A short story about pike. Common pike: description and photo. We caught a pike - what next?

Pike is an ancient predator, common in Europe, Asia, and North America. This glutton eats everything, even ruffs and perches with spiny fins. In addition to fish, this predator can eat crayfish, worms, frogs, small ducks and other birds that land on the surface of the water. There is evidence that pike ate beavers, muskrats, and turtles. There are many interesting facts about this inhabitant of rivers and lakes.

Peculiarities

The pike has a huge toothed mouth, which when open is much larger than it seems - it expands to a greater width and is capable of swallowing prey that is even wider than itself.

The pike's teeth are somewhat bent back with hooks, there are many of them, they are arranged in several rows on the upper jaw. Such teeth perfectly capture, like a harpoon, and with their help the victim is pushed into the digestive system. Swallowing is done with the head inwards, making it more difficult for the victim to escape. But the mouth is still designed in such a way that the predator, if desired, can quickly push the victim out if something goes wrong during the eating process.

With a long, streamlined body controlled by powerful muscles, this predatory fish can swim upstream with fast mountain fish, jumping onto low rapids.

With good nutrition, pike grow up to 70 centimeters in the first year, then the fish increase in length by two centimeters annually. Pike are considered large when they reach a weight of 6 kilograms, but pikes weighing 20 kilograms are not at all uncommon.

Hunting

Speed ​​helps the pike to quickly attack from an ambush; it uses this, often hiding in the reeds and waiting for prey. Another trick is to drive small fish onto the shallows, where the pike has an advantage, since when hunting you don’t have to wag up and down, but only on the sides. And the fish run away to shallower water, thinking that it will be more difficult for a large predator to swim there. These features are used by fishermen, luring predatory fish with spoons near the reeds or from the depths to the shallows.

Another feature that helps in hunting is its excellent camouflage. The surface is spotted, there are stripes on the sides (emerald green color predominates), the belly is light. This is a kind of chameleon of reservoirs, since the color depends on the habitat - if the pike spends a lot of time in a peat bog, in a hole or under roots and underwater branches, it is dark brown. If the lake is shallow and the bottom is sandy, the fish take on a green color, which often becomes closer to yellow. In fast-flowing rivers, pike are blue and have bright colors.

Individuals that live in rivers and lakes differ from each other - those that live in the river are longer with a thinner body. There are also bottom pikes that live in bottom river and lake holes; they are thicker than grass pikes - pikes that live between algae near the shore. Grass grasses with a meter length weigh about three kilograms, bottom ones with the same length can reach ten or more kilograms. The type of pike also differs depending on gender - males are smaller than females of the same age.

Pike can hunt at a length of about one centimeter - their prey is the larvae of carp fish, which spawn immediately after the pike. After five centimeters, pike no longer hunt larvae, but fry of other fish.

After floods, some pike remain in lakes, which have a connection with the river only when the water rises. Such individuals can eat all the fish in the lake, after which they can even resort to cannibalism by eating other pike. It happens that pikes remain the only fish in lakes, since all other species have been eaten; pikes even eat crayfish and snails, filling their stomachs with heavy food so much that it is difficult for them to move. Such individuals can be small in size, even half the size of their relatives, who eat better.

Longevity

In 1230, the German Emperor Frederick II personally caught a large pike three meters long, it weighed about 70 kilograms. The fish was given a gold ring and released into the lake. In the same lake, near the German city of Helboron, she was caught 267 years later; in two and a half centuries she grew to a length of 570 centimeters, weighing 140 kilograms. The pike was white, probably due to age, and was released back into the lake.

Another interesting fact is known that confirms the longevity of pike - at the beginning of the 17th century, Russian Tsar Boris Godunov ringed the pike with a gold ring, which was attached to the gills. Almost 200 years later, a pike was caught in the Tsaritsin ponds; it was two and a half meters long. We learned about Boris Godunov's experiment from the engraving on the gill ring. These facts should not be mistrusted, but scientists say that pike do not live more than 33 years. The largest documented pike in Russia was caught in Lake Ilmen in 1930. Although there were specimens weighing over 45 kilograms in the CIS, these records were not documented.

