What pike eats

There are more than enough predators in the northern hemisphere, the favorite trophy of many fishermen is the pike, they catch it both in Eurasia and in North America with the same success .. There are several ways to catch a toothy predator, each of which is based on feeding habits. For successful fishing, it is important to know what the pike eats in the pond, the range of lures offered depends on this.

Pike features

In the fresh waters of the northern hemisphere, including in the bays of the Baltic and Azov seas, anglers are happy to catch pike. The predator can grow up to one and a half meters in size, while its weight will be about 35 kg. Such giants are extremely rare, options up to a meter in length with a weight of 7-10 kg are considered trophy, but it is not easy to pull them out either.

It is easy to distinguish a pike from other representatives of the ichthyofauna, it bears little resemblance to its compatriots. Body color may vary depending on the characteristics of the reservoir, there are individuals with this color:

• grayish;
• greenish;
• brown

In this case, spots and stripes of light color will always be present throughout the body.

A distinctive feature of the pike is the shape of the body, it resembles a torpedo. The head is also elongated, the mouth is powerful with many small teeth that can bite through many materials.

The teeth of the pike are constantly updated, the old ones fall out, and the young ones grow very quickly.

Ichthyologists distinguish between two main types of pike that live in our reservoirs, anglers with experience will also name the main differences.

The places of parking of predators rarely change, usually they are easy to find both in winter and in summer in the same place.

Spawning takes place in different ways, the first to spawn are small individuals who have reached puberty, that is, those who are 4 years old. With one female, 3-4 males go to the place of laying eggs, and if the pike is large, the number of suitors can reach eight. Places for this are chosen quiet with a lot of vegetation. The development of eggs lasts from 7 to 15 days, it directly depends on the temperature of the water in the reservoir. The hatched fry cannot be stopped further, for the first few weeks they will feed on crustaceans. One and a half centimeter pike will not lose sight of fry and crucian caviar, will not disdain carp in this form. The next life cycle will present the pike as a full-fledged predator, there will be no rest in the reservoir for anyone.

What do they eat in nature?

Everyone probably knows what a pike eats, she is happy to drive any ichthy inhabitant from a reservoir. The basis of the diet is all types of fish that are in a particular water area and not only. It has been noticed that she prefers fish with an elongated body, round individuals are of little interest to her.

The pike will not pass by:

• roaches;
• bleak;
• rudd;
• chub;
• dace;
• crucian carp;
• perch;
• rattan;
• sandblaster;
• minnow;
• bull;
• ruff.

But this is far from a complete diet, sometimes she hunts animals. In the mouth of a pike it can easily be:

• frog;
• mouse;
• rat;
• squirrel;
• precipitated;
• crayfish;
• Coolies.

And it is not at all necessary that the victim be small, the predator can easily cope with a medium-sized individual.

The diet of young animals

The fry that have just hatched from the eggs are about 7 mm long. During this period, they will actively consume crustaceans from the reservoir, namely daphnia and cyclops. Such food will allow them to grow and develop quickly enough.

When the fry grows twice, its diet will change radically, the small inhabitants of the water area will be of little interest to it. During this period, pike babies are actively chasing newly hatched crucians and carps, haunting perch.

Cannibalism

What does a pike eat when it grows up? Here her preferences are very wide, in addition to peaceful species of fish, she will not give rest to her smaller brothers. Cannibalism for pike is the norm of life, there are lakes in Alaska and the Kola Peninsula, where, apart from pike, there are no more fish, the predator grows and develops there by eating its fellow tribesmen.

Does it eat algae

Many are misled by the name “grass pike”, some think that the predator consumes algae from the reservoir. This is not at all the case, it is primarily a predator and the basis of its nutrition are fish. She does not eat grass and algae at all, unless she accidentally swallows with a fast moving fish.

Habitat and hunting features

You can find a toothy predator in many freshwater reservoirs. It will grow and multiply in lakes, ponds, rivers. Reservoirs are also a good haven for a predator, the main thing is that there is enough oxygen throughout the year. If this important element is not enough, it is likely that in winter the pike under the ice will simply suffocate.

Anglers with experience know where to look for a toothy resident, her favorite places are:

• eyebrows;
• along the riverbed
• bottom pits and depressions;
• a drifter;
• hydraulic structures;
• water thickets;
• large objects accidentally falling into the water.

It is here that the toothy will stand in ambush, waiting for the movement of a small fish. It is easy to determine the location of the pike in an unfamiliar reservoir; fry of peaceful fish species periodically scatter in different directions from the pike in open water.

To hunt mainly in the places of its parking, it becomes so that it can see what is happening immediately behind the observation post. Often, the wounded inhabitants of the reservoir become its prey, but not only. Large individuals during the period of post-spawning zhora and in the fall are able to eat prey only 1/3 less than themselves.

Pike, bream, silver bream and sopa are practically not interested in pike because of the shape of their body, these types of fish are more round.

What the pike eats in the reservoir found out, its diet is diverse and changes throughout life. However, from birth, she is a predator and never changes this rule.