A question for pike fishermen.

[winchester 88]

Several times in the spring and especially late in the afternoon while I have been crappie fishing I have watched large pike slowly cruising around the boat with their eyes and snout out of the water kind of alligator style.
They  show no interest in bait thrown near them and one time I did catch an 11#er along side the boat but it wasn't one of the cruisers.
 Is this common behavior?
 Winchester 88

[grumpymoe]

Several times in the spring and especially late in the afternoon while I have been crappie fishing I have watched large pike slowly cruising around the boat with their eyes and snout out of the water kind of alligator style.
They  show no interest in bait thrown near them and one time I did catch an 11#er along side the boat but it wasn't one of the cruisers.
 Is this common behavior?
 Winchester 88

......looking for one big easy meal......have you tried skinny dipping?....Grump

[9fingers]

......looking for one big easy meal......have you tried skinny dipping?....Grump

       or a small snack......      

[Barleydog]

Cats with trebles!  Skinny dippin'!   Little Snack!   Man Winchester88, aren't you glad you asked such an intriguing question?  Try water skiing poodles for bait... 

Seriously,  Where did you see these fish doing this top water act?  I have witnessed longnosed gar doing the same...  Don't know if you were witnessing gar or not, but it sounds like them alright! 

[bwalleye]

My son was shocked to see this same behavior of a VERY LARGE pike in a local lake.  He was cruising around with his friends (19 and 20 yr olds) in my boat.  At first he thought it was a log so he slowed down and it swam past the boat.  No one went swimming after that, they were all scared to go into the water.

[Bluefinforme]

I use dead brined bait on bottom

[reelbigfish]

Winchester,  I think that Barley Dog answered your question.  I know one lake where alligator gar come to the surface around sunset and cruise in a large bay.
It freaked me out when I first saw it so I threw everything in my tacklebox at them until I got one to take a bucktail spinner.  Had to hit him in the head with it.  Pretty
good fight.  The head looks just like a pike or musky but the body is kind of skinny.
I tried to eat one once and the meat is soft and bony.  They taste worse than a carp.



Ted

[adipose]

we have no gar where i live up here in Canada and i have seen this a couple of times....very rare.....seen it last yr. while pickeral fishing.It was a pike for sure as it came close to our boat.

[Bob_D]

Pike will "sun" themselves in the shallows when the water is cold. The theory of why they do this is that the warmth increases their metabolism and makes it easier for them to digest the bait they have already eaten. When that are doing this, they won't eat anything you throw at them.  Kind of like me after Thanksgiving dinner. 
Maybe that is what you saw?

[Bluefinforme]

Pike will "sun" themselves in the shallows when the water is cold. The theory of why they do this is that the warmth increases their metabolism and makes it easier for them to digest the bait they have already eaten. When that are doing this, they won't eat anything you throw at them.  Kind of like me after Thanksgiving dinner. 
Maybe that is what you saw?

I had one inhale a clouser minnow 2 years ago....in a foot of water

[WntrMrngWood]

the "sunning themselves for metabolism" makes sense.  it would also explain why they may be uninterested in eating.  i have a pet python and it is extremely lethargic after a meal, as it stays as close as possible to the heat lamp.  a cool post.

[GAMBELL]

I saw this in Irondequoit Bay in Western N.Y. 6 or 7 years ago.  We were able to get close enough to net it.  When I opened it's mouth, it had a perch lodged in it's throat. We were able to dislodge the perch and set it free.  I have also seen this on other lakes.  I don't know if the fish lodged in it's throat is the reason or not.

[BUCKSKI]

Yeah they sun themselves and relax after a big meal, kinda like us after the bird day!
Have had em come out of no where and what smallies in the niagara river and other lakes, man what a ride

[Bob_D]

I saw this in Irondequoit Bay in Western N.Y. 6 or 7 years ago.  We were able to get close enough to net it.  When I opened it's mouth, it had a perch lodged in it's throat. We were able to dislodge the perch and set it free.  I have also seen this on other lakes.  I don't know if the fish lodged in it's throat is the reason or not.

If a pike can not swallow it's meal hole it will swallow what it can and swim around with the rest of it hanging out until the first part is digested. I'm not sure if that is the same thing that you saw. A pike's mouth is full of rear facing hooked teeth, even down it's throat (I've got a dried head at home where it's pretty easy to see). If a bait fish get's into a pikes mouth it's like a roach motel. 

[GAMBELL]

If a pike can not swallow it's meal hole it will swallow what it can and swim around with the rest of it hanging out until the first part is digested. I'm not sure if that is the same thing that you saw. A pike's mouth is full of rear facing hooked teeth, even down it's throat (I've got a dried head at home where it's pretty easy to see). If a bait fish get's into a pikes mouth it's like a roach motel. 

BobD,

This perch had it's fins stuck into the roof of it's mouth.  It was trying to swallow it tail first.  There was no way it would have swallowed this perch. 

[Bob_D]

OUCH!!   You did that fish a favor and a half.

[Swede]

people are often taken by surprise when garr come up to the surface. They are kinda scarry looking to begin with. They got diff lungs. Garfish have lung like organs which breathe air. This allows them to lie in dry bayous for days and wait for water levels to rise, or gulp air on the surface of low-oxygen ponds or if they just feel like it. The roe of garr is also toxic to humans. They can also survive in salt water. I knew an old man that had a huge garr head on the outside of a barn, after 8 years it was still dripping oil on the real hot days.

[MikeThePike]

I know there is a tiger musky that does the same thing on Greenwood Lake in NJ/ NY. It just swims around with its head out of the water. Guys have seen it quite a few times and never been able to get it to take any lure thrown at it.

[pike]

while ice fishing we had a large pike come up under our shack and hang out for a while. i pulled up my line and put a fat head right in his face, he look at it for a minute then as i let it start to fall he grabbed it, swam away and cut my line on the edge of the hole, should of got my rod down the hole, the ice was snow free and i figured he was checkin out the dark spot. also lost 2 swedish back to back on the bottom before that to a large pike.