Over the course of a long life, pikes gain experience and, acquiring large sizes, look for larger victims. They may well eat small ducks, muskrats and other waterfowl. Individuals several meters long are capable of eating larger mammals, such as dogs, although such cases are unknown. It is also unknown whether a five-meter individual is capable of attacking a person, but, as we know, this predator eats everything, so the danger to people is quite real, because this fish attacks victims who can be equal in size to it, and objects of hunting that are 3 in size /4 of the size of pike - common prey.

Spawning

Pike lay eggs in early spring, as soon as the ice melts. The fish spawns at a depth of up to one meter close to the shore, creating noise by splashing. Males become adults at the age of four years, females at the age of five years.

At first, small pikes spawn, then larger ones, and the largest pikes come last to lay eggs. Moreover, females swim in front, and several males swim behind her, this is clearly visible from the water from above, since spawning takes place in shallow water.

When pikes lay eggs, they are very restless - they rub against reeds, tree roots, bush branches, and lay eggs not in one place, but in different ones. Males can jump out of the water. Since pike lay their eggs in shallow water, they may die if the lake is drained of water or the water level simply drops sharply.

Pike not only act as hunters, they are also hunted by otters, different types of eagles and falcons, and fry are eaten by perches and catfish. A dangerous predator is also a person who hunts for tasty fish meat, which has few bones and fat.

We thought for a long time about what to write the first article in the “Fishing” section and unanimously decided: of course, about pike. Few anglers will remember their first rudd or perch, but the first pike caught will be remembered for a lifetime and will be constantly remembered in fishing stories, increasing in size over time. So - all about pikes and how to catch this toothy, but very tasty, monster - read on.

A little description and living conditions of pikes

Pike is one of the most common omnivorous predators in fresh water bodies on all continents. But we will tell in detail only about those species that live with us. This fish is distinguished by its exceptional gluttony - it eats everything that moves: fish even much larger than itself, including spiny perches with ruffs. Sometimes prey swallowed by a pike partially sticks out of its mouth for several hours while the swallowed part is digested. At this time, the pike lies on the bottom and gradually pushes the prey into the stomach. It happened that pikes could not overcome their prey and died from suffocation. Does not disdain frogs, crayfish, worms, and successfully catches. Split turtle shells, muskrat and beaver fur were also found in pike stomachs.

The mouth of this predator is huge and opens all the way to the gill covers, plus it is all lined with sharp teeth.

By the way, its teeth are not intended for chewing, but only for capturing, holding and pushing into the stomach. In this case, the pike always turns the victim head first, thereby depriving it of the slightest chance of escape. At the same time, the predator itself can voluntarily throw the prey out of the stomach in one movement.

The pike's body is elongated, like a bar, and very strong. Pike moves so fast that it can move upstream through rapids just like salmon.

The color of pikes is spotted with stripes, the back is dark and the belly is light, the sides are most often emerald green, with multi-colored spots. The color of pike depends on the body of water in which it lives: in peat bogs, as well as those that live in pits and under snags, pike are dark brown, in shallow lakes with a sandy bottom - green and green-yellow, and in fast rivers the fish acquires bright blue color.

River pike are always more elongated and thinner, and their weight is significantly lower than lake pike. There is also another classification of pike: bottom and grass.

The first live at the bottom and in the pits of reservoirs without a channel. Their body is thick and short - such pikes are also called stumps. They have a lot of weight in comparison with herbaceous plants, which live more in coastal zones, among vegetation. These pikes are thin, long, brightly colored and light in weight. A meter-long grass pike weighs about 3 kg, while bottom pike can reach 10-16 kg. Moreover, males are always much smaller than females at the same age.

Armored pike - lives in southern countries

Another way to classify pikes is by weight:

• small - up to 2 kg;
• average - 2-4 kg;
• large 4-10 kg;
• more than 10 kg - trophy.

The largest pike ever caught is the pike personally caught by Emperor Frederick II Barbarossa in 1230. Then it had a length of just over 3 meters (there was no such unit of measurement yet) and weighed more than 70 kg. The fish were ringed and released back in the vicinity of the city of Helboron. This fish was caught in the same place with a seine 267 (!) years later. At this time, its length was 5.7 m, and its weight reached 140 kg. Due to old age, the fish was completely white. It was released into the same lake again, but the record-breaking pike never caught the eye of people again. Who knows, maybe he still lives there!

