The northern pike is a welcomed species to many anglers.
Anglers appreciate the pike because of its similarities to the elusive muskellunge.
They are native to most watersheds in Ontario with the exception of Kawartha Lakes.
For those who manage the ecosystem in the Kawartha Lakes chain, the northern pike is about as welcomed as a cormorant.
Because of the similarities between pike and muskie, Mike Rawson, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources, says both species tend to seek the same spawning areas.
The pike have a competitive advantage because they spawn earlier in the year than muskies.
As a result, the fry, which have a fast growth rate, remain in the same vicinity where muskies spawn and can devour their fry once they’re hatched.
Muskie fry can be preyed on quickly, Rawson said.
Based on survey trap netting work they’ve carried out on Balsam Lake, Rawson said pike have inhabited this body of water over the past few years.
Their numbers though, appear to indicate they are growing.
“Two years ago we did a focus on Balsam Lake and last year did some netting,” he said. “In each of these surveys, we saw pike.
“Right now, pike are less abundant than muskies, but the studies show their abundance is increasing.”
With Balsam Lake being deeper than other lakes on the Kawartha system though, Rawson feels the problem of pike and muskies co-existing may not be as bad as what has taken place on Canal Lake.
With Canal Lake being relatively small and shallow in nature, he said pike have taken over a body of water that was once dominated by muskellunge.
“In Canal Lake, muskies are practically gone,” he said. “Since Balsam Lake is deeper, muskies can inhabit those areas whereas pike prefer shallower areas.”
To date, Rawson has not heard any reports of pike making further eastward progress into neighbouring Cameron or Sturgeon Lakes.
“But there’s nothing stopping them,” he warned.
Native to Lake Simcoe, the northern pike has begun an eastward encroachment over the past 20 years by first entering Canal Lake and then Mitchell Lake.
Rumoured to be in Balsam Lake, these fish are now inhabiting the highest body of water in elevation on the Trent-Severn waterways.
I can attest to that after catching one while fishing for largemouth bass.
Tossing a white spinnerbait into a shallow bay in which the largemouth live, I had what I thought was another one on the end of my line.
Feeling the fish had some fairly decent shoulders on it, I began to wonder either a big largemouth, decent-sized walleye or even a muskellunge was giving me a run for the money.
As the fish approached the boat, I could see it was a slender, skinny fish — presumably a small muskellunge.
But when it got near the boat, I could see it was different.
Light green with white spots covering the entire body, these were the markings of a northern pike that measured close to 18 inches in length.
Not a trophy by any standards, but it was a fish I had never seen in Balsam Lake since I began fishing here in the mid-1980s.
Earlier that day, my fishing partner, Bill Morrison, of Oshawa hooked a couple of fish that shook loose near the boat resembling small muskellunge or pike. Unfortunately, we couldn’t clearly identify them.
However, taking into account the one I landed was in an adjacent bay and the size was similar to the ones he lost, we figured the odds were likely they were pike.
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