Odd color to this pike

[Rybazłapać]

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

[NorthJerzyG]

PIKE-EREL!! Very Nice!!

[Eskimo]

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

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[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

agreed.

[buzzbaiter]

Originally Posted by 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.

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?