| Pike (Esox
lucius) |
Click image to enlarge
"Pike about to Strike" from a painting by David
Miller |
Features: |
The pike's
body is streamlined, olive green with a white belly. They
have a large mouth containing many rows of backward pointing
sharp teeth. |
| Spawning: |
They spawn
between February and April when water temperatures are less
than 8 C. They attach their adhesive eggs to flooded grass,
reeds and other vegetation. |
| Fecundity: |
Adult pike
produce between 9,000 and 20,000 eggs/kg. |
| Longevity
(age): |
Pike rarely
live beyond 15 years of age. |
| Diet: |
Adult pike
are pisciverous, feeding on available fish species, but invertebrates
(aquatic insects and bottom dwelling life) are an important
part of the diet of smaller pike. Male pike rarely exceed
4.5 kg or 10lbs in weight and occasionally become the diet
of larger female pike. |
| Best
Angling Methods: |
Spinning,
trolling and fly fishing:- float fishing, ledgering and sink
and draw a range of deadbaits. |
| |
Best
Baits: |
A range
of plugs, spoons, spinners, jerk baits, pike flies and a range
of small deadbaits including mackerel, herring, smelt, sprat
and other sea deadbaits. |
| |
Specimen
Weight: |
9.1 kg
(20lbs) river and 13.6 kg (30lbs) Lake |
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