Tidal Passaic Pike/Pickerel Hybrid?

[saxmatt]

That's one weird looking pike. Looks like he likes to headbutt rocks. I'm pretty sure it's not a hybrid though. Some juvenile pike have horizontal or vertical bars that break up into spots as they mature. Sometimes the spots stay in straight lines.

That is a weird looking pickeral....Looks like he went a few round with Mike Tyson and got his nose broken....Either way, nice day out!!!

[tycomps]

definitely a pike (no vertical line down from the eye), remember there have been tons of chemicals dumped into the passaic so any abhorration of nature is possible. Personally I'd like to see Smike's (smallmouths the size of pike), Tarp's (trout the size of carp), and Basskellunge (bass the size of muskies)!

[NorthJerzyG]

Nice fish, well, the first one anyway, lol.

Wonder if maybe that one had been caught recently and maybe picked up some kind of infection? Looks too "bloody" to just be a deformity. Surprised to see it still eating for sure.

[saxmatt]

Looks like the left eye is missing and there is some scarring around the head. Probably got grabbed by a bigger pike or a bird.

[bulletbob]

Pike/Pickerel hybrids occur naturally, and have been well documented. They are caught and identified with some regularity.

[saxmatt]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Pike/Pickerel hybrids occur naturally, and have been well documented. They are caught and identified with some regularity.

Hybrids are pretty rare. Most of the pictures of pike/pickerel hybrids on the internet aren't actually hybrids. I used to work for the fisheries division of the CT DEP and have probably sampled over 10,000 fish and can only remember a few examples of hybrids, mostly in the sunfish family, and 1 natural tiger trout. Pike can have vertical bars, or chains like pickerel, but that doesn't mean they are hybrids. They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes just like people. The reason I don't think this is a hybrid is because the color is wrong and the spot pattern is wrong. Pike/pickerel hybrids are usually an emerald green color and have very small spots arranged in vertical lines. Here is a picture of a pike, pickerel, and hybrid that was confirmed through genetic testing by the VT DEP. The second pic is of an adult pure strain pike with vertical barring. The vertical barring can be more pronounced in young pike and breaks apart as they mature, these are often mistaken for hybrids.