Northern Pike

Northern pike (Esox lucius) are a fresh/brackish water fish living in the northern hemisphere. They have an olive color fading into a yellow or white belly. They also have light horizontal bars covering their body. On the bottom of their lower jaw, there are 5 to 7 pores that can detect vibrations. Their fins are all rounded unlike a similar fish the muskellunge. Northern pike can grow to lengths of 150 cm (59 inches) and weights of 25 kg (55 pounds).

Voracious eaters, northern pike, eat three to four their own weight during the course of a year. They usually eat smaller fish, but they also eat crayfish, leeches, insects, water voles, and ducklings. When eating fish, they usually catch it sideways and later swallow it lengthwise. Because of their appetite, they are sometimes called a water wolf.

Northern pike usually are found in the weedy areas of lakes, but are sometimes found in slow streams. In the spring, they spawn in shallow marshy areas. The female scatters up to 100,000 eggs, which attach to weeds, and the eggs hatching about 2 weeks later. The newly hatched pike usually take 3 years to reach sexual maturity. Smaller pike usually stay in the shallows during the summer, but the larger pike move in to deeper cooler waters, less than 65 F.