In Pursuit of Pike - New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

prey. Known as “sight predators,” pike have very large eyesthat are focused forward. Pike also rely heavily on the “lateralline” — an amazing sensory system that gives them excellentawareness of their physical surroundings — to help locateprey. Pike have an added advantage to their lateral linesystem: a row of tiny pores on the underside of the lower jaw.These pores have miniscule hairs inside them that react tovibrations in the water and are directly linked with the lateralline system for super sensitivity.Pike have a distinctive pattern that will help you distinguishthem from pickerel — light-colored bean shapes over adark background. Also, the pike’s gill plate is only scaled onthe upper half, whereas the chain pickerel’s is fully scaled.With specialized predatory tools including a mouth full ofknife-edged teeth, the pike is a worthy opponent. Understandingthese tools is just a part of being successful when fishing forpike.Follow the FishTheir habitat and seasonal location play a vital role incatching pike consistently. Pike get an early start on spawning,moving into the backwaters of the Connecticut to spawnin late March. They rarely wait for open water and will spawnunder the ice. Since these backwater areas are the first to warmup in the spring, many other river fish use these areas forspawning, too. The pike are there, awaiting their arrival.Spring offers the pike a steady diet of sunfish, perch, bass,frogs, salamanders — and yes, ducklings and small mammals.A pike will eat just about anything. But don’t be fooledby the pike’s omnivorous appetite: they can be frustrating tohook.In April, the air and water temperatures tend to be in the40s. The sun will do its job on the backwaters, warming theseareas and bringing the pike onto the feed as the water heats upto 50 degrees or so. Water temperatures are a key factor. Toocold and the fish will be sluggish; too warm, the pike moveout.But 50°F is just right, so it’s time for the first trip of the yearto the river. My friends and I are armed with both spinning andfly fishing tackle — imitation baitfish lures and flies, a strongspinning rod with ten-pound test line. We’re carrying a sevenweightfly rod with a floating or intermediate line. Both thespinning rod and the fly rod get extra protection from thecontinued on next pageWILDLIFE JOURNAL • March/April 2006 5