Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Culling Pike

Thanks, Dwight, you are a gentleman and a scholar.

As far as spawning goes, I understand that pike spawn is impossible to predict and very spotty at most times. Given that they find weed beds and just spray and pray, so to speak, even if they found the right conditions to spawn, they might not actually do the deed.

Furthermore, since I have no idea the actual stocking numbers, i can't even say if i have both sexes in the pond. This is what happens when someone breaks your pond's rules....complete unpredictability.

When they were all over the pond and 20" long, they would bite anything, that is true. I had the best luck with buzzbaits, actually, although a good casting spoon was also a good move. Now that they have gotten bigger it is a little different. I got a few last year on rubber crawfish of all things, while site-fishing for bass.

They are really an impressive animal, now that i am remembering it. We could spot the bass from a mile away, and would cast into them from the rowboat. While drifting the craws around, letting the "pincers" flutter, all of a sudden you'd see a flash of light, and blam..you caught a pike.

The uber sneak-attack mega ambush thing is crazy. Like i said, you could see every other fish in a few yards of your lure, and somehow the pike figured out how to stay hidden until they thought it was lunchtime.

I sort of wish that me and the pike in dad's pond would have met under different circumstances. My pike killing spree has made me shed a tear for what used to be my favorite fish to target.

Then what little meat we get from them hits the frying pan alongside the BG and BC. that keeps it to a single tear.

Mike