Why no pike?

[billmac]

This question always kind of bugged me.  I grew up on a stretch of river, teeming with smallmouth, plenty of walleye, redhorse, shiners, eels, rock bass, and was known for producing big musky.  When I was a kid I fished that river constantly, spending practically every day in the summer on the water.  Bank fishing, boats, canoes, and wading.  Rapids, slow parts, rocks, weeds, wood.  Live bait and lures.  I regularly covered at least 5-6 miles of the river.  I never caught a pike. Not one.  Never hooked one, never saw one, never heard of anyone else catching one.  Up river ( about 20 miles) the river is practically infested with pike.  I always thought that was strange.  Any ideas?

[gim]

I can't comment on that specific river or section of river, but I regularly fish rivers here in MN during the summer months.

 

90% of what I target and catch are smallmouth bass in the river.  I run into an occasional pike, walleye, or rock bass.  I generally know where the pike are.  They do not like areas with swift or even moderate current.  They are in areas of slower current or backwater areas.   Depth also plays a role.  It has to be deeper.  I catch a lot of river smallmouth in less than a foot of water, but pike prefer it deeper.  Maybe current flow and/ore depth is playing a role in your situation too.

[TnRiver46]

Wildlife/fish populations always need good habitat. “Good habitat” is mainly about food with a little bit of reproduction mixed in. I didn’t study pike specifically in college because they don’t exist in TN but there’s something they eat and need to reproduce where you are seeing them. And the areas where you don’t catch them for decades must lack those two critical factors 

[gim]

41 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

And the areas where you don’t catch them for decades must lack those two critical factors 

 

They spawn in shallow weedy bays with minimal current and they eat...well just about anything.  But they mostly "prefer" small soft rayed fish like suckers.

[jimmyjoe]

   It's been my impression that pike always move UPriver. When they find an area that they like, they settle down there.

   What @gimruis said about deeper water may apply also. I catch pike in the Mississippi and its tributaries, and "deeper" water is usually out of my reach. (I'm a shorecaster.)      jj

        

[billmac]

I've caught tons of pike in shallow water.  In fact, I can only remember 1 pike I've ever caught deeper than 4 feet of water.

[Further North]

Musky are for more of a river fish than pike.

if you do find them sharing the same water, the pike will be in the off current, kinda "frog water" lookin' stuff.

Deeper is good, except when it isn't...you'll often find them shallow looking for food...and "deep" is relative on a river...if the average depth is a foot, a 4 ft., off current spot can easily hold a pike.

Pike also prefer colder water than musky do, that could be why they are up river.