Scientists have not yet come to a consensus regarding the life expectancy of pikes. Another known fact: at the end of the 18th century, by order of the tsar, the Tsaritsyn ponds were cleaned. A pike a fathom long (2.48 m) with a golden ring in its gills was caught. The ring was engraved with an inscription that it was placed by Tsar Boris Godunov. As you know, Godunov died in 1605, which means that the pike lived at least 200 years.

Pike fishing seasons

Every fisherman knows that pike is a solitary fish, that it loves bodies of water with weak currents, stays close to vegetation, loves holes and snags.

Young pike actively hunt from the very first days, often their prey is much larger than themselves. By the end of the first year of life, the young reach up to 40 cm and weigh up to 1 kg. In large lakes, up to several dozen pikes up to a meter long and weighing up to 15 kg can be caught in one season.

The best time to catch pike is in spring and autumn.

After the spring floods have subsided, the pike spawns and after a short rest (called pain), it begins to eat to restore strength. The predator rushes at everything that comes into its field of vision and takes any bait, rarely leaving. In spring, the bite continues throughout the daylight hours. At night the pike sleeps. The most catchy places are shallows and coastal vegetation - there the water warms up faster and the entire “pike menu” actively feeds and warms up there. And fishing is especially successful on warm, cloudy days.

In the fall, sensing the approach of hungry months, the fish begins to stock up on fat. Although in the fall the bite is not so intense, and the pike stays more at depth, where small fish go for the winter.

But autumn fishing is much more interesting and exciting. Moreover, the pike have eaten well over the summer, are very energetic, and actively resist. And fish meat is much tastier.

But in the summer, pike take extremely inconsistently - sometimes they take, then they don’t take at all without any obvious reasons. And in the summer the predator takes it unreliably and in most cases only clings with the lower lip along the very edge and often gets off the hook. The best time is from noon to 16:00.

In summer, predators move towards the thickets of water lilies, lotus and water chestnut thickets, since all the small fish and fish are kept here. At this time, literally in the very shallows you can see huge pikes weighing 10-15 kg, warming their sides. If you successfully cast a spoon or wobbler, a snag may occur when it hits the water.

How to catch pike

There are many ways to catch pike - spinning, fishing rods, using a circle and ordinary fishing rods.

For mugs live bait is baited - small perch, ruffs, roach, crucian carp. You need to remember what kind of baitfish is “successful” in this place. When fishing with a circle, live bait is lowered half a meter from the bottom. In summer it is better to fish at shallow depths closer to the shore or snags. When the circle turns over or starts spinning quickly, you need to make a cut, carefully approaching the inversion.

If fish with a float rod, then it’s better to cast in a clean place, not far from the reeds and sedges, let the live bait go half-water. For these purposes, it is preferable to use a rod with rings, which allows you to cast the bait smoothly. In small rivers overgrown with algae, experienced fishermen use dead fish as bait. You have to go from top to bottom and fish all the shallows and pools.

Spinning pike fishing

The most common attachments for spinning fishing are wobblers and spoons.

In turn, spoons are divided into oscillating and rotating. Both species are good for pike. It must be borne in mind that spinning ones sink more slowly and are preferable to use in fast currents and in grass.

Wobblers are synthetic fish that imitate the behavior of fry. They are divided into floating and sinking. Floating ones are used for fishing in the upper layers of water (no deeper than 2 m), and sinking ones quickly sink to depth. The optimal size of a wobbler is 7-12 cm. You can take 4-6 cm, but then the chances of catching will be much less. And there is no need to be afraid that young pike will not be able to take such large baits - they will be able to!

Nowadays a huge number of different techniques have been invented for catching pike with a spinning rod - this includes twitching, jig, and different types of fishing. More about this in the following articles. And now - about real fishing happiness - a big catch.

Catching trophy pike

For big fishing, you need to prepare and tune in accordingly. Firstly, large pike are attracted by large bait and the most successful ones today are real silicone monsters up to 25 cm long! A small thing will not bother you, but a pike weighing 7-8 kg will definitely be interested in what appeared there. For such a large bait, the “track” fishing method is best suited. This is when the boat is driven by a motor, and 2-3 baits are pulled behind it at a distance, at a slow speed.

