blue pike

[limpbait]

around 1971 mydad and i were trolling near whiskey island in the st lawerance and he caught a walleye or so i thought when he showed it to me it looked funny, he said to take a good look id probably never see one again and then he released it, we never put fish back that were legal size cuz we ate em, he told meit was a blue pike. about 4or5lb. i now wish i had a camera then.

[captain54]

I think he caught blue phase walleye,my grandfather and uncle caught several BLUE PIKE in lake Eire on party boats at night,they said they looked like a walleye and ate like one,but where slate grey or blueish with no white tip on tail.They said they ran 1lb to 1 1/2 lb 15 to 17 inches they never got as big as walleye.I think they did this in the 1950's,there all gone, over fishing and pollution did them in.

[winchester 88]

My dad and I went to Erie on a party boat for my 16th birthday.
The lake was very rough and we fished all night long.
Everyone on the boat was sick except the captain and his mate.
We brought home 2 big buckets of fish,all 14"-16" long.
What a fish fry we had!
At that time whenever there was a fish fry around it was always a blue pike fry.
It's sad that they are extinct now as they were so good to eat.

Winchester 88

[Seaweed]

I spotted a good picture of a Blue Pike posted this year.

It was caught in a lake just a bit north of the St. Lawrence near Ottawa, Ontario

It is the first time I had seen one.

Saw your post and decided to show you this link to see if the fish looked like this.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=66963.0

[MrMarty51]

I spotted a good picture of a Blue Pike posted this year.

It was caught in a lake just a bit north of the St. Lawrence near Ottawa, Ontario

It is the first time I had seen one.

Saw your post and decided to show you this link to see if the fish looked like this.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=66963.0

Thats a nice fish,never even heard of one before.Hope they can make a come back.

[Walltrout]

I have heard of a blue perch before. Jigmaster5000 says he catches them a couple of times a year.  Here is a pic of one I found.

[snowman3406]

I have heard of blue perch before.  Can't say that I've ever taken one though.
They look cool though.

[jayswimmer09]

now that fish would go on the wall! it looks really kewl

[bassranger]

Never heard or seen anything like that before. you boy's must have something in the water

[mnfishingdude]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Walleye

If your dad caught a Blue Walleye in 1971, he caught a fish which was thought to be extinct.  I'm glad he released it.  I highly doubt that the Blue pike will ever make a resurgence though, as the few remaining fish in the world are not believed to exist.  I am sure that the species is not entirely extinct, although I have no difficulty believing that it could be wiped out quite easily.  If you ever catch a blue pike RELEASE IT immediately.  Take pictures if possible, and note the habitat (bottom structure, water visibility, water and air temperature, etc.) and send the information to the nearest DNR (Department of Natural Resources) or similar government agency as soon as possible.  If blue pike are to make a comeback, captive breeding would be required, and that cannot happen if everyone eats the blue pike they catch.  If the DNR is informed of a remaining blue pike population in their area, they will likely investigate it, and possibly attempt to capture and breed the fish so they can reintroduce it into fisheries like Lake Erie.  Some people do still believe in their existence, and evidence has been found that populations may indeed remain in remote areas such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and some Canadian lakes accessible only by plane.  Coming from a guy who loves fish and fishing, please release any and all blue pike caught.  I've never seen one in real life, and would be very interested in the opportunity to catch one in a restored Lake Erie fishery, even if it is 50 years down the road.

I spotted a good picture of a Blue Pike posted this year.

It was caught in a lake just a bit north of the St. Lawrence near Ottawa, Ontario

It is the first time I had seen one.

Saw your post and decided to show you this link to see if the fish looked like this.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=66963.0

That fish looks like a Silver pike to me.  That is just a regular northern pike (Esox lucius) with a relatively rare genetic mutation which leaves it devoid of all markings.  Those kinds of northerns are caught once in a while, usually in remote areas, but it's not a blue pike in the sense of the blue walleye (Sander vitreus glaucus)

[CHICKENFOOT]

a walleye for sure

[BaitWrangler]

My buddy caught a small pike 1-2 lb one time on rod and reel.  It looked to me like it was much more blue than it was supposed to be.

Coincidently, it was caught in a cove which was apart of a recent rebuilding of the dam.  A large amount of foreign rock was brought in to do the project, and in this cove and also in a small runoff (about 1 acre, 1-3 ft' deep), you can see the effects the rock is having on the water.  (Ie, water in the run off, as well as groundwater 20 yards from the edge of this cove (which is lined with this foreign stone), has a dark dark red color.  In the couple years since its been completed, the rocks are stained very well also.. I can only imagine the mineral content change in the water in these recent years.

