Pike

[livinbass]

Beautiful fish bluefin. its good they were returned , I think if they were laying on the ice it would scare all the eagles south!!

[Bluefinforme]

this is my official response on every page of this thread from now on 

what are pike?

ps.


......while we are reminising of the glory days and posting pike pics:   
































I DUNNO ABOUT YOU BUT THAT IS 2 YEARS WORTH OF SOME HOGS    RELEASE EM ALL 

[livinbass]

this is my official response on every page of this thread from now on 

what are pike?

ps.


......while we are reminising of the glory days and posting pike pics:   

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I DUNNO ABOUT YOU BUT THAT IS 2 YEARS WORTH OF SOME HOGS    RELEASE EM ALL 

???Not hard to cofuse me

[Bluefinforme]

How much did that sucka weigh!!! and how long was it???  Wow, that thing is HUGE!!

it was over 24 inches and close to a ten pounda 

[Red]

Nice!  What about your buddies??? The last one you posted...

[Bluefinforme]

Nice!  What about your buddies??? The last one you posted...

that was my fish too/my trap...and it's the one I was talking about    I tend to UNDERestimate 

[chillywillie]

Me too Ben, that's why I posted my picture

[Mike G]

Nicely Done 
Don't even get me started!!!!!!!!   

[billditrite]

Nicely Done 
Don't even get me started!!!!!!!!   

I dare ya!!  I got one !!

[fshnfool]

I dare ya!!

I double dare ya   

[chillywillie]

I triple dog dare ya

[Mike G]

Here's some 

[gamefisher]

Aw Mike, why did you have to fall for all the peer pressure  Now I have to counter with some of the "less fortunate" ones........

[fshnfool]

can you say.......

SLIME!!!

[cap]

To think that some folks would wantonly waste such a magnificent game fish just boggles my imagination. In fact.... it eats my brain....

Some folks who claim "to get it" just "don't get it at all"! 

Folks who would throw such a beautiful example of God's handiwork on the ice, not even harvesting it for there own nourishment, nor returning it for some other fisherman, but rather to wantonly waste it, are no better than folks who gut shoot deer and then let them die in the woods unharvested, or even the bucket biologists themselves.

They can hardly be called "sportsmen" in my estimation. I don't think that fisherman who throw chubs in the bushes is all that slick either.

Chubs can't pick thier parents nor can pike, yet for some reason they are treated as some inferior beast by some.

Such a shame...and a pity...

What has the world become?

[Fishalot]

To think that some folks would wantonly waste such a magnificent game fish just boggles my imagination. In fact.... it eats my brain....

Some folks who claim "to get it" just "don't get it at all"! 

Folks who would throw such a beautiful example of God's handiwork on the ice, not even harvesting it for there own nourishment, nor returning it for some other fisherman, but rather to wantonly waste it, are no better than folks who gut shoot deer and then let them die in the woods unharvested, or even the bucket biologists themselves.

They can hardly be called "sportsmen" in my estimation. I don't think that fisherman who throw chubs in the bushes is all that slick either.

Chubs can't pick thier parents nor can pike, yet for some reason they are treated as some inferior beast by some.

Such a shame...and a pity...

What has the world become?


    I dont get it...    

[fshnfool]

I don't get it

I think he's referring to the people that kill all the pike they catch.....I'm pretty sure that Mike G puts most of them back unless his customer wants em or he's ready for another Pike Nugget Dinner   

[cap]

I think he's referring to the people that kill all the pike they catch

I would have no problem with someone who killed all the pike they caught AND ATE THEM, that is not "wasting" them, that is utilizing them in a way which is sporting...I do however have a problem with waste of game animals.

As sportsmen I think we have to consider our actions and how others will interpret them.  I don't approve of killing any game animals unless they are utilized in a sportsmanlike way...One does'nt go duck hunting and just go skybusting on everybird that flies by and not making any attempt at retrieving cripples. One does'nt gut shoot deer. One does'nt take pot shots at long range on a running bear. Cathcing a zillion fish and leaving them on the ice or throwing them in the bushes to rot is not "sporting" IMHO.

I consider these fish as a game species (no different than a bear or a deer or a partridge) and it is a priviledge and a righteous thing to harvest and kill them "correctly" or to release them so that they may be caught again (within limits). Either or...but to drag them out of thier environment and then to toss them aside as if they were garbage is  just "not my cuppa".

But that is just my .02...

IMHO piggish hunters give hunting a bad name, and hunters are certainly under scrutiny in todays times...I consider fishing just as much of a blood sport as hunting so i think piggish behavior by fisherman even if well intentioned gives fisherman, hunters and all sportsmen a bad name as well.

For instance, take Moosehead Lake as an example, IFAW wants people to harvest small togue to better the trophy fishery on togue and to help out the forage for salmon. I don't think it "right" to go up there and  kill small togue and leave them on the ice to rot...i think if you want to help out you should go up there and kill some fish and take them home and eat them or give them to someone who will.  And if you can't do that then you should return the fish to the lake (even if if IFAW suggests you take them) or you should just not fish anymore.

