Here is a great chart that explains how to identify a northern pike from a muskellunge or a hybrid “tiger” muskellunge. So if you are a novice pike fisherman and need a little help deciding what exactly that record fish is then give this Muskellunge – Northern Pike Identification Chart a quick once over and you will soon be a Pro!

If you love pike fishing then check out this team of Scandinavian Pike Fisherman. Unfortunately it is not in English, but you can watch them reel in monster pike after monster pike! They claim they caught 180 pike in 3 days!

This potential new world record pike that supposedly weighs in at an astonishing 63lb 14oz, and measured a whopping 61 inches (156cm) from the tip of it’s nose to the end of it’s tail! It is believed that this huge fish was taken last winter from an unidentified angler while pike fishing in an undisclosed location in Poland. (hmmm sounds a little fishy)

The pictures below were sent as part of an email that of course lacked any detail about this monster pike other than its weight and length. The pictures show two different anglers holding the so called record pike (seems a little fishy again)

In my opinion, don’t get me wrong this is a nice fish, but it is not as big as the current and verified World Record Pike that was caught on a rod and reel by angler Lothat Louis from the Lake of Grefeern, Germany while Pike Fishing on October 16, 1986.

Lothar battled this verified 55 lbs 1 oz monster pike for almost 40 minutes before finally bringing it in. Lothatar’s World Record Breaking fish shattered the previous record and current North America Pike Record holder Peter Dubuc’s 46 lb. 2 oz fish by almost 9 lbs.

The picture above is of Lothat Louis’s 55 lbs 1 oz World Record holding pike. I would have posted a picture of Peter Dubuc’s 46 lbs 2 oz previous world record pike but unfortunately there are no known pictures of it, and he reportedly ate it because he didn’t wan to pay the taxidermist the $52.50 to have it mounted.

Since we are probably telling fish tales in this post here is another one that is pretty weird. It might be true but, I will let you decide. So here it is! These two pictures below show what appears to be an overly aggressive Northern Pike taking on a Muskie that is much larger then himself!

I have seen quite a few pictures before of the aggressive pike taking on a walleye that is being reeled in or snatching up a little duckling, but this is the craziest picture that I have seen to date! Unfortunately like with most fish stories I have no background information about the fish. As usual it was just forwarded to me as pictures, but it does appear that they washed up on shore dead and this is how they found them.

World Record Pike

World record weight: 55 lb. 1 oz. (25 kg.)
Location: Greffern Lake, West Germany
Angler: Lothar Louis
Date of capture: October 16, 1986
Bait: cast spoon
Time of battle: 40 minutes
Previous record: 46 lb. 2 oz., Peter Dubuc

North American Record Pike

World record weight: 46 lb. 2 oz.
Location: Sacandaga Lake, New York
Angler: Peter Dubuc
Date of capture: September 15, 1940
Bait: unknown
Time of battle: unknown

Avid angler Peter Dubuc caught the current North American Record back in 1940 while pike fishing in New York’s Sacandaga Lake. Unfortunately there are no known pictures of this record pike, and Peter didn’t have this monster pike stuffed either. He said he did not want to pay the taxidermist $52.50 to have the 52.5 inch long fish mounted.

French Record Pike

World record weight: 43 lb. and when measured its length was 1.37m (53.9 in)
Location: Lake Pareloup, France
Angler: Philippe Coste
Date of capture: May 2009
Bait: unknown
Time of battle: unknown

Canadian Record Pike

This is fish tale has been passed around the internet like wild fire. It is supposedly the Canadian record pike, and if true would also almost be the World Northern Pike Record. Unfortunately like most fish tales this one hasn’t been verified that I am aware of, but it is still one hell of a fish tale.

The story goes that this fellow was out northern pike fishing on Rainy Lake in Ontario an area just bordering Minnesota. He was fishing for Pike and had just caught a nice 36 inch fish, which is a good catch by any standards. As he was reeling it in this mammoth Northern Pike tried to eat his catch!

The fisherman grabbed his net and pulled both of the fish in the boat. The mammoth Pike was measured at 56 inches long and weighed 55 pounds which is apparently a new Canadian Pike Record / North American Pike Record.

Sounds a little fishy I know but check out these pictures they sure are good!

Other European Heavy Weight Pike

Big Dutch pike
Size: Estimated at 45lb-50lb
Location: Volkerak Lake, Holland, December 2005
Angler: unknown.

Italian monster
Size: Estimated at 51lb
Location: Lake Magiore, northern Italy, winter 2006
Angler: unknown

UK record
Size: 46lb 13oz
Location: Llandegfedd Reservoir, Wales, October 1992
Angler: Roy Lewis.

What is even crazier is that the 13 year old Truls landed this record pike on a homemade a black and red “Pike Muppet” fly that he created himself. Then ad to the fact that he is fairly new to pike fishing with flies and you have one whopper of a fish tale. Talk about a dream come true, I couldn’t even imagine going out pike fishing and landing a record fish on one of my first times out.

