TIGER MUSKY and Pike in Kawartha Lakes!! - Pics

[Jer]

Here's something else to consider: the Kawartha Lakes didn't even exist before the construction of the Trent-Severn waterway so how many muskies would have been around then? It's the system of dams and locks that created the lakes, before that there were just rivers with some wide spots maybe. Might have been a trout fishery at one time. Could be worth looking into the history of the area.

 

 

The lakes are much more natural than you might think. For example, the dam in Buckhorn raised the Tri-Lakes water level by only about six feet when it was built. This certainly made the lakes bigger and deeper, but they were certainly here before the system was built.

 

Naturally occurring 'gamefish' before the dams & locks were built and alternative species were introduced was limited to muskie & smallies. Walleye & largemouth were introduced and stocked by the MNR over the years (but not for a long time).

[Cookslav]

I can't understand everyone demonizing pike. It's another fish to catch and it's native to Ontario.

 

I don't know that anyone is demonizing them, but I Know I can catch Pike in just about any were in Ontario, were Muskie are

A tad bit more evasive. The Kawartha's have a great Muskie fishery...thats unique in its own right, and it would be unfortunate to see

That change.

 

I've seen this pike "invasion" first hand...

A family member has a hunt camp on the Crow river were it comes into a big lake between a series of large rapids called Mud turtle Lake.

Its pretty remote, and has no access unless you own property, or have a reeeeely strong drive to bush wack LOL!

Anyway,

It used to have a very Healthy Muskie Population, with some caught as big as 48" in our group.

Large mouth, perch and Pickeral were quite robust as well.

Then some 20 years ago Pike were being caught....

No one has caught a Muskie in the last 10 years, Large mouth are still there, but Small mouth have boomed, and Pickerel, and Perch populations are way down.

No suprise but Hammer handle Pike are EVERY WERE.

Don't get me wrong there are some big Pike as well, but the Pike are flourishing, and unfortunatly they are taking over everything.

I'm no biologist, so I can't say for sure but the numbers of Pike seem to have decimated the Perch, and Pickeral Populations as well.

Why the Large mouth are disapearing is beyond me?

I would have thought they would push the smallies out, but hey....nature is a funny little puzzle somtimes.

We figure the Pike came in through a Creek that runs to a near by lake known to have Pike.

It was an unlikely route to travel, but in the spring when the water is high its the most likely source.

So Its a natural invasion....Its just unfortunate

 

I also know of a lake in Bruce county that used to be GOLD for Smallmouth.

It was not uncommon to catch them by the dozens, with brutes into the 19-20" range not uncommon

This lake was Deep, round, with plenty of forage....it was like God planted this little Bass Garden that was like a fishing paradise.

Then,

A cottage went up....then a few more....then some body put Largemouth in there....now the lakes is in some sort of weird Transition?

Smallies populations are down, Largies are rare but are being caught and last year I'm told a Pike was caught.

I have little hope for the once prolific Smallmouth lake, and this was a man made invasion...

Its just to bad, as there are TONS of good lakes to catch Pike with in a 10 minute drive....

 

A once great Muskie Fishery is gone, and a once great Smally fishery is gone...yet those Pike lakes in the Area are still going strong?

I think thats why people get in a huff over it...no one is demonizing Pike, its just there are already many, many strong Pike fisheries around so its just sad to see

our other opportunities limited.

 

Cheers,

[JohnF]

I don't know that anyone is demonizing them, but I Know I can catch Pike in just about any were in Ontario, were Muskie are

A tad bit more evasive. The Kawartha's have a great Muskie fishery...thats unique in its own right, and it would be unfortunate to see

That change.

 

I've seen this pike "invasion" first hand...

A family member has a hunt camp on the Crow river were it comes into a big lake between a series of large rapids called Mud turtle Lake.

Its pretty remote, and has no access unless you own property, or have a reeeeely strong drive to bush wack LOL!

Anyway,

It used to have a very Healthy Muskie Population, with some caught as big as 48" in our group.

Large mouth, perch and Pickeral were quite robust as well.

Then some 20 years ago Pike were being caught....

No one has caught a Muskie in the last 10 years, Large mouth are still there, but Small mouth have boomed, and Pickerel, and Perch populations are way down.