That's all...it just my opinion. Same with pike or anything else...

I have no problem killing....I just think there is a correct way and an incorrect way of doing it....and if you can't follow the unwritten rules of being a good sportsmen than you are hindering our cause not helping it.

Again...just mine...

[Mike G]

I think he's referring to the people that kill all the pike they catch.....I'm pretty sure that Mike G puts most of them back unless his customer wants em or he's ready for another Pike Nugget Dinner   

YUmmmmm......pike nuggets
Every one of those fish were released except "Bubba". He's on my wall at camp.  22 pounds, 43 inches.  He was pretty much dead as a stone by the time I got him in, plus is was a derby day.  He likes his spot on the wall behind the sofa where he can see the lake and watch tv too.

[fshnfool]

YUmmmmm......pike nuggets
Every one of those fish were released except "Bubba". He's on my wall at camp.  22 pounds, 43 inches.  He was pretty much dead as a stone by the time I got him in, plus is was a derby day.  He likes his spot on the wall behind the sofa where he can see the lake and watch tv too.

is Budda the one w/ the 6" slime trail hanging from his tail??   

[Mike G]

is Budda the one w/ the 6" slime trail hanging from his tail??   

Nope, he's actually the one in the smallest photo - I think that's him anyway.
This guy is on a wall in southern Maine somewhere.  I would love to see a photo of the mount, but I can't remember who caught him!

[cap]

Again truly magnificent animals...very sweet pix...

I see great beauty in these large fish while some see some ugly beast. (Again this ain't an endorsement of bucket biology, rather it is an endorsemnt of making lemonade from the lemons we have been served)

Since this whole thing started with "the culling the invasives" have you seen a difference in the quality of the fishing compared to years past when there actually was management plan for pike? I mean most of these fish were caught when we had a plan right? Have you seen change since the new rules went into effect and if so what have you seen? I'm curious as obviously you are accomplished and experienced...I only have hooked up with one big boy but never landed one....I'd love a beauty like any of these on my wall.  It is hard for me to understand any fisherman NOT getting a thrill from such a magnificent creature..(whatever)

Is the fishing suffering, in your opinion, from this new "political" management plan rather than "the scientific" management that we used to have for pike?

[livinbass]

the bassfishing has been great on sabattus havnt seen a change for the worse.

[Mike G]

Well, to a certain extent, I have seen a change.  But it's hard to really tell.  I do think a lot of people are killing the bigger fish because
1) it might be the biggest fish of their lives and they want to show them off, etc and
2) some people just want them dead.  

But I also think they go in cycles just like everything else.  Last year in open water we caught more 18ish inch pike than ever - I mean a ton of them!  And last winter I caught 18 pike over 15 pounds (and keep in mind, last winter we didn't start till mid January because of the ice - approximately 9 weekends of fishing).  Only time will tell how it all sorts out.  They've been here for about 25 years now, so I think we are just seeing a cycle of these bigger fish.  I know I won't make many friends by saying this, but I do think DIF&W should consider managing this area for northen pike.  It's such a resource and they don't have to worry about stocking it.  The brown trout seem to cohabitate better with the pike, so hopefully someday we'll have a 2 tiered fishery of browns and pike.  Only time will tell though.

[livinbass]

i agree just so many just left out on the ice or bank.My father inlaw says there good eating but i dont eat fish put everything back unless the wife or inlaws want something

[smeltslayer]

What about putting some Vodka with those lemons and have a great day fishing.

[livinbass]

What about putting some Vodka with those lemons and have a great day fishing.

How do you think i deal with it

[smeltslayer]

How do you think i deal with it

Sorry about letting your secret out.

[keepah seekah]

mike, i got one question for ya.....where will you be on february 17th?

[cap]

I know I won't make many friends by saying this, but I do think DIF&W should consider managing this area for northen pike.

Since we are gonna paint targets on our backs...I'll see your target because I think IFAW should manage that area for northern pike too and I'll raise you another target because I think they should manage Baker Lake for Musky as well! 

We are not necessarily in the minority with these sorts of ideas just in the less vocal and politically active group which strives to influence IFAW decision making....Certainly I deplore invasive introductions when native populations of native fish suffer for it...but the musky and pike are pretty much here to stay,  and I think doing nothing is worse than actively managing them with an eye toward developing a viable fishery with the best scientific management plans that are available.

It just really gets in my craw how politics drives much of the decision making process in fish and game issues...when politics and politicians have never learned how to run anything correctly...I think science and the best information possible should be the driving force since the study of the environment and the ecology is itself a scientific pursuit...I think fisheries scientists should run the fishers not a bunch of whiners with bright ideas who push their agendas with willing "political hack" sidekicks.

but that is just my opinion....