Article... A Case for Pike!

[eyecejunky]

Diz.....That reply is much more than my expectations.  Congratulations on getting their attn.!  I am impressed with the thoughtful and concise response you elicited from the director of the PFBC.  As you stated, they (PFBC) appear to be open to suggestions and feedback.  I thank you for prompting me to become proactive after all my years of antipathy.  I am currently pursuing the academic basics of our fishery's biosystems, and hopfully will develope to more advanced understanding of the systems in general.  This is all to the end of being able to understand and communicate with the PFBC at their level of expertise.  There is much to learn, and again thank you for giving me the impetus to self-educate.

Tight lines Tom

[salmonrebel]

Thanks for all of your effort, Dizzy.
Hopefully with your commentary on this issue to the PFBC will be the start of more pike opportunities down the line here in eastern PA. From what he said, sounds like they are open to suggestions as to where else to put them. All we could do, is try to think of a possible place, get in touch with them, and hopefully they'll look into seeing if it's a biological fit for that body of water.

Good Fishin'...SalmonRebel.

[BIGCREW]

It was well written with a lot of big words,but he put his point across and did say where to direct you oppionions to so thats a start,I know of a lot of lakes that would be good canadates.and the pack is not on my list,but they would have to determine what lakes fit the bill.as long as the pack isnt 1 of them they would be better off at lakes that dont allow motor boats.so I guess its time to choose what lakes every one else is thinking of and send them emails

[Dizzy]

Updated info…

Northern pike do not reproduce well outside of their native habitat in PA and therefore would likely not be able to sustain themselves. Thus any potential pike fishery located in NEPA and/or SEPA would have to be sustained through annual stockings of fingerlings (exactly like the current status of muskies, walleye, striped bass, etc.).

So anytime there is talk of creating new stocking programs or expanding existing ones, the subject of COST and AVAILABILITY must be addressed… regarding this latter subject, what if I told you that there is an existing fish cultural station located in the region that is already producing northern pike fingerlings in greater numbers than they can use?

Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery is located roughly 30 minutes from the PA/NJ border in Hackettstown, NJ. Described as a “state of the art facility” they have been able to raise large numbers of coolwater/warmwater species for distribution throughout New Jersey… and among them, northern pike.

Adult pike are trap-netted at nearby Spruce Run and Budd Lakes in the early spring and transferred to the Hackettstown facility for egg/sperm collection… the pike are then transferred unharmed back to the lakes where they were removed. Hatched pike fry are fed a diet of high-protein pellets for 2-3 months before being stocked as fingerlings throughout the state’s designated pike waters.

As an example: total egg production for 2008 was 690,778 of which 59.0%, or 405,251, hatched (this hatch rate is comparable to the long-term rate of approximately 65%). Over the following 2-month period the numbers of pike were culled down to 25,000 top-quality 6-7 inch fingerlings for stocking into New Jersey lakes and rivers… the final cull number is per the fisheries biologist request.

In other words, the Hackettstown facility killed off roughly 380,000 northern pike fry in 2008 simply because they had no where to go with them. Also, in past years the request for pike fingerlings has been much higher so extra capacity to grow these fish does exist. One wonders if the state of NJ would be interested in selling them (or trading them) to the PFBC… IF there were some interest of course?

More detailed info (including annual reports) on the Hackettstown Hatchery can be found the following link: http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/hacktown.htm

Unfortunately COST information is much harder to come by… but the fact that these fingerlings are pellet-raised is encouraging---yearling Esocids need to be fed a diet of baitfish… cha-ching!

I will be contacting the Hackettstown facility to pose some hypothetical questions... 

More to come.

[eyecejunky]

Humm...lets see...I buy a fishin license, then I buy a "trout stamp" cha-ching"...then I a buy and "Erie stamp"cha-ching.....then I might buy a "Northern Pike, walleye, muskie stamp" if ....  big IF...  I am sure that there are more than enough fisheries through out PA that could manage and possibly sustain Northern stocking.  And like the Rebels might contend, the trout stockies may feed those hungry little buggers for a while.  I've already had northerns and muskies chasin down trout that I had on in the raystown branch of the Juniata.  Even had a walleye tryin to hammer the smaller trout.