No suprise but Hammer handle Pike are EVERY WERE.

Don't get me wrong there are some big Pike as well, but the Pike are flourishing, and unfortunatly they are taking over everything.

I'm no biologist, so I can't say for sure but the numbers of Pike seem to have decimated the Perch, and Pickeral Populations as well.

Why the Large mouth are disapearing is beyond me?

I would have thought they would push the smallies out, but hey....nature is a funny little puzzle somtimes.

We figure the Pike came in through a Creek that runs to a near by lake known to have Pike.

It was an unlikely route to travel, but in the spring when the water is high its the most likely source.

So Its a natural invasion....Its just unfortunate

 

I also know of a lake in Bruce county that used to be GOLD for Smallmouth.

It was not uncommon to catch them by the dozens, with brutes into the 19-20" range not uncommon

This lake was Deep, round, with plenty of forage....it was like God planted this little Bass Garden that was like a fishing paradise.

Then,

A cottage went up....then a few more....then some body put Largemouth in there....now the lakes is in some sort of weird Transition?

Smallies populations are down, Largies are rare but are being caught and last year I'm told a Pike was caught.

I have little hope for the once prolific Smallmouth lake, and this was a man made invasion...

Its just to bad, as there are TONS of good lakes to catch Pike with in a 10 minute drive....

 

A once great Muskie Fishery is gone, and a once great Smally fishery is gone...yet those Pike lakes in the Area are still going strong?

I think thats why people get in a huff over it...no one is demonizing Pike, its just there are already many, many strong Pike fisheries around so its just sad to see

our other opportunities limited.

 

Cheers,

 

I remember a definition I was taught in school.

 

"A weed is a plant out of place."

 

Same philosophy works for fish.

 

JF

[cityfisher]

wow lots of pike in balsam.... i havent fished it in years but next time i go ill make sure to make Pike for dinner

[Gary2242]

I grew up on Sturgeon Lake and then my parents moved to Pigeon Lake in 1970. I have been fishing Sturgeon, Pigeon and Buckhorn for 50 years and have never seen a pike. Last time we were fishing for muskie on Pigeon we were pulled over by the MNR / OPP boat and they asked us if we have ever caught any Pike so they must be coming down the Trent. The first time I ever saw a Crappy in the Kawarthas was in 1992 and now there are billions of them.

The pictures above sure look like Tiger Musky. There is prominent Pike markings on the fins as well as the groovy tiger stripes. You can never be 100% without DNA testing because lots of times pike and muskie can have some freaking colour and skin patterns and look a lot like a tiger muskie but still be pure. Most official Tiger Muskie that I have seen have had a lot more brown in them. I don’t know if that means anything. There is also a strain of Muskie called a Leopard Muskie, which often gets mistaken for a Tiger Muskie - http://www.musky.ca/leopardmuskie.htm

[BillM]

4 year old thread bump. There's definitely tigers in Balsam. Kinda sad to see that JohnF post as well.

[Skud]

All we caught this year in Balsam was pike. Here is my son with a 30"+

[fishindevil]

As said many times yes pike are spreading fast and are in sturgeon lake now too as well as in pigeon too !!!!! There here

[Ron]

There have been several confirmed Pike caught in Rice Lake (Otonabee River) this year as well.

[Rich]

i have a conservation license, if i keep a tiger muskie, dosen't that mean im breaking the law?

Yeah. Good news is you dont need to keep it, unless you just really want to eat an abomination. Lol the tigers cant reproduce.

[Squid]

This is old news slayingm and you have been on this board for awhile and probably read the posts about the tiger musky and pike in Balsam. I see this thread as just SPAMMing your business and it should be locked and deleted.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Squid

[Roy]

What's the problem? This thread is more than 4 years old!

[GbayGiant]

 

This is old news slayingm and you have been on this board for awhile and probably read the posts about the tiger musky and pike in Balsam. I see this thread as just SPAMMing your business and it should be locked and deleted.

Two small fish from 4 years ago and no link to his guide service.

 

You might be on someth...on to something.

[Fisherpete]

I had a 12 pike day on Balsam earlier this year. The smallest one was 31". Fun - but scary.

