The one nice thing about a 10# bass is it's a rare catch.  When I fish I want the biggest fish I can catch, I don't have pike down here but I have species I target that go well over 40".  A lot of people down here fish for cuda because they are so good on the plate and pretty easy to catch the smaller ones.  I don't keep them so I only target ones that have good chance of hitting that 50" mark, it doesn't happen all the time.   If I want a real fight, not that cuda is a pansy I'm gong after kingfish and wahoo.

No pike, pikeral, or muskie within a 2 hours drive for me unfortunately

Pike are the reason I don't buy certain expensive lures but they are fun to catch.

Same here. Unless it's tournament day, any tug on the line is fun. Flipping a jig in to the weeds and having a big pike smoke it is actually pretty cool. My two biggest pike on my home lake, a 13 and 15lber, were both caught on 8lb test + ML spinning gear. One drop shotting, one on a shaky head....talk about excitement.

 

Pikeral will blast a frog with 10x's more savagery than a bass, and I have caught a few tiger muskies in Conesus this year...IDK what it is about them, but the are a lot meaner than pike, and almost have a look to them that says "go ahead, just try and get your lure back". I have yet to catch a muskie.

No pike in the waters I fish, but Kinkaid lake here in southern Illinois has a good population of muskie. While fun to catch, they are definitely a nuisance. I've caught many up to about 40". The real brutes always swim away with my favorite baits...

There's a great little read about pike called "Bruisers of the Weed Beds" by Ben East. 

It's in "The Greatest Fishing Stories Ever Told" (from the Lyons Press Publishers) which is a good collection of fishing tales and anecdotes.  I highly recommend it

 

+1

 

That's a great story and a great book. (Lyons also has a "Greatest Hunting Stories Ever Told" that is a winner, too....)

 

 

It's hard for me not to love pike for their explosive strikes, violent fights and airborne antics.  But after one of them swims off with a Megabass PopMax, my opinion of them suddenly changes (for a while).

 

Tight lines,

Bob

LOL you yanks have it easy, I'll take pike/muskie over gators any day. Today was the perfect morning (heavy fog) for some buzz bait fishing, called 3 small gators to my spot quick fast and in hurry.

I love catching pike! Over populated hammer handles do get annoying though

Hell yes! Unless they are over about 24 inches. Those boys can run through soft plastics which makes me switch to hardbaits. Some days when bass aren't biting its fun to get some pike though.

Also I have fished a lake where to oil have really bad bloody tumors of some sort. Every since then I've not enjoyed pike as much.

Well, I can understand why immature pike might be considered a nuisance.

That is, the grass snakes that are derisively dubbed "hammer-handles" & "snot-rockets".

 

On the other hand, large old pike are a horse of another color, and behave like a different species of fish.

Big gator pike do not spend the summer in shallow weedy bays, but generally inhabit deep open water

beyond the outer weed-line. In lakes that support pelagic forage fish,

gator pike feed on ciscoes, whitefish and smelt, much the same as lake trout.

 

Gators over 35" are powerful fish (peel line off the spool) and are hard to come by,

the stuff that makes a superb target species. Back to the 1970s, Al Lindner confessed

that his favorite freshwater game fish is a "trophy pike" over 12 pounds.

Al stated that trophy pike are even rarer than muskellunge, the fish of 10,000 casts.  I fully concur

 

Roger

 

Great post, just add one disparaging nickname to the list. 

 

Edward Scissor-Nose!

Not a fan.  I can most certainly do without gators.  If I never caught another in my life I'd be fine with that.  Part of a really good day for me is NO gators caught and NO bite-offs.  I would rather get skunked than catch a gator.  

Interesting mix of opinions and I can definitely understand the different views.  Someone mentioned how they don't buy expensive lures because of the pike.  I FEEL YA THERE!!!  I don't buy expensive lures either because pike will break them off at the drop of a dime.  They destroyed a couple spinnerbaits during that last outing.  I didn't pay too much for them so the sacrifice was worth it!

Central Illinois has few (if any) pike so if/when I go North to fish, a pike seems to me a rare and exotic species so, no, they aren't a nuisance.  They are pretty slimy though.

When me and my dad were fishing weekday Bass tournaments, all the small ones I couldn't stand.  There are so many in my area that I won't even think of buying expensive cranks or jerk baits for fear of losing them so often.  I didn't mind catching a pig tho and putting it in the critter pot and winning a few $$$.  Basically fun fishing I'm ok with them. Come tournament time, they could disappear and I wouldn't mind haha.

 They are pretty slimy though.

And they stink!  Get that stinky slime all over your boat carpet and you'll regret it!

If by pike you mean northern pike, most certainly not. They rarely intersect with bass, though some lakes like Cayuga, you run into both on the deep weed lines. It's been my experience that when there's pike around, bass are scarce. I target pike quite often, and they're most enjoyable to fish for from a kayak. It's easier to release, and since you basically follow them (that means you are dragged around, lol) in the boat so they aren't too worn out and release is usually easy. You don't even have take them out of the water, since you're so close. Always have a fish grip or Boca handy, and a set of long handle pliers. Otherwise, I don't net them, no jaw spreaders, and goodness sakes don't grab them by their eye sockets.

Pickerel, you bounce them off the rocks on the banks for all I care, lol. I'm half kidding - eat what you kill.

I think they are a great fish to catch. Just dont like losing lures while bass fishing very happy every time I land one.

X2

The Nuisance fish were all over the place today.

 

A-Jay

 

Might as well toss them gloves A-Jay

Might as well toss them gloves A-Jay

 

nice ~ 

 

I did, right into the washer with a scoop of Oxy-Clean . . . 

 

A-Jay

Yeah and trade in the pants for a skirt. Man up and handle them with your bare hands! Lol.

Any species of fish that has the potential to reach 40-50" and bigger are specifically targeted.  

Yes and no. Like someone else mentioned. The little ones for me are a complete pain in the ass. The big ones 7-8 plus are a lot of fun and in my opinion are easier to handle.

My pb caught on a medium light spinning rod. Talk about holding on for the ride!!!!!!!

I like catching pike. Teeth suck but thats okay

I'd prefer a nice bass anyday, but they're fun to catch IMO

Yeah and trade in the pants for a skirt. Man up and handle them with your bare hands! Lol.

 

Agreed!

If you get slime on yourself, theres plenty of water around..

haha