Warning: the following photos may just ruin your appetite…unless you are a northern pike. It really is amazing what those guys will eat. Just look at these two pictures of what we found in a pair of 25-inchers. The first photo shows the stomach contents comprised of 31 minnows and was full from gullet to you-know-where. Note the various stages of digestion too. The second photo shows another pike’s 10-inch ling catch and suggests that this pike spent some time in deep water. Both of them were busy guys.
A pike with his 31-minnow lunch
This pike’s catch-of-the-day was a ling.
Those 31 fish are almost definitely Rainbow Smelt which would suggest that the pike was feeding at or below the thermocline. It also would suggest that the smelt population is back on the rise.
The picture of the pike that ate the 31 smelt was taken in early June and the second of the ling-eater was in July. Not really all that sure of how deep smelt are early in the fishing season. I do know that pike here can be found and caught at surprisingly deep depths. We will keep monitoring stomach contents as we frequently do to see if more smelt show up.