[misfish]

This thread makes we wonder,,,,,,,,,,

 

All the efforts to reintroduce musky to lake Simcoe,YET,this lake is full of pike.

 

Think about it.

[Joeytier]

Simcoe is massive and likely can support both, like many other lakes of its size

[misfish]

Simcoe is massive and likely can support both, like many other lakes of its size

 

Time will tell.

[chris.brock]

4 year old thread bump. There's definitely tigers in Balsam. Kinda sad to see that JohnF post as well.

why do you mention it? did you hook into one?

[esoxansteel]

This thread makes we wonder,,,,,,,,,,

 

All the efforts to reintroduce musky to lake Simcoe,YET,this lake is full of pike.

 

Think about it.

 

 

Simcoe has been re-introduced with Glouster Pool strain muskies, which already co-exist with Pike, so hopefully there will not be an issue, plus as mentioned the massive size of Simcoe should give both esocids plenty of room to play nicely

Thanx Greg for bringing up this worthy topic, as many members have figured out Pike in Balsam can easy be a targeted species, as there numbers have increased.

Survey nettings by the MNR on Balsam have confirmed the increase as well, what is probably even more alarming is both the MNR, Muskies Canada, and the OFAH now have documented proof of Pike movements from the southern K Lakes namely Rice Lake and the Otonabee River below lock 19 as Ron stated, MCI always suspected this, but documented proof was lacking until this year, and it was discussed to some length at the last FMZ 17 meeting on October 1 2013. A 50 1/2 inch Balsam hybrid was caught by a MCI member in 2011

[Squid]

Sorry Slayingm I am overseas and the jetlag has me spinning. I wrongly assumed that this was a new thread. Now everyone can relax eh, NOBODY on this board is PERFECT.

[jimmer]

Pike have been in Balsam for probably 15 years if not more.

Tigers are a muskie, so you have to follow those regs when making a deciison to keep one. 44"

I have seen some pics of tiger muskie that were 50" out of Balsam.

Rice is starting to show a lot more, Some have been caught just below the lock in Peterborough on the Otonabee River. It's just a matter of time before they are right through the whole system.

[ch312]

I'm thinking the pike situation is very similar to coyotes. Once they're here you might as well accept it as there is nothing you can do to get rid of them...

[darsky]

Sorry Slayingm I am overseas and the jetlag has me spinning. I wrongly assumed that this was a new thread. Now everyone can relax eh, NOBODY on this board is PERFECT.

takes a REAL man to admit you are wrong.

good job there squiddy

[fishindevil]

MCI and the MNR need to update this as the pike are above lock 19 now and are Comming down from balsam area now too as well as pike are in the gull river system and are now confirmed in both sturgeon lake as well and pike have been caught in pigeon lake too !!!! So you would think they will be in buckhorn as well as stony and they are not right now they will be !!!! They are pretty much everywhere now !!!!!

 

Simcoe has been re-introduced with Glouster Pool strain muskies, which already co-exist with Pike, so hopefully there will not be an issue, plus as mentioned the massive size of Simcoe should give both esocids plenty of room to play nicely

Thanx Greg for bringing up this worthy topic, as many members have figured out Pike in Balsam can easy be a targeted species, as there numbers have increased.

Survey nettings by the MNR on Balsam have confirmed the increase as well, what is probably even more alarming is both the MNR, Muskies Canada, and the OFAH now have documented proof of Pike movements from the southern K Lakes namely Rice Lake and the Otonabee River below lock 19 as Ron stated, MCI always suspected this, but documented proof was lacking until this year, and it was discussed to some length at the last FMZ 17 meeting on October 1 2013. A 50 1/2 inch Balsam hybrid was caught by a MCI member in 2011

[manitoubass2]

pike don't like rapids so before the canal was built they didn't run the rapids, so it kept them from moving

 

plus pike, while they do move to different locations around a lake they keep the route for most of their life

they spawn in the same river each year and in many cases the same spot, they are not natural wanderers.

So the move into the kawarthas has been slow

lol some of my best pike spots are right in and surrounding rapids. Without a doubt though pike love to spawn in the same locations year in and year out