Pike

[woodchip]

Togue were invasive to Sebago but it was the best thing that ever happened to Sebago, Now they Have something to blame the declining salmon fishery on.

[Iceassin]

Chubbs....

I'll take the little ones...for pike bait! 

[jebra]

Killing the pike you catch also has the potential to increase the pike population. 

That works by leaving a larger food supply per the remaining pike, which encourages propagation.

Better off not trying to fool with mother nature.   

[Seamonkey84]

Killing the pike you catch also has the potential to increase the pike population. 

That works by leaving a larger food supply per the remaining pike, which encourages propagation.

Better off not trying to fool with mother nature.   

Sabbattus is so full of fish 26” and under it would prob help to pull them lol. Though I’ve heard of and seen pics/videos of big ones, it seems they are far in between. Though, this past sept my friend and I boated three in a row that were 34, 35, and 36” that topped out at 9.5lbs, but we heard of one caught a few days before that weighed 19lb. During the spring trips, we couldn’t get one that even made the 30” mark.

[woodchip]

jebra  I believe you but Thousands would'nt

[jebra]

jebra  I believe you but Thousands would'nt

I hear ya. That would be no surprise.
I would guess that no matter how much biology is posted very few folks are going to change their position.

[SilverSides]

funny how people perceive one fish invasive but not another. togue were native to long lake here in the FRC yet they were allowed to die of and non native ll salmon and smelts were stocked. should have seen the look on the bios face when i suggested to put  native togue back in long lake! thought his head would explode! togue are looked down upon in s, maine but the only time they ever got out of control up here is back on the early 2000;s when the state dumped like 7000 in eagle and st. froid. why can't the reintroduce a limited amount back into long? because it doesn't fit their agenda! i like ll salmon but just making a point.

I'm with you Steve. Salmon fishing is no good on Long anyway, so might as well throw something in there for people to catch. 

[teampar]

Please remember to kill all pike you catch this year   Thanks in advance.   

Well done Rude! 😂

[jacksmelt71]

I'm with you Steve. Salmon fishing is no good on Long anyway, so might as well throw something in there for people to catch. 

[nbourque]

Well done Rude! 😂

just like the good ol days lol

[jacksmelt71]

just like the good ol days lol

yup!

[rude the dude]

Sabattus will be ready soon. I usually only hit it up on the derby but if you want to kill some Pike i'm down Rude let me know. I live 5 minutes from the pond.

sounds like a plan  I usually get slimmy once or twice a year

[rude the dude]

I'm with you Steve. Salmon fishing is no good on Long anyway, so might as well throw something in there for people to catch. 

Problem with lakers is they reproduce

[Jumbos]

I'll kill some Pike after I kill all these Skunks

[jacksmelt71]

Problem with lakers is they reproduce .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                not like they do down south. they have never got out of control unless they are over stocked by the ifw and that happened 1 time i know of.

we grow some big togue here w/ no over production. salmon on the other hand have had more of this problem and most lakes in the FRC have very liberal limits to reduce the numbers. maybe stock a few more togue to eat some of those stunted salmon and eat up the y. perch. they will grab a perch over smelt as they're easier to catch. caught many a togue w/ a full belly of small perch up here.

[MGK]

Most people claim to hate pike but all the belgrades and sabattus are packed every weekend while the neighboring trout ponds see a quarter of the pressure

[Frontier87]

All fish are fun to catch!! Haven’t caught a fish recently that made me sad. Lol tight lines, whatever may be on them

[The Phish unit]

I get your point but it is hard. I fish the sebago lake derby for pike and have won that category several times,  killing everyone I caught. And yet my spot keeps producing with no affect.

[lowaccord66]

jebra  I believe you but Thousands would'nt

If all the breeding females are targeted in the spring...the amount of forage base wouldn't matter at all.  Let's say they shock all the pike from a small pond...someone explain to me how that population is suddenly going to increase.  I think someone is forgetting that pike take a while to grow.  The further north you go the slower their growth rates are.  That suggestion is fundamentally flawed.

If it was anything close to accurate our state (CT) would not be trapping breeding pike in the spring to raise fry that are then stocked into our pike lakes by the thousands.  If what he suggests was true they'd be culling pike to grow the population not adding thousands a year... 

[zwiggles]

If all the breeding females are targeted in the spring...the amount of forage base wouldn't matter at all.  Let's say they shock all the pike from a small pond...someone explain to me how that population is suddenly going to increase.  I think someone is forgetting that pike take a while to grow.  The further north you go the slower their growth rates are.  That suggestion is fundamentally flawed.

If it was anything close to accurate our state (CT) would not be trapping breeding pike in the spring to raise fry that are then stocked into our pike lakes by the thousands.  If what he suggests was true they'd be culling pike to grow the population not adding thousands a year... 

Stop making sense. There’s other threads for that kind of logic...

