressive during this time. Those caught would have pink gums and some bloody clotty stuff in and around their teeth - so it was our guess that they do have old teeth/new teeth thing going on.

[Archerysniper]

Well after the amount of blood I lost yesterday I can tell you that one still had a couple teeth in its mouth.

[NoWiser]

I was fishing in Canada this past week and we hammered the lakers. We talked to a guy the last night who was fishing and he said that they never bite this time of year because they lose all of their teeth. I didn't have the heart to tell him our group had already caught 80 trout in 3 days, and every one of them had a mouth full of teeth. The cuts on my fingers proved it.

I've heard the pike story and have to believe it was drummed up by a group of guys that just couldn't catch fish. I've caught pike every month of the year and they've all had teeth. Some more than others, but I have a feeling they are constantly losing a few here and there and growing them back.

[aquafang]

Yea, i guess i can't say that ive ever caught or seen a toothless pike!

Probably more likely just the oxygen levels or something else that would cause them to slow down if anything...

[Gordie]

Its not that they lose there teeth, but its more like they change the diet and eating habits because they have to put the food bag on because the spawn is just around the corner.

I have read some articles on how pike will start to eat mostly fathead type minnows at a certain time of year.

Pike lose their teeth and regrow them all year long it is a myth started by fishermen that had a hard time catching them in the late summer and late into the winter. when in fact in the late summer they have moved mostly to deep cool waters and in the winter they are following the bait fish population and typically that again is in deeper waters.

[hawkeye43]

Why would you want to put your hand in a pikes mouth???? Anyone ever tell you that they bite. There are tools out there for removing things from their mouths. MJ, You need to keep better watch on this guy.

[guideman]

Gordy called it, It's an old wives tail that just isn't true. Pike do not shed their teeth, they just move and change their feeding habits.

"Ace"

[Spear guy 84]

Thanks for all the info guys! So my next ? Is do I need to change my tactics for the later winter? Down size decoys, shallower or deeper? Or just go with the flow of a day out spearing?

[Gordie]

Why would you want to put your hand in a pikes mouth???? Anyone ever tell you that they bite. There are tools out there for removing things from their mouths. MJ, You need to keep better watch on this guy.

More like a leash needs to be attached

[Gordie]

Thanks for all the info guys! So my next ? Is do I need to change my tactics for the later winter? Down size decoys, shallower or deeper? Or just go with the flow of a day out spearing?

I will down size and go deeper. I like to try and let the pike tell me what to do. I will start deeper and work my way shallower later in the season, but I have done well in 6 fow as late as the last weekend of the season. So it a carp shoot some times.

[MJ1657]

Why would you want to put your hand in a pikes mouth???? Anyone ever tell you that they bite. There are tools out there for removing things from their mouths. MJ, You need to keep better watch on this guy.

It was a real circus out there yesterday. We should have charged admission!