Anti Pike Managment. Disrespect for a premier game fish.

[Mackdaddy21]

In Colorado, and many other states in the west, pike are hated, especially by fish and game agencies, and anglers who believe myths about pike.
Colorado is primarly known for it's trout fishing, but also harbors populations of large pike in many of the same waters. In lakes where trout are managed to grow and reproduce, they coexist fine with pike.
The problem is that people and biologists think that pike eat tons of trout. While it is true they eat trout, mostly smaller ones, pike and trout thrive in many lakes. Two good examples are Elevenmile and Stagecoach reservoir, where 20 pound pike and 10 pound trout are pretty common. Spinney Mountain Reservoir's trout population has been hurt some by pike that have gotten way overpopulated, but even here trout and large ones still thrive.
In many other lakes far too warm for good trout, the lakes are still managed for trout. But as put and take fisheries of small, foot long hatchery raised, domestic trout. Pike love to eat these fish, but still, fishing for stocker trout is great in these lakes. Considering trout cannot reproduce or even hold over in these lakes, what is the deal?
In response to this, the Colorado DOW lifted the bag limit statewide for pike in ALL waters. There is no bag limit for pike anywhere here, even in places pike are meant to be and trout are not. This is a terrible price to pay for a gamefish that is far greater than any stocker trout.
In one large river, the yampa, pike are simply shocked up and either killed or dumped in local lakes by the US Fish and Wildlife due to concerns about pike eating endangered suckers and chubs. You heard me right, SUCKERS AND CHUBS. The endangered species act has never been able to delist any endangered fish, and has saved only 5 total species of anything to date. That is right, JUST 5.
I am tired of anti pike baloney. Most of the lakes aren't even meant for trout. And Stagecoach and Elevenmile are examples where pike and trout can coexist and both can thrive.
So in most lakes, the limit in my mind should be 4 pike, no more of one of which can be more than 30". And in trout lakes, it should be 10 pike, only one greater than 30" allowed. Pike are not the hulking, ravenous brutes made that devour everything in sight that fish and game officals and simpletons make them out to be. Quite frankly, they are a cunning, fickle, and very challenging game fish. But their heartstopping ferocious strikes and the way they fight, plus the great eating they provide, make them one of the world's best freshwater gamefish.
Pike need more protection than they get. It's time to recognize this now before we lose more pike waters to tomfoolery.

Tyler

[Jigwiggler]

Pike are not the hulking, ravenous brutes made that devour everything in sight that fish and game officals and simpletons make them out to be.

Actually they are!!  That is what I like about them and what makes them so fun to catch!! 

Pike need more protection than they get. It's time to recognize this now before we lose more pike waters to tomfoolery.

It sounds like on your state they definately do.  I can see doing away with creel limits on certain bodies of water but not the whole state.

[Mackdaddy21]

Pike are the big bad wolf of every fish story that needs a villian. They are ravenous predators, but if the stereotypes of them hitting everything were true, they would be very easy to catch. And pike are VERY CHALLENGING TO CATCH IN MY STATE.
Trout are also hulking, ravenous predators. In fact, trout seem more like pike to me, and pike seem more like stereotypical trout.

Tyler

[TroutFishingBear]

And pike are VERY CHALLENGING TO CATCH IN MY STATE.
Trout are also hulking, ravenous predators. In fact, trout seem more like pike to me, and pike seem more like stereotypical trout.

Tyler

The pike are usually full from eating little baby stocker trout that are overstocked in lakes like harvey gap that are completely warm water and cannot support trout.

Yes, trout are very easy to catch and aggressive, pike can be too if they are not full.

[JigAwhopper]

Wow! ,,limit of 10 pike a day??  that's nuts,  you could start a fish store with that many pike a day. We have a limit of two a day in NJ and it's still hard as hell to catch anything  because they're so overfished  I think that anti-pike attitude is just as widely spread in NE states like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  They're in love with their trout.   I personally would rather catch one pike than 5 trout any day!,     J.

[Pasquatch]

And pike are VERY CHALLENGING TO CATCH IN MY STATE.
Trout are also hulking, ravenous predators. In fact, trout seem more like pike to me, and pike seem more like stereotypical trout.

Tyler

The pike are usually full from eating little baby stocker trout that are overstocked in lakes like harvey gap that are completely warm water and cannot support trout.

Yes, trout are very easy to catch and aggressive, pike can be too if they are not full.

