Cold Lake Alberta - Northern Pike

[dean1969]

I caught a 10lb 68cm(31in) northern pike today around 630pm using a smelt harness and smelt as bait nice fish, but i did everything take buta picture, I released the fish judging by the size and girth it was probably a female. According to my old fisheries text "freshwater fishes of canada" a northern pike that weight could on average shed90000 eggs, nothing wrong with sending one back down the hole. catch and release pass it on.

[troutslayer]

Also good to hear when someone is practicing C&R with the big females, espiecally when its this close to spawning.

All my big(alberta)pike have been released, i hate seeing the big females kept. The smaller fish taste better, the big females are what keep the pike population good, they also help keep the other species in check so they dont get stunted or numbers become too large. All in all the only good reason for keeping a big pike in my eyes is if you want to get a live mount(but still you can get a replica). I will post a vid of mine on another thread so i dont highjack yours but you will see some release footage.

[buckhunter14]

Congrats, good fish!