Interesting article on Pike in the Star

[Stick500]

a fisherman conducts his own surveys and sets regs on his neighborhood lake to increase size of northerns

LINK

I found this paragraph to be amazing! Looks like C&R survival rates for northerns is pretty good.

In winter, for example, Hudson, Bayman and others regularly fish the lake using tip-ups and minnows. Their intent is to catch and measure northerns before releasing them, identifying each by its tag (or tagging a fish if it’s untagged).

During the winter of 2013-2014, a total of 97 northerns were caught, only seven of which hadn’t been caught previously.

The remaining 90? They had been caught and released an amazing 431 times.

Additionally, of the 97 northerns, 24 measured 30 inches or longer, and each had been caught about seven times.

[NWKR]

I think I saw an article about that lake a couple years ago. Very cool.

If a guy is patient and saves a few nickels there a few properties that come up for sale every year with semi-private lakes. Some are surprisingly affordable, while others are ridiculously big $$. Managing a place like that would definitely be a full time hobby.

[leechlake]

My folks have had a place on a small lake in that area since 1952. There are only three cabins on the lake and access to it is a hassle so it gets very little pressure in the Summer and none in the Winter. Mostly it is panfish and northerns and in the Spring when the walleyes are near the spawning inlet/outlets we catch them. It isn't uncommon for us to catch 1-2 28" plus walleyes a year but to catch a ten pound northern is a rare thing and actually a five pounder is uncommon as well.

I don't know anyone who ever keeps more than a few northerns a year and they are all hammer handles. I've always wondered why this is, my thoughts have been it needs to have a lot of the 1-2 pound northerns removed but from what this guy is saying that wouldn't be true. Maybe it's just a different environment between the two lakes.

[Stick500]

I'm curious about how those pike net traps work. Are they baited?

[delcecchi]

I haven't seen pike trap nets, but I have seen the ones used for Muskies on Vermilion. The are basically a giant minnow trap made out of net. There is a long, wide funnel that leads to a narrow opening going into a pen or corral, all made of net anchored to the bottom. The fish go in through opening and can't find it to get back out.

It is set up in maybe 6 feet of water, gently sloping. In spring the fish cruise the shallows and get funneled into the pen. The netter comes pulls up the pen (it has a bottom) and scoops up the captives with a big dip net. No bait is involved.

The DNR had a galvanized tank that they put them in, until they could measure them and record the measurements and do whatever else they wanted.

[th64]

When pike are caught in the summer, mishandled and flop around the bottom of a hot boat-that is when I worry. A small to mid sized pike is a pretty tough critter though.

[Xplorer]

I haven't seen pike trap nets, but I have seen the ones used for Muskies on Vermilion. The are basically a giant minnow trap made out of net. There is a long, wide funnel that leads to a narrow opening going into a pen or corral, all made of net anchored to the bottom. The fish go in through opening and can't find it to get back out.

It is set up in maybe 6 feet of water, gently sloping. In spring the fish cruise the shallows and get funneled into the pen. The netter comes pulls up the pen (it has a bottom) and scoops up the captives with a big dip net. No bait is involved.

The DNR had a galvanized tank that they put them in, until they could measure them and record the measurements and do whatever else they wanted.

The nets are called fyke nets..... Back when I was a CNR student at UWSP I assisted the WDNR on a survey on Day lake and several others in the Clam Lake WI area.

We used fyke nets to sample muskies. The net runs out from shore, causing fish to follow it, and at the end is a funnel shaped hoop net that the fish swim into. Then we would sample daily and record and release. Tho ski's were our target, we got a bit of everything.