[NateD]

If all the breeding females are targeted in the spring...the amount of forage base wouldn't matter at all.  Let's say they shock all the pike from a small pond...someone explain to me how that population is suddenly going to increase.  I think someone is forgetting that pike take a while to grow.  The further north you go the slower their growth rates are.  That suggestion is fundamentally flawed.

If it was anything close to accurate our state (CT) would not be trapping breeding pike in the spring to raise fry that are then stocked into our pike lakes by the thousands.  If what he suggests was true they'd be culling pike to grow the population not adding thousands a year... 

I don't think he was saying if you kill ALL the pike the population will increase.

https://thefishsite.com/articles/killing-young-fish-increases-overall-population

Do you think anywhere in CT has a pike population like Sabattus? Catching 20 of them up there is a slow day, in my (very limited) experience pike fishing CT, 2-3 fish is a good day.  It doesn't seem (to me) like our populations are exploding quite like theirs is.

[lowaccord66]

I don't think he was saying if you kill ALL the pike the population will increase.

https://thefishsite.com/articles/killing-young-fish-increases-overall-population

Do you think anywhere in CT has a pike population like Sabattus? Catching 20 of them up there is a slow day, in my (very limited) experience pike fishing CT, 2-3 fish is a good day.  It doesn't seem (to me) like our populations are exploding quite like theirs is.

Ok even if not all you could easily target breeding females in the spring and remove them.  Couple years of removing the adult females you absolutely not see a boom in population. The population in CT doesnt live nearly as long according to CT's pike biologist.  Even so I've had 14-15 fish days.

[woodchip]

conn. lakes must be more polluted  than Sabattus?

[lowaccord66]

conn. lakes must be more polluted  than Sabattus?

Some maybe but apparently pike genetics are more suited to northern latitiudes... the further south they grow faster but die younger which is why CT has to supplement to keep the fishery going. 

[tipman14]

I love pike fishing as I live on the andro . Lol I just feel there are places for them and there are places they don’t belong and that’s the problem people enterduce them to places they really don’t belong for there personal pleasures.

[Huemorin]

My simple mind works in simple ways.  If I want the fish to get bigger I need to throw it back.  So I am starting this year (this past Sunday actually), I am throwing the Pike back in the Pike lakes I fish as I am trying to catch the big teenagers.  I will not fish that zoo called Sabattus other than the derby.  I keep seeing everyone going to Sabattus and it boggles my simple mind.  There are many other Pike waters in and around Central Maine that produce just as many and in most cases bigger pike.  I get this is not a popular theory and I wouldn't do it on certain lakes.  The few lakes I am talking about are already lost to pike.  No I am not encouraging dumping fish in other lakes, it just seems to me that in these few lakes there is no saving the cold water species.  Most if not all of my salmon and brook trout fishing now takes place on Moosehead or the FRC and obviously I don't want pike or other invasive anywhere near there, but when I am fishing around home I am chasing the big gators so I am now throwing the smaller ones back, and the big ones for that matter.  Tight Lines

[gamefisher]

My simple mind works in simple ways.  If I want the fish to get bigger I need to throw it back.  So I am starting this year (this past Sunday actually), I am throwing the Pike back in the Pike lakes I fish as I am trying to catch the big teenagers.  I will not fish that zoo called Sabattus other than the derby.  I keep seeing everyone going to Sabattus and it boggles my simple mind.  There are many other Pike waters in and around Central Maine that produce just as many and in most cases bigger pike.  I get this is not a popular theory and I wouldn't do it on certain lakes.  The few lakes I am talking about are already lost to pike.  No I am not encouraging dumping fish in other lakes, it just seems to me that in these few lakes there is no saving the cold water species.  Most if not all of my salmon and brook trout fishing now takes place on Moosehead or the FRC and obviously I don't want pike or other invasive anywhere near there, but when I am fishing around home I am chasing the big gators so I am now throwing the smaller ones back, and the big ones for that matter.  Tight Lines

Or another way to think of it is for every pike you kill, that's one less pike that could end up in Moosehead or the FRC in the hands of the wrong person.

I live in the belgrades and had my best trolling season for gamefish in 2018 after 30 years here, locals still doing their part to kill all the pike, don't give into the liberals quite yet.    

[NateD]

Or another way to think of it is for every pike you kill, that's one less pike that could end up in Moosehead or the FRC in the hands of the wrong person.

I live in the belgrades and had my best trolling season for gamefish in 2018 after 30 years here, locals still doing their part to kill all the pike, don't give into the liberals quite yet.

I'm liberal and I've killed a bunch of pike in Maine over the past 4 years, fed about 10 to the eagles last time I was there.  Don't make it about that crap noone cares.

[jacksmelt71]

Or another way to think of it is for every pike you kill, that's one less pike that could end up in Moosehead or the FRC in the hands of the wrong person.

I live in the belgrades and had my best trolling season for gamefish in 2018 after 30 years here, locals still doing their part to kill all the pike, don't give into the liberals quite yet.

lol!

[rilobsterman]

Crappie and muskellunge, too. All are invasive species.

Tell me where the crappies are and I will catch them.We barely get any ice here in RI.