Northern pike

Quick facts

How to identify it

Unmistakable: an elongated, cylindrical body with the dorsal and anal fins set far back near the tail, a broad flattened snout like a duck's bill and a huge mouth lined with hundreds of backward-pointing teeth. The colouring is olive-green to brown with rows of pale yellow-white spots or bars along the flanks, giving perfect camouflage in weed. The fins are often mottled with dark spots and tinged orange. Sexes look alike, but the biggest fish are almost always females. Nothing else in European fresh water looks like a pike; the only confusion is with the marine garfish, which shares the beak but is slim, silver and lives in the sea.

Where it lives

Pike live in almost every type of still and slow-moving water: lakes, ponds, gravel pits, reservoirs, canals, backwaters, wetlands and rivers from the lowlands up to the trout zone, and even brackish bays of the Baltic. They are visual ambush hunters that need cover – weed beds, reed and lily margins, sunken trees, drop-offs and the edges of prey-fish shoals. Small pike stay in the shallow weed; big fish patrol deeper edges, points and open water where they follow bream, roach and whitefish shoals. They tolerate cold and low oxygen but move deeper or into current in hot summer water. Clear water and healthy weed growth are the hallmarks of a good pike water.

Season and behaviour

Pike spawn early, from February to April in flooded meadows, shallow bays and weedy margins as the water warms to 4–12 °C, and most countries protect them with a spring closed season. The post-spawn weeks bring hungry but shy fish; summer pike are active in the weed at dawn and dusk but suffer if played hard in warm water. The classic season runs from September through the winter: as weed dies back and baitfish shoal up, pike feed heavily, and the largest females are caught from October to February in cold, clear water. Pike hunt by sight, so overcast, stable weather and a light ripple are ideal, and a change of light or a falling barometer often triggers a feeding spell.

Fishing methods

Lure fishing covers most situations: spoons, spinnerbaits and large spinners over weed, 10–20 cm soft plastics and swimbaits along drop-offs, jerkbaits and big crankbaits in open water, and topwater lures over shallow weed in summer. Fish slowly and pause often – pike follow and strike at the pause. Dead-baiting with a whole sea or coarse fish on a float or ledger rig is the most reliable way to a big winter pike, while fly fishing with large streamers is excellent in clear, shallow water. Whatever the method, use a wire or heavy fluorocarbon trace, a strong rod, an unhooking mat, long forceps and cutters, and strike early with baits to avoid deep hooking.

Baits and lures

Dead baits are the winter classic: whole roach, bleak, bream or smelt from the water itself, or oily sea baits such as mackerel, herring and sardine, which release scent in cold water. Live bait is deadly where still legal. Lures should be big, slow and visible: silver, white and natural roach or perch patterns in clear water; firetiger, chartreuse and orange in coloured water; black for dull days. Pike also react to noise and vibration, so rattling crankbaits and spinnerbaits excel in murky water. Large streamers in white, chartreuse and black are the fly angler's choice.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Always use a wire trace or a very heavy fluorocarbon leader – pike teeth cut ordinary line instantly.
2. 02Fish the edge of the weed, not the middle: pike lie in cover and attack what passes the edge.
3. 03Pause your lure near the boat or bank; many pike follow and only strike when the lure stops.
4. 04With dead baits, strike within seconds of a positive run to avoid deep hooking.
5. 05Carry long forceps, side cutters and an unhooking mat, and keep the fish wet and horizontal for a quick photo.
6. 06In hot summer water play pike hard and release quickly; big fish die from long fights in warm water.
7. 07After the first cold nights of autumn, move to deep edges and points near baitfish shoals.

Where to catch Northern pike

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Northern pike.

• Tisa
• Rumenački kanal
• Grauklingenbach
• Banjska reka
• Veliki bački kanal
• Ugrinovački kanal
• Devojka sa krčagom
• Tisa
• Tresetište
• Čik
• Čonopljansko jezero
• Akumulacija Svetićevo
• Hallingdalselve
• Begej
• Csertői halastó
• Begej
• Palićko jezero
• Kikindski Kanal
• Čik
• Kuka
• Lim
• Beli vir
• Narva jõgi - Narva
• Ločka Provala
• Majdan
• Rokov potok
• Veliki bački kanal
• Akumulacija Panonija
• Kanal Zlatica
• Šodroš

Related species

• Zander
  Sander lucioperca

  The low-light hunter of deep, murky rivers and reservoirs.

• European perch
  Perca fluviatilis

  The striped, bold-biting predator of every lake, river and canal in Europe.

• Wels catfish
  Silurus glanis

  Europe's biggest freshwater fish — a night-feeding giant of deep, slow rivers.

• Garfish
  Belone belone

  The green-boned, beaked acrobat of spring coasts and summer surfaces.

Frequently asked questions