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

I think pike are eating larger fish when smaller preferred fish are scarce and similar to what Dwight mentioned. Dwight didn't say that big pike eat only small fish:
""NP that are approaching 30" and ones larger than that are more interested in smaller easy to swallow and digest prey. They are interested in the most food for the least effort. My comments assume that you have an abundance of available prey for the large NP. If not, they will up size their prey preference rather than go hungry.""
Researchers studying pike predation behavior also tend to agree with Dwight's conclusion. This pike predatory behavior is also reinforced by anglers regularly catching his large pike with small No8 hook red jigs fishing for panfish. Huge fish regularly eating a tiny jig during ice cover angling.

But I think as pike get larger the size of "small" prey also increases. Pike are also known to eat a lot of dead fish in winter, ice out conditions and probably at other times when dead fish are common. Opportunist feeding behavior.