I grew up fishing in a small lake in Virginia for large-mouth bass. It was easy then to catch decent-sized fish because the lake was pretty small, I had lots of free time and we lived on the lake.
As time went by, I had several opportunities to fish in Canada where Northern Pike and Walleye were plentiful. These fish are a lot of fun to catch, because they are extremely aggressive, especially in the spring when they have just finished spawning.
Then I discovered that one of the nearby rivers had been previously stocked with Northern Pike and when time allows, this is where I go. The fish are not edible, but they still are a lot of fun to catch.
And yes, I release what I catch…
Although to be honest, Northern Pike are an excellent eating fish — so if heavy metals (lead, mercury, etc.) had not been dumped into this river in years gone by — some of my fish might find themselves on my table…
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
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- Northern Pike (37 inches, 11-1/4 pounds, June 2010)
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- Northern Pike (52 inches, 8-1/2 pounds, June 2008)
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- Northern Pike (36 inches, 3-1/2 pounds, April 2008)
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I have added some pictures related to this on Flickr
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Dave,
You’ll have to come out here and catch some big lake trout with us in the Sierras some October. (Yes, we eat what we catch).
Ken
Ken,
Large lake trout? How big is “large”? Don’t they grow to like 50 pounds of more? Sounds like a very good idea. And I would eat the local Pike if they didn’t live in a river where lead, mercury, and who knows what else hadn’t been dumped for years…
-dave-
Wow, that’s huge. Thanks for the link.
My brother just moved to Rhode Island and he’s an avid fisherman.
Maybe I can get him up here one weekend and we can try for some pike.
That’s a monster! I didn’t realize people stocked rivers with pike.
Brendan,
Thanks for the post. If you like the 1st picture, you’ll love the 2nd one.
And if you live in Massachusetts, you can find information about fish stocking (Pike and others) at
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/fishing/stocking_information.htm
Best wishes,
-dave-