I've heard of blue pickerel, not walleye or pike.. and when I had read about them before, there was also the mention on whether it was a sub sp. or due to mineral content in water.

In my own opinion, I think the researchers may have forgotten about something.  If the mineral content affected the color of these fish, then in theory, they should be able to swim away to more regular water, and return to their normal color state.   Which would explain why you could have an area and catch a blue and normal colorform fish. 

But what if that theory was only half correct?  I think mineral content can absolutely change the color of an animal, makes more sense than their being a weird sub sp. for pickerel, walleye and pike. (Which mind you, being blue appears to have no evolutionary value.. most traits that have evolved for a long enough period to create a sub sp., require some kind of value.)  But anyways, what if the mineral content  in the fishes habitat was NOT affecting the fishes color, but rather the mineral content of where the egg was copulated.  If the egg was fertiziled and developed while attached to vegitation in an area with an abnormally high content of some mineral...thats plenty of time for the mineral to affect the specimen throughout the embryotic process, and thus cause the color of the fish to be differnt... Why we haven't seen any in big numbers in a long time, well maybe or waters are cleaner realitive to whatever potentially made the fish a differnt color, or perhaps even many of the fish with this colorform die before we have caught them.  But if this were the case, then the blue parents would be able to produce normaly colorform offspring, and this make the colorform appear to be a sub sp. on the decline?

[pikefishmen]

A true blue pike is a subspecies of walleye. It is not a northern pike

[MeadowPikeman]

i clear marked bluish looking northern is a silver pike and is just an abnormality not a different species. a blue pike is actually a species of wallye as mentioned already is more than likely extinct. bluish colored walleyes are caught elsewhere but are not blue pike, as they were only found in lake erie.

[IceTroll]

Here is a little better example of a silver Pike that Meadowpikeman is talking about. This is completely different fish than the legendary Blue Pike which, like stated, is actually a Walleye subspecies. Here is a silver Pike though. Twenty pounds even.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/Icetroll/RichieNorthern.jpg[/img]]

[shawno]

Nice Fish IceTroll...

If I ever catch one like that I would get a replica made...I think it looks awesome.

shawno  8)

[mnfishingdude]

Here is a little better example of a silver Pike that Meadowpikeman is talking about. This is completely different fish than the legendary Blue Pike which, like stated, is actually a Walleye subspecies. Here is a silver Pike though. Twenty pounds even.

That does look very similar to a Silver Pike, although I believe I have to disagree with you.  Northern Pike have scales which fully cover the gill plates, while Muskellunge has scales which cover only the upper half of the gill plate.  If I am not mistaken, the fish in your picture right there has scales which cover only the upper half of the gill plate.  I may be wrong, but I cannot definitively tell without counting the number of pores on the underside of the jaw.  Still, congratulations on a truly impressive catch!

[IceTroll]

That does look very similar to a Silver Pike, although I believe I have to disagree with you.  Northern Pike have scales which fully cover the gill plates, while Muskellunge has scales which cover only the upper half of the gill plate.  If I am not mistaken, the fish in your picture right there has scales which cover only the upper half of the gill plate.  I may be wrong, but I cannot definitively tell without counting the number of pores on the underside of the jaw.  Still, congratulations on a truly impressive catch!

That would be all well and good mnfishingdude if the body of water that fish comes from had muskellunge in it. Trust me when I tell you it does not and it never has. That fish is 100% Northern Pike. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever.

[mnfishingdude]

Well, in that case I'll have to take your word for it.  Like I said, it would have been more definitive to count pores, but if you say that there are no muskellunge in that lake, then I'll believe you.  Again, congratulations on the catch.

[MeadowPikeman]

no muskies in Ft. Peck for sure

[trapper2000]

on lake ontario before my time was a fish the blue pike which was a strain of walleye it was over fished and sold by netters it no longer exist in the great lakes although i did hear some small lakes did have a few and talk of tring to reintroduce them

[Gibson]

Apparently the true blue walleye and pike is now extinct due to commercial over fishing.  In some cases on certain lakes if you drop the fish in snow, the slime will color the snow.   
 
An enzyme in the slime coating of the fish is what causes the blue tinge.