The peculiarity of the pike is that after an unsuccessful hook, it does not hide in the depths and does not swim away, but returns to its parking place.

Therefore, it is necessary to catch potential places where a predator can sit in ambush many times. If the pike misses, nothing happens. We must try again and again to throw closer and closer to her and slowly tease her. The fish will not stand it and will definitely get caught.

But the pike never goes for it, although it may take a chance from ten meters away. There were cases when the fish even jumped out of the water, trying to catch the outgoing bait.

Pike "circus tricks"

Fishing for a large pike is the ultimate fishing happiness. Here is a predator sitting in ambush and here in front of its nose such a seductive wobbler wags its tail. Instantly the fish transforms, every movement is precise and swift. After a fantastic breakthrough comes truly. Almost always the fish is still moving by inertia and this can deceive an inexperienced fisherman - he does not hook in time. During this time, the smart fish realizes that it is in trouble and simply spits out the prey.

Therefore, the hook must be done immediately upon impact and very energetically, because the pike’s mouth is very bony, hard and can only be penetrated with great effort.

After hooking, no sudden movements, because this is a guaranteed wire break. The pike is very inventive and uses, one after another, a whole series of clever ways to escape. First, she begins to spin intensively in place, twitching strongly and briefly, trying to break the line with strong movements away from the fisherman.

Then the fish rises up and lies down tiredly on the water. The fisherman, anticipating that she has already given up, begins to pull her in, the fish suddenly rushes into the depths. And from there it suddenly flies into the air to a height of up to a meter, and in the fall, with a flip and a sharp blow of its tail, it tries to break off the vein. This is the famous pike “candle”. At this moment, the main thing is that the line is not stretched. Otherwise it will definitely break. You need to give the fish some freedom. Another trick used by large pikes is shaking, when the fish stands on its tail and shakes its head vigorously. This is a really effective method - in half the cases large fish manage to free themselves from the hook.

If this does not help, the predator takes its last and also often successful chance close to the shore - it tries to wind the fishing line around a snag or any other obstacle - the bottom of a boat, a bush.

With a boat, the option is disastrous - there is no chance of keeping the fish. But most often you have to climb into the water to get to the snag. Another option is that a large pike allows itself to be pulled to the shore, pretending to be half-fainting, but at the last minute it suddenly turns around and breaks the line. Only a hook or a strong landing net can save the situation.

You caught a pike - what next?

And then you must first remove the trophy from the hook using a medical clamp. Pike's teeth are very sharp, and wounds take a long time to heal. Next, we advise you to conduct a photo shoot, so a camera or mobile phone camera will be just right. To make the fish look bigger, you need to open its mouth with twigs and put pebbles in the gills. You need to shoot with the camera close to the mouth, and hold the fish at arm's length.

It is better to keep the catch on a kukan in running water. If you have to cut a pike, you need to remove the head and fins and immediately sprinkle the unwashed one (this is a must!) with salt and put it in a bag with nettles or mint. In this form, you can give the head to a taxidermist and he will make you a real monster.

Video master class from Alexey Shanin on pike fishing

Video on how to catch pike in the thickets

Video on how to catch pike with mugs

And it belongs to the class of bony fish.

Habitat

It lives in the waters of Eurasia and North America. These could be rivers, ponds, lakes. It prefers a coastline with rich aquatic vegetation, preferably the presence of stones and snags, in which it likes to hide.

Appearance

The fish can reach one and a half meters in length and weigh 45 kg. She has a long, strong body, a large head with a clearly protruded lower jaw. The scales of the fish perfectly camouflage the predator among the algae and make it almost invisible. The belly is white, and the sides and back are green-gray with brown speckles.

Depending on the habitat of the individual, the color of the fish can take on shades: yellow-green or gray-yellow back. The pelvic and pectoral fins are yellow-orange, the rest are brown-yellow with dark spots. The mouth is large, the teeth are sharp and dangerous. On the lower jaw, teeth are constantly replaced by new ones throughout its life.

Nutrition

It feeds on various fish, amphibians, and insects. May attack small waterfowl and their chicks. In times of hunger, it can eat its own relative, only smaller than itself.

