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Fishing
for Pike and their natural habitat |
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Pike are
opportunist feeders, feeding on what is most common and easiest
to catch, on most waters, this will be the resident shoals of
coarse fish which reside in them. Pike are especially prolific
in waters holding shoals of fodder fish like bream, roach, hybrids
etc. Pike over 20lbs are taken regularly, while fish over 30lbs
are caught every year from both big and small waters. (The official
rod-caught records for Irish pike are 39lbs 3ozs for a lough
fish, and 42lbs for a river fish). They generally grow faster
and mature earlier than in other European countries because
of the excellent habitat and the quantity and quality of fodder
fish. |
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Pike lead solitary lives,
hiding patiently and well-camouflaged in snags, weed or reeds
waiting for the preyfish, they have tremendous surges of speed,
with the dorsal and anal fins set well back near the tail, enabling
the fish to propel itself from its ambush site with frightening
speed. There are several documented cases of pike choking to
death after attempting to eat another pike of almost the same
size as themselves, the bigger pike (all females) are well known
to turn to scavenging. They will take dead, dying, or diseased
fish and so fulfil a vital role in maintaining a healthy fishery.
Irish pike spawn between February and April, usually in the
shallow margins of rivers and lakes. Many of the bigger pike
taken are captured just before the spawning period. Young pike
feed mainly on aquatic insects but turn to a fish diet after
the first year. A mature pike will eat about five times its
own weight of fodder fish per year. The large females swim along
quietly, followed by between 2 and 4 smaller Jack pike (males),
they swim very close by shedding eggs and milt as they go, this
means that their milt sets up a cloud just in front of the females
vent ensuring that a good proportion of the eggs become fertilised.
The success rate is roughly 50%, but further predation from
other fish and birds bring this number down drastically and
less than 0.1% of the eggs laid, survive to become mature fish.
The big females on completion of the spawning do devour a number
of these small male jack pike. Pike become sexually mature around
their second or third year, but size rather than age is the
primary factor, the amount of eggs laid depends on the size
of the fish. A 3lb pike could lay 35,000 eggs, but a 28lb pike
can lay 300,000. Temperature is critical in determining the
rate at which the eggs will develop, at 43°F the eggs can
take approx 26 days to hatch, but if the water temp reaches
68°F, then they can take 5 days. When the young hatch, they
are approx 1 cm long, with no mouth or gill openings, they spend
the first 8 to 12 days hanging vertically from aquatic plants,
feeding on their yolk-sacs, until their development is complete.
Eventually the body elongates and the mouth and gill openings
form, next the fish begin to grow and take form, then the small
pike adopts a horizontal stance, and begins feeding on plankton.
Shortly after the development of the fins occur, and the pike
becomes fully developed, feeding on larvae. Should food be in
short supply, then a fair degree of predation on its own kind
(cannibalism) occurs. The small pike will now spend much of
its time hiding in weed beds, even hiding from it's own larger
pike, and to protect itself from predatory water beetles. |
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The behaviour
of pike depends to some extent on the behaviour of prey species.
Pike in small waters may be evenly distributed because the fodder
fish are dispersed. Big-water pike may be more dependent on
shoals of fish like bream and roach which move around, and they
tend to follow these shoals. So the locations of these pike
may be more difficult to discover, but can be related to the
movements of their prey.
One example of this may be seen on the river Shannon in April
and May when bream spawn. Sometimes they mass in large numbers
with several shoals congregating to spawn in shallow backwaters.
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Pike will concentrate
around these shoals and for the duration of the spawning period
such locations can provide very good fishing. However, when
the bream shoals move away after spawning, the pike either follow
them or disperse and sport in that location ceases.
The time of day can be important on certain waters with regard
to the taking behaviour of bigger fish. The period around dawn
can be productive, as can the final hours of daylight. This
behaviour may vary during the year.
The distinguished striped pattern of the pike only occurs for
the first few years of its life, the pattern breaks up into
the more familiar spots later on. When the pike has reached
two years old, it will be feeding almost exclusively on fish,
dependant on the availability of food, quality of food, and
competition for food in any given water. Pike actually grow
for between 10 and 15 of a possible 25 years, but the maximum
age is difficult, because as a fish approaches maximum size
its growth slows down and eventually stops. The maximum weight
achieved by Esox lucius, has been the subject of great debate
and speculation, historically weights of up to 90lb's have been
mentioned but realistically 55-60lb is probably nearer the mark.
The nearest authenticated photo is a 58lb 6oz pike from Grarup
Lake in Denmark. For more information/debate see the RECORDS
page. |
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