pike catch and release

[Keychain]

I want a whoopie pie 

Me too.  Hope the wife and kid haven't eaten them all before I get home...

[maineranger]

Why does everyone kill the pike they catch and just let them  lay on the ice?  What a waist. I think if your just going to waist the fish why not set it back?

I think you meant "waste".  It was a "waste" to stock them illegally in the first place.  Any I catch will be knifed through the gut and then released so that you don't cry about them lying on the ice.

[bigredonice]

I think you meant "waste".  It was a "waste" to stock them illegally in the first place.  Any I catch will be knifed through the gut and then released so that you don't cry about them lying on the ice.

makes sense.   At least keep the carcasses in the food chain.  Food for crayfish, minnows, and aquatic invertebrates.   Maybe keep one and give it a try, they are tasty.

[lunkahville]

Me too.  Hope the wife and kid haven't eaten them all before I get home...

Ill pm you the address

[nhpikeking]

Why is it pike and brook trout get along perfectly in Canadian lakes but as soon as there in Maine it's the reason the trout fishing sucks I think it's the people looking for something to blame for the declining trout fisheries other then themselves

[MadDad]

All you release guys, I bet each year shoot a deer or attempt to. How about putting your efforts into something in danger.

i'm a a release guy. what do you mean by that? putting our efforts into somthing in danger, and deer hunting? **censored**?

[woodchip]

Killing and releasing into the water is an illegal act. and the poor birds won't eat.

[MadDad]

Killing and releasing into the water is an illegal act. and the poor birds won't eat.

what the hell does that mean??

[woodchip]

Maineranger is chumming

[MadDad]

ok i got ya. i read his post. dont agree with him, but to each his own. we love catchin pike, hook onto a 20 pounder and tell me you dont get wound up.

[GasBlaster]

Check out the mass thread
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=257178.60

[The Rusty Crab]

i'm a a release guy. what do you mean by that? putting our efforts into somthing in danger, and deer hunting? **censored**?

What I mean is you guys are all worried about some stupid trash fish being left on the ice, All while you are like release fish blah blah blah.  So I say go protect something worth protecting like our declining deer population.

[The Rusty Crab]

I bet if they shot the deer they dont just let it lay in the woods for the eagles !!!

How bout all the killling of the coyotees then? 

[MadDad]

all kinds of deer down here. me and the boy each got ours. and i dont think pike are trash fish. so blah blah blah,.

[The Rusty Crab]

all kinds of deer down here. me and the boy each got ours. and i dont think pike are trash fish. so blah blah blah,.

How dare you kill something that is on the decline, you are going to make them extinct. 

[esox_xtm]

Perspectives are interesting. I'm  Midwest guy and opportunities for ice fishing trout (seemingly the only true specimen worth targeting) are few to non-existent.

Our fisheries are comprised of mostly panfish, followed by walleye and pike. Just the scheme of things here in WI. Back in the early 80's there was a fantastic salmon fishery in the Northwest in the Columbia River. Walleyes found a foothold and began to populate but were perceived as  "trash fish" and left on the banks to rot or be scavenged by the eagles or bear. How times (and perceptions) have changed. Now the Columbia has become not only a trophy and numbers salmon destination but a trophy walleye fishery as well. Not to mention the egg-sucking sturgeon that are available..........

Invasive species? Wow........ They're everywhere with no abatement in sight. They happen at all levels and cannot be removed from a system by human intervention. Mother Nature has to take her course. Things change............ We've seen the invasion of zebra and quagga mussels in the Great Lakes, and by sloppy human practices (or introduction by other more natural means) the infiltration into inland waters. Water clears,food chain is upset, what's the answer.......... Adapt.

I know I can't preach or hope to change any perception here BUT, the answer lies in adaptation. Protect the waters that are "pristine" (and good luck with that). Roll with what is in place. Pike are an apex predator and tend to thin everything with positive results in size for the remaining populations.

That said, I know I won't jump into any of these discussions anymore. I'm an outsider and I have a different perspective. I see WS (another Midwesterner) chipped in a comment. I tend to be a little more verbose............