Admit it! Your fish are freakin' weird! They are not normal, everything is backwards out there, just like Todd Helton's numbers! (Oooops shouldn't have brought up baseball... )

[TroutFishingBear]

Admit it! Your fish are freakin' weird! They are not normal, everything is backwards out there, just like Todd Helton's numbers! (Oooops shouldn't have brought up baseball... )

Pasquatch, helton is much better than any of the slop the yankees throw out there everyday. LOL!!! Coors field's effect on a baseball is very overrated indeed, and you CAN throw a curve at a mile high, and a great one. I do it all the time, and other home grown pitchers such as shawn chacon have great hammers. But enough about baseball.
Our fish are wierd, big, huge bluegills lurk in a couple of waters, bullying the bass. Our big trout are very easy to catch too, and our lake trout bottom hug, are very lethargic, hit light, and don't fight. Our bass don't like big spinnerbaits and are very line shy as well, but that is mostly because our water is crystal clear. The fish that do act the same here are crappie, catfish, yellow perch, and walleye. Bluegill act the same but are much larger in a couple lakes. (JC#'s 1 and 2)
But of course, who ever has heard of a hard-hitting laker that suspends and is aggressive?

Can't wait to get some big pike this year... by the way... there is a rumor going around USFWS may stop the pike removals after this year. but of course the local reservoir  they dumped them in, elkhead, is being drained this year. They had the plan to kill all these pike all along, and all of them, not just the ones euthanized for a stable isotope study both the agencies deny they did but say the other one did it.

[archbishop]

the main pike lake i fish here in western new york had no limit on pike for the same reason--its supposed to be a trout lake and the pike are not supposed to be in there--although i love the pike fishing there i dont like the fact that all those small stockies get dumped in there to the pike waiting for a free meal every year but recently the limit went back to NYS regs of 5 fish/day 18" minimum because pike are such a good predator fish the couldnt get rid of them i guess they said let nature figure it out

[Mackdaddy21]

Pike out here are fickle and smart. They don't hit everything you throw, you have to find the right lure, in the right location, and at the right time, or you will not have hardly any luck. During ice, 1 - 3 pike is a good day. During open water, my average is about 3 - 5 pike per day.
Trout are slobbering, aggressive, and very dumb. What fish will charge a jig like a lightning bolt, miss it, then keep following up and hitting it? A trout, that's right. Whether it be wild or stocked. Trout are not fickle, fly sipping dainty fish. They are slamming, hulking, baitfish devouring machines.
We have unique conditions out here, mostly because we have NO PELAGIC BAITFISH. Gamefish primarly eat other gamefish.

Tyler

[shrub]

[quote author=JigAwhopper link=topic=3491.msg25413#msg25413 date=10874069  I think that anti-pike attitude is just as widely spread in NE states like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  They're in love with their trout.   I personally would rather catch one pike than 5 trout any day!,   

I dont think vermont has that kind of attitude in know they have to be 20 inches to keep,but i dont know the bag limit, i never keep any pike any way

[Hood]

I can see why pike are shun in bodies of water that trout inhabit. I will defend both species by saying that if both species are naturally present in a body of water then they have been able to co-exist without interruption, they both belong there. The thing is that trout are a coldwater species and pike are warmwater, pike are far more adaptable to trout waters than trout are to pike waters. I believe the most trouble stems from the introdution of pike into premier trout waters where the trout serve as an excellent food source for a developing population of pike. Back to the main topic of the thread, Pike ARE a premier gamefish and are a blast to catch, they fight hard, jump, and are usually aggressive. There are many natural pike waters that could hold a population of trout. They are both tremendous fish that should be equally respected.

[TroutFishingBear]

I agree with you hood. The thing that really ticks me off though is that in warmwater fisheries, which are few and far between in colorado, that have pike, smallmouth, catfish, etc, and are too warm for trout, our wildlife management still tries to make it a catchable trout fishery Meaning they will suggest to kill all pike so a few people can catch a 10" mushy stocker.

[Mackdaddy21]

Pike and trout can coexist in most lakes. Here in CO, we have pike lakes that have lots of trophy trout. The trout just have to be able to grow large enough to where they are save from all but the largest pike. Even 40" plus pike rarely take trout that are 14" or more. The thing is you can't let pike overpopulate and outcompete trout. If you keep the pike population at a healthy level, trout and pike can coexist and thrive.

Tyler

[troutbum]

In NY I can think of a number of lakes that have great trout and northern fisheries:

Lake George, Indian Lake, Sacandaga Res etc etc

It seems they coexisist rather nicely 

[archbishop]

i know in my favorite lake its not big like george or sacandaga but the trout and pike live fine together in it but the problem is when they dump 5,000 trout in there a year to the waiting pike i meen the people dumping get a kick out of it because they can see the pike sitting there its just annoying to think thats what part of my tax dollars go to