Most often, the hunter waits in ambush, hiding among algae or snags, waiting for the victim, then pounces, grabbing it with her teeth. It always swallows food head first; if, say, a fish is positioned with its tail to the pike’s mouth, then it will definitely intercept it in the right order - head to head to the predator’s head.

Spawning

They go to spawn early in the spring, as soon as the ice melts on the water. The female is surrounded by several males, they splash noisily in the shallow water, beat their tails, and jump out of the water. At this time, they do not eat anything and become vulnerable themselves; pikes can be caught almost with your bare hands. The female will lay from 15 to 210 thousand eggs, scattering them widely in the water. They settle on algae leaves or on the bottom. After a week or two, the larvae, 7.5 mm long, appear, and as soon as they gain the ability to feed on their own, they immediately get to work.

They feed on the larvae of other fish and small crustaceans. When they grow to 5 cm in length, they hunt for fish fry. What can you do, predators. It eats a lot, grows quickly, and at the age of 4 months, the fry reaches a body length of 25 cm. In general, pikes benefit the reservoir in which they live; they are orderlies, eating sick and weak fish. After all, everyone knows that in the struggle for survival the strongest wins.

Pike- a fish belonging to the pike family. It has become widespread in fresh water bodies of North America and Eurasia. Prefers coastal zones of reservoirs, aquatic thickets, stagnant or weakly flowing waters. Rarely, it is found in desalinated parts of seas such as the Finnish, Curonian and Riga bays of the Baltic Sea and in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of ​​Azov. Pike tolerates acidic water quite calmly and can live quite calmly in reservoirs with a pH of 4.75. When the oxygen content in a reservoir drops to 3.0-2.0 mg/liter, the pike experiences respiratory depression, which is why it often dies in some stagnant reservoirs.

Appearance of Pike.

The length of the pike grows to an impressive 1.5 m, and reaches a weight of 35 kg (most often up to 1 m and 8 kg). Its body is torpedo-shaped, its head is large, and its mouth is wide. Its color is changeable, it depends on the environment of the fish: and it depends on the degree of development and nature of the vegetation. The color can be gray-brown, gray-greenish, gray-yellowish, the back of the pike is darker, its sides have large olive or brown spots that form transverse stripes. The unpaired fins are yellowish-gray, brown with dark spots; paired fins are orange. It feeds mainly on fish. In some reservoirs there are silver pike.
Males and females can be distinguished by the shape of the genital-urinary opening; in males it looks like a narrow elongated slit, colored the color of the womb, and in females it looks like an oval depression surrounded by a pink ridge.
The body of the pike has an arrow-shaped shape. Her head is elongated, her lower jaw protrudes significantly forward. The teeth located on the lower jaw of the pike are of different sizes; they serve to capture the prey. The teeth on the other bones of the oral cavity are slightly smaller, and all of them are directed with their tips into the pharynx and they are able to sink into the mucous membrane. This design of the jaws makes it easy to pass prey, and if it tries to escape, the pharyngeal teeth rise and confidently prevent this.

In pikes, the teeth of the lower jaw can change: the inner surface of the jaw is covered with soft tissue, under which there are 2-4 rows of replacement teeth; they are closely adjacent to each active tooth at the back, thereby forming a “dental family”. When a working tooth becomes unusable, an adjacent replacement tooth of the same family takes its place. Initially, such a tooth is soft and unstable, but over time it firmly grows to the jaw bone and becomes strong. Teeth do not change all at once. In some specific reservoirs, the pike's teeth begin to change rapidly during a certain season, at which time it stops hunting large prey, since the prey can easily escape from its mouth. Accordingly, fishing in such reservoirs is currently deteriorating.

Pike breeding.

Pike lifestyle and habits.