The day started out like most fishing trips do with a trip to the local sport shop in Lillestrom where Geir Tveter who runs the shop got a good look at the fly before the fishing trip. Geir Tveter said that “Truls really had a lot of confidence in that fly, it was something with the eyes of the fly”

After Truls, his big brother Andre and their fishing mentor Bent Nydahl left the shop they headed over to somewhere the delta-area in Northern Øyeren. Truls will not give an exact location of where they were pike fishing when he caught the record fish. I think he has future plans of topping his record, and doesn’t want to give up his .

It only to Truls 20 minutes of fishing before he was able to land this monster pike, and another 15 mintes before he was able to get a first glimpse of it. When Truls first saw it he said it was ” Unbelievable. It was the fish in my dreams!”

Some would call this beginners luck, but according to Truls (with tunge in cheek) it does not matter because he is no longer allowed to go pike fishing with his older brother. He told to change to trout fishing, says Truls with a smile.

Currently the Norwegian Pike record, regardless of what fishing tackle was used is 17,7kg (39 lbs)

Everyone who has gone pike fishing has similar memories, but the memories of your pike fishing trip do not have to end when you leave the water. Some of the best memories that I have are of the meal the night of the trip. Just the sheer enjoyment of eating something that you caught earlier that day, and sharing it with your good friends over good conversation. It is memories like this that can stick with you a whole lifetime.

So to help you out with ending your pike fishing trips on a memorable note I have put together a collection of several different pike recipes. I hope you all enjoy!

Barbeque Northern Pike Recipe

Here is what you need:

*1/4 Cup barbeque sauce.
*fresh rosmary, marjora, and basil.
*4 cloves of garlic.
*1/4 Cup olive oil.
*2 lb northern pike.
*Salt and pepper to taste.

First chop the fresh herbs and garlic. Then place all the ingredients (including the pike) in a plastic bag. Then allow the pike to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Then barbeque the pike along using the remaining liquid in the plastic bag to baste the fish every few minutes. I would cook the fish for about 5 minutes on each side. Then just serve with fresh cut lemon wedges and a little parsley for decoration.

Northern Pike Recipe #2

Here is what you need:

* 3 pounds fresh walleye pike fillets
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 cup 2% milk
* 1 egg, beaten
* Cracker crumbs (30-40 crackers crumbled up)
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons of fresh cut parsley
* 1/2 cup canola oil

First wash and pat dry all the pike fillets and then cut them up into single serving size pieces. Then in a mixing bowl, combine the flour and garlic powder, then set it to the side. In another mixing bowl, combine the milk and the beaten egg. Then in yet another bow, mix the crackers, Parmesan cheese and parsley together. Now you are ready to dust the pike fillets in the seasoned flour, dip them in the milk egg mixture, and then cover them in the cracker/cheese mix. When you are finished with this three step process set the pike fillets off to the side for 5-10 minutes before frying them.

Then in a large non-stick frying pan, heat the canola oil and fry the walleye pike fillets for 4-5 minutes on each side. Padding them with dry paper towels to remove any excess oil. Now they are already to serve with fresh cut lemon wedges or your favorite tartar sauce.

It is at this time that you can catch some of the largest females while northern pike fishing. With large female pike loaded to the gills with as much as 2 to 4.5 lbs of eggs. These bloated females can be a lot of fun to catch, but I recommend that these big females must be released back into the waters in order to maintain a sustainable northern pike fishing stock.

So what are the best northern pike lures to use while the big females are spawning? Everyone has their own personal choice on what fishing lures to use, but I prefer a northern fly, shallow moving wobbler or shallow moving fishing spoons. If you are interested in northern fly fishing and want a visual marker when you fish, try a pike popper. One rule of thumb I like to use is the bigger the bait or lure the bigger the potential fish is that will eat it. This is not always the case but it is something to think about if you are trying to land that trophy fish.

After the pike finish spawning they slowly move into deeper water. It is at this time that northern pike fishing can get really wild. During spawning these fish use up a lot of energy and loose a lot of body mass and this makes them very hungry and aggressive. During this time they seam to want to bite on about anything you throw at them. It seems like throwing wobblers, trolling or even fly fishing will work to land one of these monsters.

In June and July, as the pike enter the deeper water between depths of 10-30 feet it is a lot easier to find these fish by using a fish finder. This way you will know exactly where all the fish are located, so that you can concentrate on several hot spots, instead of of testing the waters around the whole lake.

So with a little luck and determination almost any one can land a nice sized northern pike, but remember to take along a few essential tools that are often over looked. These tools would be a camera, scales, and a tape measure. If you have these with you there will not be any doubt that you are not just telling fish stories at the end of the day.