Odd color to this pike

[msgdan]

I hit the river in a couple different spots yesterday and landed double digits with the pike and also lost about as many. Nothing big, but 2 just over 30" and one about 36" lost at the kayak trying for a picture. Most were n the mid 20 inch range, but very aggressive ! I was just about to release this pike in the water when I noticed that it had a strange color pattern to it. Took a quick picture and then released.

Almost smooth color with almost no real spots to it.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s183/msgdan/IMGP1862_zpsfb72e093.jpg (http://s152.photobucket.com/user/msgdan/media/IMGP1862_zpsfb72e093.jpg.html)

Danny V

[saxmatt]

That's a hybrid. I've seen a bunch of people post that they thought they caught a hybrid on this site, but almost all of them have been pure pike. You can see the difference in this pic. The hybrids are more of a green color, smaller spots, some vertical barring and there is even a hint of the black line under the eye that pickerel have.

[Jigman13]

That's pretty cool looking specimen ya got there...Nice going man. Lotta action!

[Gatto1227]

That's a cool looking fish. Def a hybrid as you can see the black pickerel line under the eye. Seems to be atleast some sort of reproduction going on with the pike. Very cool. Sluttly pickerel

[ScowardNJ]

It's a Pikeassickerel.

[Rybazłapać]

One of a kind catch. That's one to remember. Great catch.

[NorthJerzyG]

PIKE-EREL!! Very Nice!!

[Eskimo]

.


Very interesting.
I wonder if it's capable of breeding or if it's sterile like a Hybrid Striper.

.

[buzzbaiter]

On first glance I thought it was a pickerel. Hybrids are rare by nature. In fact natural reproduction by pike in NJ is rarer than rare. So much so, if the stockings ended, so would the fishery. NJ is outside pikes natural range hence the lack of natural reproduction. What little I found online suggests Pike X pickerel hybridization is rarely successful with little to no fry survival. It is possible however. I catch about one wild tiger trout about every 16 months or 1 in 3000 trout so 1 chainpike out of a few hundred pike caught could make sense.

[saxmatt]

NJ is outside of the pike's natural range because they are an introduced species, just like the largemouth bass. That has nothing to do with reproduction though. Pike can reproduce in a bunch of places they are stocked in NJ, such as Budd lake. Any shallow marshy backwater area with vegatation in the Passaic would be a good place for them to spawn.

[Delawareriver]

NJ is outside of the pike's natural range because they are an introduced species, just like the largemouth bass. That has nothing to do with reproduction though. Pike can reproduce in a bunch of places they are stocked in NJ, such as Budd lake. Any shallow marshy backwater area with vegatation in the Passaic would be a good place for them to spawn. agreed.

[buzzbaiter]

NJ is outside of the pike's natural range because they are an introduced species, just like the largemouth bass. That has nothing to do with reproduction though. Pike can reproduce in a bunch of places they are stocked in NJ, such as Budd lake. Any shallow marshy backwater area with vegatation in the Passaic would be a good place for them to spawn.

I think the PR floods too much to be a successful spawning area. Water levels can drop nearly 4 feet in a week. What was a shallow cove can be wet mud in a matter of days. Any eggs laid would soon perish. Better chance in stillwater lakes. They stock pike as small as 2" so its difficult to ascertain whats wild and what isn't. If they only stocked say 10" fish and you caught a 7" pike, that would eliminate any doubt.

[saxmatt]

When I was working for fish and game up in Connecticut one of our most successful pike marshes was on the Connecticut River, which goes all the way up to Mass and Vermont and floods much worse and more often than the Passaic.

[buzzbaiter]

Breeding or not I'm thinking we don't want them too. Too many pike is a bad thing. They are not picky about what they eat and since adult pike prefer to eat fish 30-40% of their own length, well you can do the math. Thats a 10-12" bass for a 30" pike. Ever wonder why u don't see more bass? :D

[saxmatt]

They can eat fish 40% their weight but they don't PREFER it. They prefer to eat smaller less spiny fish with a more slender shape because those fish are easier to swallow and digest. Fish like suckers, shiners, trout, pickerel and other pike. I'm sure they eat some bass but they'd rather eat other fish and there are many of examples of great bass fisheries that also have pike. Not sure where you're coming up with this info :confused:

[Skunk City]

Breeding or not I'm thinking we don't want them too. Too many pike is a bad thing. They are not picky about what they eat and since adult pike prefer to eat fish 30-40% of their own length, well you can do the math. Thats a 10-12" bass for a 30" pike. Ever wonder why u don't see more bass? :D

There are areas on the river I can pull up to and catch double digit Bass if I want, all in Pike stocked areas. I have had 15 Largemouth days in 42 degree water temps, tons on topwater in the summer including my PB 5.4lb'r, even do well with the Senko bite. And everyone knows how good the Smallie fishing can be. Just gotta know where to target them.


And Dan, AWESOME fish man! One to remember for sure.

[buzzbaiter]

They can eat fish 40% their weight but they don't PREFER it. They prefer to eat smaller less spiny fish with a more slender shape because those fish are easier to swallow and digest. Fish like suckers, shiners, trout, pickerel and other pike. I'm sure they eat some bass but they'd rather eat other fish and there are many of examples of great bass fisheries that also have pike. Not sure where you're coming up with this info :confused:

Quite a few studies point to anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 their body length or 25 to 50%.

As for bass, I've had some good days too(best day 15) doesn't mean anything though. Some days its all pike, while others its all bass. U never know. I always think things could be better. One thing for sure is all bass - even the tiniest ones - are fat like going to explode fat :-)

[saxmatt]

You think bass are as easy to swallow as a perch? Lol. Sounds like you are a bass fisherman who just doesn't like bigger predators in the same place as our your little bass. They only stock pike in a handfull of places in this state and bass are pretty much everywhere. If you don't like pike then go fish somewhere else.

[buzzbaiter]

From "Aquatic Invasive Species":

Previous instances of the spread of the northern pike show just how destructive this species can be. Of the lakes where it is already active in Northern California, its success has been so spectacular that the only solution to stabilize native ecosystems is completely poisoning entire lakes

I am not anti-pike look at my avatar!!! My screensaver at work is also a pike. Fun fish to catch but no of us really know what affect they have on our native fish ecosystems. Perhaps one day we should find out.

[saxmatt]

This is just getting silly. You're taking quotes and facts and using them in a nonsensical way trying to apply them as you see fit. What does one example of lakes in California have anything to do with any of the lakes and rivers in NJ? Almost all the species people like to target in NJ like bass, trout, pike, muskie, walleye, carp are introduced species to the state and many of the lakes with those species like Lake Hopatcong, Pompton, Deleware river, Passaic are all great fisheries. They eventually find a balance in the ecosystem and coexist just fine.

[buzzbaiter]

You know I should have just said "nice fish" and left it at that :p