In reservoirs, pike prefers to stay in thickets of aquatic vegetation or carags. As a rule, there she stays motionless, hiding, waiting for her victim, and suddenly rushing at her. The pike swallows the caught fish, starting exclusively from the head - if the pike grabs it across the body, then it quickly turns the victim head first.
At the moment of attack, the pike orients itself both with the help of vision and thanks to the lateral line, the organs of which are quite well developed not only on the midline of the body, but also on the head.
The food items of adult individuals are quite diverse and more numerous species of fish, mainly: perch, roach, bream, ruffe, and silver bream. In rivers, the role of typical river fish in the diet of pike increases - such as minnow, gudgeon, sculpin goby, char, etc. In spring, pike eagerly feeds on toads. There have been cases when large pike have pulled ducklings under water, as well as rats, mice, squirrels and waders crossing rivers. Particularly large individuals of pike can attack an adult duck. In general, pike is capable of attacking very large fish, the weight and length of which reaches 50 - 65% of the weight and length of the predator.
The diet of medium-sized individuals, as a rule, is dominated by low-value and abundant fish; it is for this reason that pike is sometimes a very necessary component of rational fisheries in almost most lakes. Due to its absence, the number of small perch and ruffe instantly increases in the lakes.

The significance of pike for humans.

Pike is very often bred in pond farms. In France, for example, out of a pond area of ​​100 thousand hectares, more than 50 thousand of them are dedicated specifically to pike breeding.
Pike meat is not fatty, it contains approximately 2-3% fat and is dietary. The maximum age of pike currently caught commercially does not exceed 25 years. The catch of only a 33-year-old pike was reliably documented, and all stories about pikes of much older age are legends.
Among such stories there is one very popular one, the story of the “Heilborn pike”, which Emperor Frederick II personally caught in October 1230, he marked it with a golden ring and released it back into Lake Bjockingen near Heilbronn, and 267 years later it was caught :). And this pike grew to 570 centimeters and reached a weight of 140 kg. The spine of this pike was transferred to the Mannheim Cathedral for safekeeping.
Such a miracle story aroused the deep interest of the German natural philosopher Oken. Who began a detailed study of history and found that Frederick II at that time lived in Italy without a break and could not in any way mark a pike in the vastness of Germany with his ring. He also managed to study the spine of this miracle pike in Mannheim Cathedral. And as it was assumed, this was a falsification, it was made up of the vertebrae of several pikes.

Pike is a large predatory fish up to one and a half meters long. The fish has an elongated body and a large head. The main color is usually grayish, with a brown, yellow or green tint, the back is darker, and large greenish or brownish spots are scattered on the sides. Some reservoirs are inhabited by pikes with a silvery coloration. The fins are round in shape and colored orange, grayish-yellow and brownish.

Spreading

Pike live in fresh water bodies of Europe, North America and Asia. Sometimes these fish are found in sea bays with almost fresh water, for example, in some bays of the Baltic and Azov seas.

Pike prefer to settle in ponds with stagnant water, or in low-flowing reservoirs.

Lifestyle and nutrition of pikes

Pike is a predator. To catch its prey, it hides in the thickets of underwater plants, and, hiding there, motionless waits for an unwary fish. Seeing a suitable victim, the pike suddenly rushes at it, grabs it with its sharp teeth and swallows it whole.

Pike have a good appetite; they easily swallow fish up to half their own length. Most often, the prey of pike are perches, minnows, ruffs, roaches, bream and other fish. A hungry pike can also swallow another pike that is smaller than itself.

These predatory, voracious fish can also hunt other aquatic inhabitants - frogs, crayfish and even ducklings and adult ducks, and on occasion they can grab a rat, squirrel or mouse swimming across a pond.

Reproduction of pikes

At the beginning of spring, as soon as the ice on the pond melts, pike begin to spawn. To do this, they swim closer to the shore to a depth of about one meter. During spawning, one pike can lay up to 215 thousand eggs. The size of the eggs is quite large - approximately 3 mm in diameter. The eggs first stick to the stems and leaves of aquatic plants, and then gradually settle to the bottom - where their subsequent development occurs.

It takes from 8 days to two weeks for the larva to emerge from the egg. After this period is completed, tiny larvae are born, approximately 7 mm long. They gradually grow and at first feed on small crustaceans, and then, when they reach a length of 5 cm, they switch to another type of food - they begin to hunt fry of other fish.

• Pike is a valuable commercial fish. They catch it using a spinning rod.
• There are known cases of catching pikes whose weight exceeded 40 kg.
• Pike is the heroine of many fairy tales and stories.

Brief information about pike.