Factors Affecting Growth of Northern Pike in Small Northern Wisconsin Lakes

Abstract

Fish assemblages that include northern pike Esox lucius as a dominant predator were sampled in 19 small (<120 ha) northern Wisconsin lakes. The purpose of this sampling was to describe northern pike population characteristics and identify factors affecting growth rates. Fish assemblages in these lakes were dominated by centrarchids, primarily bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, and small fusiform species such as yellow perch Perca flavescens. Northern pike population size structures were typically truncated at around 53 cm. Average density of northern pike (≥35 cm) was 16.1 fish/ha and ranged 2.8–38.0 fish/ha. Growth of northern pike decreased, in comparison with a growth standard, as early as age 4. Most northern pike were less than age 6, and few fish were older than age 8. Diet of northern pike generally indicated opportunistic feeding strategies with some preference for fusiform prey. Multiple factors were identified as potentially limiting northern pike growth and size structure. Northern pike growth was negatively related to northern pike density, water transparency (Secchi depth), and abundance of small bluegills. Extensive littoral areas, water temperatures greater than 21°C during the growing season, and winterkill also limit northern pike growth and size structure. Effective management of these small lakes will probably require an individual‐lake approach to identify specific mechanisms limiting growth.

Diets of Micropterus Salmoides Lac. And Esox Lucius L. In Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, Italy) and Their Diet Overlap.

“…Its greatest feeding activity in Lake Trasimeno occurs in the summer and the least activity is in the winter as occurs in other Italian (ALESSIO, 1983) and European lakes (NICOLA et al, 1996). E. lucius and M. salmoides are both considered non-selective predators (RAAT, 1988;ADAMS, 1991;HE et al, 1994;HICKLEY et al, 1994;NICOLA et al, 1996;GODINHO et al, 1997;MARGENAU et al, 1998); and their diets are strongly influenced by food availability. Fish and shrimps seemed to be the food alternatives of pike and largemouth bass based on their abundance and vulnerability which vary seasonally.…”

Predator–prey encounter rates in freshwater piscivores: effects of prey density and water transparency

“…Other piscivores present in some lakes include eel Anguilla anguilla and pikeperch Stizostedion lucioperca. From the recordings we quantified both school encounter rate and individual encounter rate with fish smaller than 150 mm, as these fish are under the highest risk of predation (Brabrand and Faafeng 1993;Margenau et al 1998).…”

Growth, condition, diet, and consumption rates of northern pike in three Arizona reservoirs

“…Assuming the northern pike densities in Arizona were in the range reported by Margenau et al (1998) and Pierce et al (2003), their predation would have consumed 0-2% (10 to 200 individuals) of the stocked rainbow trout in Long Lake and 3-63% (800-17,000 individuals) of the fish in Parker Canyon Lake. In Upper Lake Mary all the rainbow trout (>100%; 15,000 to >300,000 individuals) would have been consumed.…”

“…Currently, little information on northern pike densities in the southwestern United States is available; however, these data are common in other areas. Population density in the upper Midwest ranged from 2.8-7.1 fish/ha (Priegel and Krohn 1975, Mosindy et al 1987, Margenau et al 1998 to 38.0-59.0 fish/ha (Snow and Beard 1972, Pierce et al 1995, Margenau et al 1998, Pierce et al 2003. Therefore, we examined the effect of a typical low density (3.0 fish/ha) and high-density (60.0 fish/ha) population of northern pike on rainbow trout in each lake.…”