Post by yihunt on Aug 17, 2009 13:10:45 GMT -4
Pike grow quickly and thrive deep in Pennsylvania waters
Sunday, August 16, 2009
By Deborah Weisberg, Special to the Post-Gazette
"We'd been trolling for a few hours and were talking about going ashore to eat lunch, but Howard wanted to make one more pass around a spot he really likes," said Moretti, who works as a carpenter. The men had been targeting muskies.
"You know that gut feeling thing I always talk about?" Wagner said. "Well, I had the boat pointed toward camp and Gary was getting up to reel in his line when that feeling hit me. I said, 'If you guys don't care, I'd like to go a quarter mile to this drop-off on a major point. It looks like an ideal place for a big fish to lie, and I'd hate to go in without giving it a shot.' "
So, the three motored to a flat that dropped off to deep water and began trolling at 3-4 mph, running Moretti's 14-inch plug -- a Legend Plough in dark sucker pattern -- about 25 feet deep and 75 feet behind the boat.
"The sky was clouding up and the atmosphere was heavy. It felt like an evening storm was kicking up," Wagner said. "It was around 2 p.m., which is prime time for muskies, and evidently pike, and that's when the fish laid that big pole right back down into the water."
"I thought we had a muskie," said Moretti, who began shaking with excitement. "But Howard knew it was a pike."
The fish's head was so massive, its mouth covered most of the lure, Wagner said.
"It was a big plug and there wasn't much of it sticking out on either side. When I saw the head, I knew the rest of the fish was big, too."
It came to the surface, then dived back down, before Moretti reeled it in.
"I told Rex, 'You have one of the biggest pike that has ever come into my boat,' " said Wagner, who netted the fish quickly.
"Big fish stay deep. That's how they get big, by avoiding anglers. When you get one to the surface, they're momentarily dumbfounded, and that's when you should get them into the net. You never play a big fish like that because you don't want to stress it. You want to handle the fish as little as possible and get it released fast."
The following Monday, Moretti showed photos of the pike at a Moraine Musky Association meeting in Butler. Guest speaker Bob Lorantas, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's chief warmwater biologist, was impressed.
"It was robust, just a beautiful fish, with beautiful markings, but the most impressive thing about it was its girth," Lorantas said. "It was a wide-bodied, heavy-bodied northern pike, not slender like the pike I usually catch. And it was in excellent condition, a real specimen."
There was no bulge in the belly, indicating it had just consumed a big meal. Its body shape was a matter of genetics, Lorantas said.
Estimated at easily 25 pounds, it rivaled the five largest pike known to have been caught in Pennsylvania last year (www.fishandboat.com), but was stouter than any of those fish, whose girth ranged from 17 to 20 inches. Three of the five came from the Allegheny River watershed.
The state record pike also was caught in the same watershed. At 48 inches, 35 pounds, it was iced in the Allegheny Reservoir on New Year's Day, 2003.
The main reason fish grow big is that they avoid angler predation, although the right forage and thermal habitat are also key, Lorantas said.
"Pike aren't heavily targeted in Pennsylvania. And they may grow big a little more quickly here because we're in the southern-most part of their native range," he said. "Their metabolism and feeding activities are keyed to ambient water temperatures, and water here stays warmer longer than in Canada."
Pike in the Allegheny Reservoir also experience optimal temperatures in summer, which help them avoid warm-weather stress, Lorantas said.
"It stratifies, so cool water is available below the thermocline for pike and for the forage they consume during the hottest months of the year."
Thermocline is the water layer in a lake that separates warm surface temperatures from colder depths.
Pike and muskies are both members of the esocid family. Those over 28 inches don't forage often, but seldom turn down easy prey.
"They consume one big meal infrequently," Lorantas said. "A fish that size eats whatever it wants, but, typically, it's large, soft-rayed fish like a sucker or two or a carp. Of course, a lure, by its very name, can be enticing. If it simulates an injured fish, the pike will find it attractive, even if it's not actively foraging."
The same habitat that lets pike ambush prey also gives it cover from anglers, Lorantas said.
"Are there unique nooks and crannies [in the Allegheny River watershed] that let a fish avoid capture until it gets huge? There must be."
Wagner agreed that deep-water sanctuaries and vast stretches of undisturbed habitat help fish reach trophy size.
"Rex's pike figured out where to hide to avoid fishing pressure, and undoubtedly spent time in deep water holes somewhere," he said. "It just happened to show itself when we came along with the right presentation. It'll probably never be caught again."
