Not Everyone Loves Northern Pike

Northern Pike aka the “Water Wolf” is definitely a top end predator.  In their native habit they can reach massive proportions, to 60 inches and 50 plus pounds in North America, larger in Europe.  Equipped with a mouth full of teeth, an elongated body that’s ideal for quick, explosive strikes and a willingness to eat about anything that moves upwards to a third of its body length these wolves are popular with many anglers, including me. 

But not everyone loves northern pike, as evidenced by this article from the Nevada Department of Wildlife.  Essentially, illegal stocking of pike resulted in the loss of a trophy classed trout fishery without producing a viable pike fishery. Lots of hammer handles, little else, they ate themselves out of house and home.  Consequently, Nevada Department of Wilflife felt it necessary to kill the reservoir and start over.

This isn’t a new story, as we’ve seen it unfold in other states.  Northern Pike or other sportfish get into fisheries, often trout fisheries, destroying a quality fishery and the resulting fishery is marginal at best.  Unfortunately, when a newly introduced species takes hold and blossoms, anglers see phenomenal fishing for a short period and mistakenly believe it’s sustainable.  Often it takes a decade or so for the real issues with the illegal introduction of the pike or other fish to show.  Nevada isn’t alone in this fight.  Pike have been an ongoing issue in Colorado and other western states for years, especially the Colorado River drainage waters.

California is downright nasty about their efforts to keep pike out of the state per their regulations:

“No northern pike, dead or alive, may be released into any water at any time. All northern pike taken shall be killed immediately by removing the head and shall be retained by the angler. The angler shall notify CDFW that he/she has taken and possesses a northern pike by calling CDFW’s CalTIP telephone number (1-888-CDFW-CALTIP) as soon as possible, but not more than 24 hours after taking the northern pike. The angler shall maintain the head and body of the fish in a refrigerated or frozen condition, whenever possible, until CDFW collects the northern pike.”

Nevada’s regulations aren’t much better:

“Northern pike are not classified as game fish; they are a prohibited species. Anglers wishing to keep northern pike to eat are required to kill them upon capture. There is no limit for northern pike, and anglers who wish to assist in the removal of northern pike from the waters of the state and who wish to dispose of them may do so without regard for Nevada’s wanton waste laws. The importation, transportation or possession of live northern pike is prohibited.”

Washington State isn’t quite as nasty, but it’s obvious they’d prefer pike don’t exist as their regulations are:

“NORTHERN PIKE Statewide: No min. size. No daily limit. No possession limit. Must be dead before being removed from riparian area (immediate vicinity of water body).” 

Arizona’s regulations are:  “no limit with immediate kill or release.”

In Utah – On some waters, primarily Colorado River drainages, pike are a mandatory kill and may not be release.  Plus, they passed laws allowing anglers to legally dispose of fish without “eating” them as required by Utah’s wasting statute, where mandatory kill regulations are in effects.  Similar regulations exist in Wyoming’s area four (Green River drainage) only. All other areas have a three fish limit.

Yes, I enjoy fishing for and catching pike where quality fisheries exist.  By quality, I mean waters where 30 inch or better fish are common and there’s a good chance of seeing a 40 inch plus pike.  Twenty inch pike are about two years of age, rather like 8-12 inch rainbows.  While a 24 inch fish might seem big compared to a 12 inch rainbow, it’s not much of a fish in my book, and a lake full of hammer handles is the sign of a fishery that has gone awry.   

My view is all species are fun to catch and have a place, but that doesn’t mean they should be placed in all waters.  So while I love pike, I really don’t care to see them show up in waters where their presence will marginalize a quality fishery with their introduction.  That view applies to any other species such as perch, crappie, and black bass that's illegally introduced.

Illegal introductions are a continuing problem.  Fixing the damage is expensive and strains the limited resources of managing wildlife agencies.  Catching the culprits is nearly impossible, yet, I suspect in most cases the culprits are known by someone.  Until we, as anglers, say, “NO MORE” and alert the authorities when we know of illegal activities, bucket biology will continue.  Given many anglers don’t seem to fully appreciate the damage their “beloved” species is causing, illegal stocking will continue to be supported, in part, through angler's silence.