subject: Fishing For Pike While On Vacation In Alaska [print this page] If you are going on vacation to Alaska, you cannot miss out on the absolutely breathtaking mountain and meadow scenery-this is best taken in while fishing! Fishing is one of the most fun and peaceful pastimes while in this beautiful state.
If you are going to fish, Pikes are a fun fish to catch. Radio-tracking studies done in Alaska and Canada show that pike tend to remain within 300 yards of shore during both summer and winter months.
They seem to move more in winter than in summer, but in the summer, the fish usually remain within 200 yards of where they were the day before. The studies show that northern pike prefer weedy areas and depths of less than 15 feet, are more active during daylight hours and occupy deeper areas during sunny periods than during dark or cloudy intervals.
They are usually found in deeper locations during stormy and windy periods and during the warmest summer days. Overwintering areas are located in main river channels of the Tolovana, Chatanika, and Tanana rivers, not in the shallow lake complexes where oxygen concentrations during the winter are extremely low.
After break-up, and even before complete iceout in the lakes, the fish migrate in large numbers from overwintering areas to spawn or feed in the lakes. Northern pike in Alaska grow more slowly and reach sexual maturity at older ages than more southerly populations, however, the size at maturity is about the same.
Alaska's fish generally live about a third longer (15+ years versus 10+ years) than do those in midwestern states and southern Canada, probably due to lower mortality rates and slower growth at higher latitudes. Since 1985, variability in abundance and age composition for all populations of northern pike have been studied.
This variability is caused by several factors, not all of which are fully understood. For example, abundance of newly-mature fish (16-22 inches) and their subsequent survival rates have profound effects upon annual abundance and composition of the populations, yet we does not know what causes the variation in abundance and survival rates.
Anglers, by harvesting selected sizes and ages of northern pike, may produce further changes to populations. Total annual mortality of mature northern pike studied has ranged from 20 to 70 percent.
A portion of this mortality is due to fishing harvest. Although natural mortality cannot be controlled, it is a goal to limit fishing mortality to no more than about 15 percent of the population of mature fish, so that total annual mortality does not exceed 50 percent of mature pike.
This approach should protect our pike populations by limiting mortality to conservative levels that will result in desirable levels of abundance and age and size composition. Improved fishing opportunities for larger and older fish should result.
Catch and Release fishing is becoming more popular each year as anglers realize this conservation measure must be utilized if the fisheries are to remain healthy. In 1997, anglers fishing the Yukon-Kuskokwim-Tanana River drainages caught 60,220 northern pike and released 51,345 of these fish.
Their sportsmanship is to be commended. Use large size barbless hooks when you plan to release fish.
Pliers can be used to pinch down barbs on conventional hooks. When you are about to land a fish, avoid removing it from the water; grasp the hook with long-nosed pliers and roll or back the hook out of the fish's mouth while not holding onto the fish unless absolutely necessary.
A net can be helpful at this time to contain the fish. They will frequently lunge when first handled, and large fish can easily break the line or injure the angler if such behavior is not expected.
Try to photograph fish while they are still in the water. Do not grasp pike by the eyes, as infection or blindness to the fish could result.
Instead, hold the fish by the tail and from behind the head and gill area. If the fish is hooked deeply and the lure cannot be removed safely, cut the leader close to the lure and release it.
Non-stainless hooks will eventually dissolve through rusting action leaving the fish unharmed. This is a peaceful experience you will not forget, as you connect with nature, and enjoy the peace of this beautiful wilderness.