First published on August 16, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sunday, August 16, 2009
By Deborah Weisberg, Special to the Post-Gazette
"We'd been trolling for a few hours and were talking about going ashore to eat lunch, but Howard wanted to make one more pass around a spot he really likes," said Moretti, who works as a carpenter. The men had been targeting muskies.
"You know that gut feeling thing I always talk about?" Wagner said. "Well, I had the boat pointed toward camp and Gary was getting up to reel in his line when that feeling hit me. I said, 'If you guys don't care, I'd like to go a quarter mile to this drop-off on a major point. It looks like an ideal place for a big fish to lie, and I'd hate to go in without giving it a shot.' "
So, the three motored to a flat that dropped off to deep water and began trolling at 3-4 mph, running Moretti's 14-inch plug -- a Legend Plough in dark sucker pattern -- about 25 feet deep and 75 feet behind the boat.
"The sky was clouding up and the atmosphere was heavy. It felt like an evening storm was kicking up," Wagner said. "It was around 2 p.m., which is prime time for muskies, and evidently pike, and that's when the fish laid that big pole right back down into the water."
"I thought we had a muskie," said Moretti, who began shaking with excitement. "But Howard knew it was a pike."
The fish's head was so massive, its mouth covered most of the lure, Wagner said.
"It was a big plug and there wasn't much of it sticking out on either side. When I saw the head, I knew the rest of the fish was big, too."
It came to the surface, then dived back down, before Moretti reeled it in.
"I told Rex, 'You have one of the biggest pike that has ever come into my boat,' " said Wagner, who netted the fish quickly.
"Big fish stay deep. That's how they get big, by avoiding anglers. When you get one to the surface, they're momentarily dumbfounded, and that's when you should get them into the net. You never play a big fish like that because you don't want to stress it. You want to handle the fish as little as possible and get it released fast."
The following Monday, Moretti showed photos of the pike at a Moraine Musky Association meeting in Butler. Guest speaker Bob Lorantas, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's chief warmwater biologist, was impressed.
"It was robust, just a beautiful fish, with beautiful markings, but the most impressive thing about it was its girth," Lorantas said. "It was a wide-bodied, heavy-bodied northern pike, not slender like the pike I usually catch. And it was in excellent condition, a real specimen."
There was no bulge in the belly, indicating it had just consumed a big meal. Its body shape was a matter of genetics, Lorantas said.
Estimated at easily 25 pounds, it rivaled the five largest pike known to have been caught in Pennsylvania last year (www.fishandboat.com), but was stouter than any of those fish, whose girth ranged from 17 to 20 inches. Three of the five came from the Allegheny River watershed.
The state record pike also was caught in the same watershed. At 48 inches, 35 pounds, it was iced in the Allegheny Reservoir on New Year's Day, 2003.
The main reason fish grow big is that they avoid angler predation, although the right forage and thermal habitat are also key, Lorantas said.
"Pike aren't heavily targeted in Pennsylvania. And they may grow big a little more quickly here because we're in the southern-most part of their native range," he said. "Their metabolism and feeding activities are keyed to ambient water temperatures, and water here stays warmer longer than in Canada."
Pike in the Allegheny Reservoir also experience optimal temperatures in summer, which help them avoid warm-weather stress, Lorantas said.
"It stratifies, so cool water is available below the thermocline for pike and for the forage they consume during the hottest months of the year."
Thermocline is the water layer in a lake that separates warm surface temperatures from colder depths.
Pike and muskies are both members of the esocid family. Those over 28 inches don't forage often, but seldom turn down easy prey.
"They consume one big meal infrequently," Lorantas said. "A fish that size eats whatever it wants, but, typically, it's large, soft-rayed fish like a sucker or two or a carp. Of course, a lure, by its very name, can be enticing. If it simulates an injured fish, the pike will find it attractive, even if it's not actively foraging."
The same habitat that lets pike ambush prey also gives it cover from anglers, Lorantas said.
"Are there unique nooks and crannies [in the Allegheny River watershed] that let a fish avoid capture until it gets huge? There must be."
Wagner agreed that deep-water sanctuaries and vast stretches of undisturbed habitat help fish reach trophy size.
"Rex's pike figured out where to hide to avoid fishing pressure, and undoubtedly spent time in deep water holes somewhere," he said. "It just happened to show itself when we came along with the right presentation. It'll probably never be caught again."
First published on August 16, 2009 at 12:00 am