Should I be worried about this species?

[Moto]

Hi! 

Today, I fished a lake that’s not too far from where I live, and it was the my first time fishing it. After a few casts I caught a small pike. I knew before hand that there were largemouth bass and trout, but I didn’t know that there were also pike. 

I did some research on pike and learned that they are very aggressive (this one bit a lure that was half it’s size) and are known to eat trout, small ducks, and even bass. 

If pike are in a lake, is that bad for the other species in the lake? What is stopping them from eating all the bass in the lake? 

I’m just curious because I came to that lake for bass fishing and I would like to know whether the fact that there are pike in the lake is a threat to the other species. 

If anyone knows a little about this topic, I would greatly appreciate it if you can tell me what you think. 

Thanks

[Bluebasser86]

Pike and bass coexist all across the country without issue, except for the unfortunate angler that loses an expensive bait to the toothy critters. Pike will eat bass, bass will eat pike, but neither is going to eat the other out of a body of water unless it just wasn't the right habitat for them to begin with. 

[Moto]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Pike and bass coexist all across the country without issue, except for the unfortunate angler that loses an expensive bait to the toothy critters. Pike will eat bass, bass will eat pike, but neither is going to eat the other out of a body of water unless it just wasn't the right habitat for them to begin with. 

But how well do pike (or bass for that matter) coexist with trout?

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, Mottel said:

But how well do pike (or bass for that matter) coexist with trout?

They all coexist in many bodies of water across the country without issue. Unless they have just suddenly shown up in the body of water you're fishing like someone has put them there illegally, I wouldn't be concerned. 

[MIbassyaker]

In waters near me with significant pike populations, the bass tend to be good-sized.

[flg2010]

11 hours ago, Mottel said:

Hi! 

Today, I fished a lake that’s not too far from where I live, and it was the my first time fishing it. After a few casts I caught a small pike. I knew before hand that there were largemouth bass and trout, but I didn’t know that there were also pike. 

I did some research on pike and learned that they are very aggressive (this one bit a lure that was half it’s size) and are known to eat trout, small ducks, and even bass. 

If pike are in a lake, is that bad for the other species in the lake? What is stopping them from eating all the bass in the lake? 

I’m just curious because I came to that lake for bass fishing and I would like to know whether the fact that there are pike in the lake is a threat to the other species. 

If anyone knows a little about this topic, I would greatly appreciate it if you can tell me what you think. 

Thanks

 

 

For sure Pike will kill a ton more bass then bass will Pike.  However I would be more worried if you see otters.  Otters will decimate bass... they have on the river I fish in.

 

 

[WRB]

Small Pike or average size Pickerel? The only thing you need to be concerned with is loosing your lures to the toothy fish.

Tom

[WRB]

Davis lake in Northern California went through a eradication program to remove Pike and all the fish from this lake before the Pike managed to spread down stream into the Feather River system. The Pike were considered a non-native invasive species by the locals who also consider LMB an invasive species.

Tom

[BubbaBassin’]

I wouldn’t be worried persay, but I would keep an eye out, pay attention to how many you see and how often, size etc, if they are seen more and more often, I would reccomend contacting a local wildlife official.

[Mbirdsley]

Northerns can wreck havoc on trout if there get to be to many of them in a lake or stream.  But,  I think this normally happens when they have been introduced some where the shouldn’t have been or some ecological changes occur in that body of water ie water temp rises over time, stream dedigration from banks being cleared of trees and brush, or water quality.  All of these ecological changes could be natural or man made. 

[NorthwestBasser]

We have lots of Pike and tiger muskie in our local lakes and rivers here. There is also tons of bass, perch, bluegill, trout, salmon, tench, Pike minnow, catfish, burbot... The list goes on. They can and will co exist just fine despite what some state wildlife agencies will tell you. What has me curious about your post is the size of the fish you caught. Did you catch a very juvenile northern Pike, or was it just a grass pickerel? That's the first question you need to ask yourself and find out, accurate identification.

[ww2farmer]

Pike are the best lake managers around. The lakes around here that have them in abundance have good populations of above average size largemouth bass, bluegills, and crappies. They are semi-ineffective at controlling yellow perch, you need walleye's and smallmouth to help with those.

 

The best thing I ever did to control dink bass and bluegills in one of the farm ponds I armchair managed years ago was slip a few pike in it. In a few years I ended up with a nice population of big bluegills, and 2-3lb bass, with occasional 4-5 lbers. Where as prior to the pike introduction, 10-12" stunted bass and really small bluegills were the norm, and a big bass from that pond was a skinny, big headed 3lber. By myself, I couldn't remove enough dinks to help, and I couldn't afford to buy the large amounts of shiners and/or other forage to get them to grow.

[B-Dozer]

Worry about trout and pike coexisting? Housatonic river has both w/o a problem.

Now, GE putting PCBs in the river, now that's a problem.