Pike Behaviour

Part 2

Pike Behaviour

Understanding Predator Fish Behaviour

04/11/2015

The Esox Lucius, Northern Pike or simply Pike has to be one of the most targeted predator fish with lures and probably one of the most well documented predator fish; which is why I have decided to choose Pike Behaviour as my first predator fish to focus on.

If you have followed my other posts from a couple of weeks ago on being a Lure Fishing Learner I wanted to go back a few steps to try and better understand the behaviour of predator fish in order to help me become a better lure angler. The idea of this is not that I am going to become an expert over night on fish behaviour, more to try and key in on some real basic key knowledge that I can refer back to when I am out fishing. I had identified a few key questions to ask my self and as a reminder, here they are.

1. Where will the predator fish be on any body of water be it a Canal, river, lake or reservoir?
2. What are the predator fish most likely going to be feeding on?
3. What times are the predator fish most likely going to be feeding?
4. Are the predator fish likely to be actively feeding or lethargically feeding?
5. What factors will affect a predator fish feeding patterns for example spawning?
6. How does weather affect a predator fish's behaviours?

So to start my research on pike behaviour my first stop was to use google search to see what would come up and there was some interesting reading to be had but there were some really common themes. Best highlighted by the wikipedia entries that includes everything from average sizes and current IGFA record to the all important pike behaviour.  Reading through all the different articles and studies, I thought to myself that it would be unreasonable to think I would be able to refer back to it when I needed it on the water. It has become clear that I need to be able to condense the information down into something that I can refer back to that has a summary of the answers to my key questions.

I have created a table that I can put into a format which can be printed or saved on my phone for a quick reference guide. Over time It will evolve as my knowledge grows. I do think this is something that can be created with a bit of time and should be useful as a reminder of the basic questions that need answering.

In summary what I have learnt from reading the articles on the internet is this:

Pike are an aggressive predatory fish, relying on ambush tactics and short bursts of speed to hunt their food which consists mainly of  fish. They will spend most of their time following their food source and live in solitude for the most but can be found in groups when they are smaller. They are particularly active during autumn when they tend to have longer periods of active feeding in preparation for the winter months when their metabolism slows  down.

It will be interesting to see if some of this knowledge helps me out over the weekend when I head out to Pitsford with a mate in search of a few of these, especially as we are in the heart of Autumn.

I look forward to updating the information on Pike Behaviour as I learn more. I hope there is something that will help you too.