Northern Pike - Esox lucius

Also known as: Great Northern Pickerel, Great Northern Pike, Jack, Jackfish

This is a holarctic species, meaning that it occurs around the world in northern, or Arctic waters. In North America it is found in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Labrador to Alaska and south to Pennsylvania, Missouri and Nebraska, USA.

Like the muskellunge, Esox masquinongy, and the pickerels, E. niger and E. americanus, it is a long, sleek, predatory fish with a broad, flat mouth resembling a duck’s bill and a single dorsal fin located on the posterior portion of the body. In body shape the members of the pike group are all identical, but the northern pike can be distinguished from its relatives by three main features. Most noticeably the greenish or yellowish sides of the fish are covered with lighter colored oblong horizontal spots or streaks, whereas all other species have darker markings than the background color. The second distinction is the scale pattern on the gill cover and cheek. In the northern pike the cheek is fully scaled, but the bottom half of the gill cover is scaleless. In the larger muskellunge, both the bottom half of the gill cover and the bottom half of the cheek are fully scaled. The third distinctive feature is the number of pores under each side of the lower jaw; usually 5 in the northern pike (rarely 3,4, or 6 on one side), 6-9 in the muskellunge (rarely 5 or 10 on one side), and 4 in the smaller pickerels (occasionally 3 or 5 on one side only).

It is considered a delicious food fish. The flesh is sweet, white and flaky, but sometimes has a muddy taste during the summer. This can be eliminated by removing the skin prior to cooking. It has considerable commercial value and is an excellent sport fish. Pike are usually taken by trolling with large spoons, plugs or natural baits, but casting and still fishing are also frequently successful.