To echo his comment, "a very interesting thread.......".

BTW, pike are fantastic table fare. Learn to clean em and your plate will never be empty.

/m

[maineduckhunter]

Because the State Law Book tells you NOT TO PUT THEM BACK!!

[beershanty]

Pike are one of the tastiest fish to eat. I filleted a 31" and a 28" the other day and ended up with zero bones and they tasted like walleye. I think they are a cleaner fish than bluegills, bass and perch because I have NEVER seen a white grub or black spec in any of the pike I have filleted. I don't keep every one I catch and I try to keep a 27-34" personal slot limit, releasing all big fish 99% of the time. Most guys fillet them like a normal fish, this is why they get all the bones. I cut it into steaks, starting with the top of the fish, then you can feel the y bones and fillet them as you normally would. I have perfected this method and hope to put it to use again tomorrow evening.

[Loves To Fish]

(Image removed from quote.)

I got to ask Sinnian. Are you going to just leave that dead horse on the ice like that or are you going to use it somehow?

[Keychain]

I got to ask Sinnian. Are you going to just leave that dead horse on the ice like that or are you going to use it somehow?

They call that "beef" in Europe 

[dgilliam]

I think that it is a waste to kill them and leave them on the ice but some people are ignorante and don't care about anything but stupid trout that you sit around all day to catch one 8 inches long

[The Rusty Crab]

I think that it is a waste to kill them and leave them on the ice but some people are ignorante and don't care about anything but stupid trout that you sit around all day to catch one 8 inches long

That seems like it would be a challenge to maybe catch a few more and well maybe even get a bigger one.  First time pike fishing we got tons, not much of a challenge. Sounds like we found the stupid fish.

[dgilliam]

Trout fishing is pointless sit around all day for 2 flags for the most part its just boring trout fishing I would rather catch 20 pike that r 10 pounds then 2 trout that wiegh a half pound

[dgilliam]

And places like sabbatus that are obviously no getting rid of the pike y kill em all and make it slow fishing for all the pike fishermen

[Sinnian]

I got to ask Sinnian. Are you going to just leave that dead horse on the ice like that or are you going to use it somehow?

It will be removed, just like my dead pike.  Dig a big enough hole, and anything can become compost 

[jackcraps]

I gotta get my two cents in.   Say you got a nice pond out back your house on your property. That you pay to stock with fish, and some neighborhood kid goes and throws a bucket full of pike in.  Then they start eating all your fish that you paid to have stocked in there.  I'm pretty sure that you'd probably flip your lid and want to get those pike out of there. Not to mention the monetary loss of thousands of dollars in fish that they ate. Nor are you gonna pay for more fish to.be stocked only to feed those pike. That's what's happening Accross the state.  We pay to stock salmon, and trout in lakes and ponds, streams and rivers. Not to feed illegally introduced species that can and will eat anything that will fit down its throat.  By releasing them back your only allowing other people the opportunity to possibly illegally stock them some where else.  Catch and kill them,  don't catch and release.   

[GasBlaster]

   today's Sebago trip .

[dgilliam]

But my point is there is no way sabattus can be saved or any lakes over run with them so y kill them all to waste that's like saying you should just shoot coyotes and leave them laying in the woods for waste because there a nusense

[dgilliam]

I can see some of you guys point to but its not right to just completely waste the
Pike

[maineranger]

Pike are one of the tastiest fish to eat. I filleted a 31" and a 28" the other day and ended up with zero bones and they tasted like walleye. I think they are a cleaner fish than bluegills, bass and perch because I have NEVER seen a white grub or black spec in any of the pike I have filleted. I don't keep every one I catch and I try to keep a 27-34" personal slot limit, releasing all big fish 99% of the time. Most guys fillet them like a normal fish, this is why they get all the bones. I cut it into steaks, starting with the top of the fish, then you can feel the y bones and fillet them as you normally would. I have perfected this method and hope to put it to use again tomorrow evening.

They may be grub free, but its the stuff you can't see that makes eating a large, predatory fish dicey...Mercury?  That said, I might try a small one sometime.