Northern pike are one of the most widespread and popular of the world’s freshwater sportfish. The biggest pike, those that tip the scales at 20 pounds or more, remain scarce across much of the Lower 48. It’s a magical mark that’s more easily attained by traveling to far-flung destinations scattered across the northern reaches of this continent, or by crossing the Atlantic to search for pike in Ireland, Holland, or Finland.
Trophy pike can still be caught at lower latitudes, mostly from big-water venues. The sprawling reservoirs along the Missouri River harbor giants, and fast-growing gators lurk in the fertile waters of the Prairie Pothole region, especially following periods of high water. Portions of the Great Lakes remain bastions for big pike. Several of Minnesota’s larger lakes produce trophies with some regularity and conservative harvest regulations on Lake of the Woods have helped to maintain a quality pike fishing experience.
But across the Lower 48, catching a pike longer than a yardstick remains an infrequent event. Many populations formerly known for producing at least the occasional gator are mired in a sea of hammerhandles—a state of affairs largely attributed to the selective removal of large pike by anglers. Over the past several decades various harvest regulations, from liberalized creel limits to no-kill regulations, have been used to fix the hammerhandle phenomenon, but the overall success of these management efforts has been mixed.
The pike has yet to achieve the noble stature of its hallowed cousin—the muskellunge—and the spread of catch-and-release among pike anglers remains somewhat lethargic. But there are signs of improvement. Harvest restrictions, particularly innovative regulations such as slot-length limits and maximum size limits, have shown some promise in improving pike size structure.
Management strategies may, with time, be sufficient to produce large pike again in some lakes. It’s an epic grudge match that will unfold over the next several generations of pike, as growing large fish at northern latitudes often is a long-term investment more often measured in decades than in years. In many North Country lakes, growth slows to a crawl as pike break 30 inches, and it takes years to cover the spread to 40 inches and beyond.
In some instances, harvest of smaller pike is as much part of the answer as releasing larger fish. An overabundance of ’handles stifles growth rates, meaning that few fish can break through to larger sizes. Removing small fish at sufficient levels could in theory improve growth rates; however, in these fisheries anglers rarely harvest enough small pike to accomplish this.
While biologists strive to improve numbers of large pike, these fisheries approach a crossroads. Big pike need colder water during summer when water temperatures soar to levels that can be stressful and, in some cases, lethal. With the prospect of a warming globe upon us, our capacity to manage for large pike in some lakes may evaporate as water temperatures rise and cold-water refuges disappear.
Things don’t bode well for large pike at the southern end of this species’ existing range, where summers are already taxing; but the reverse may be true in the Far North, where longer growing seasons may boost pike growth, meaning that fish can reach larger sizes sooner.
*Dr. Daniel Isermann, Brainerd, Minnesota, is a fishery research scientist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
