Do they or Don't they

[huntingmaxima]

We were talking at work today about northerns, do they loose their teeth?

[Scott K]

NO!

[dashtek]

I would say no. Judging by the size and the number of them in the 33 inch 9.4lb northern I caught this last Sunday no. I have never seen such big teeth and so many.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

This has been discussed alot lately....

They do lose there teeth and grow new ones but not all at the same time of year like was once believed.

[eyebjim]

Lets test this. If you think that they loose there teeth in winter, go fishing and thumb the next pike you catch like a bass. If there is no blood loss you are right .

[fish21]

No way!

[fishinlocal]

From the MN DNR site:

"There's a long-standing belief, likely begun by ancient anglers in search of an excuse for their lousy luck, that northern pike lose teeth at certain times of the year. In fact, this is nothing but a fishy folk tale. According to DNR fish biologist Don Pereira, northerns may occasionally lose teeth in an unfortunate run-in with particularly tough prey or bait, but there's no evidence they do so regularly. For more on northern pike, see "For the Love of Pike" (May-June 2003)."