Otonabee Tiger?

[206]

Got out Wed evening with the wifey for some bass fishing...Got into a couple lil musky that are always a nice surprise

 

Wife was in awe of the markings on this one, I told her it was a tiger?

 

 

And this lil guy to compare

 

[Brettiop]

Yupp that first fish is a tiger! Well done!

 

Look at how rounded the tail fin is compared to the second fish, that's a good indicator, as well as the pattern

[Tom McCutcheon]

Sure looks like a Hybrid to me as well.

 

Another good indicator of the differences between a Hybrid and a Muskie would be the number of pores on the lower jaw.

The Hybrid will have no more than 5 indents along each side of the jaw. A Muskie can have as many as 9.

[manitoubass2]

Nice surprises!

 

Beauty fish!

 

Thats all that matters?

[Locnar]

The Tiger is a beauty fish! But... where are the pike? Are they in Rice Lake now? Or is that up near Stoney?

[John Bacon]

The Tiger is a beauty fish! But... where are the pike? Are they in Rice Lake now? Or is that up near Stoney?

 

I have heard about a few pike being caught in Rice Lake.

[Sinker]

That's the second Hybrid I've seen out of rice this year. Not a good sign! I haven't seen any pike myself, but have heard of more and more getting caught. Mostly in the east end of the lake. I find musky hard to catch in rice lake for some reason. I mostly fish the west end, and have only caught a few. That said, I don't target them much at all in there.

 

S.

[Tom McCutcheon]

According to our (MCI) research and the OMNRF reports, Rice Lake has had confirmed Pike in it for about 3 years. Pike have also been confirmed in the Ottonabee River and Little Lake.

They are migrating through the Trent System and eventually will show up in each lake. Only a matter of time. Muskies Canada concerns are that the Kawartha strain of Muskie which is genetically different than the French River, Georgian Bay, St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River strains may not be able to adapt to a co habitant existence with Northern Pike.

We along with the OMNRF are monitoring this closely, but there may NOT be a solution other than to let Mother Nature take it's course.

[kitch]

Tom, what strain of muskies were stocked in Lake Simcoe? Can they co-exist with pike? In theory, if they can, they may follow the pike down thru the Kawartha lakes chain. It might not help the Kawartha strain of muskie but would ensure a viable population of muskies.

[Tom McCutcheon]

The Muskies which are being restocked into Simcoe are Georgian Bay strain. The eggs obtained are mainly from Gloucester Pool, but this year due to unforeseen water temps when the egg collections were taking place in May, the water temps on the Pool were not suitable and the Female Muskies were not ripe. Luckily eggs were obtained from two females from Parry Sound.

My understanding is the Fleming hatchery had a difficult time with a lot of the eggs not "eyeing up" so their production of fingerlings is down to about 1000 or so compared to nearly 4000 over the last few years. Yes to in theory they might migrate into the Kawarthas and this also remains to be seen.

 

Sorry to the OP to drag this slightly off topic.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Tom McCutcheon

[kitch]

I apologise too for taking it off topic, sorry about that. I had been following the migration of pike from Simcoe to the east, but of course they are migrating from both directions! Sure makes for some pretty looking fish though.

[Tom McCutcheon]

Yep, I haven't had a close up look at one on my own hookup yet, but I sure hope to.

They are one of the nicest looking fresh water fish I know of (save for a Brown or Brookie) and the one pictured above has the potential to reach 50+ inches.

[206]

I apologise too for taking it off topic, sorry about that. I had been following the migration of pike from Simcoe to the east, but of course they are migrating from both directions! Sure makes for some pretty looking fish though.

 

I'm All ears not a problem!!

[Rizzo]

beauty fish but that is not a good thing!

[FloatnFly]

According to our (MCI) research and the OMNRF reports, Rice Lake has had confirmed Pike in it for about 3 years. Pike have also been confirmed in the Ottonabee River and Little Lake.

They are migrating through the Trent System and eventually will show up in each lake. Only a matter of time. Muskies Canada concerns are that the Kawartha strain of Muskie which is genetically different than the French River, Georgian Bay, St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River strains may not be able to adapt to a co habitant existence with Northern Pike.

We along with the OMNRF are monitoring this closely, but there may NOT be a solution other than to let Mother Nature take it's course.

 

my understanding is that the difference in spawning times makes the pike a huge threat, ie pike spawn sooner, and their fry then feed off the musky fry. a couple months later

[Tom McCutcheon]

Correct...

 

Pike in the Kawarthas are mostly using the same spawning locations as their cousins, two to three weeks in advance of Muskies and thus are in very near proximity as fry when the Muskie eggs hatch and become "swim ups" The Pike fry are also in direct competition for the same food source of any Muskie fry which survive the swim up stage. It's the first 6 months to a year of a Muskies life that are most critical. If the Muskie makes it past the fingerling portion of it's life, they can usually handle themselves living amongst a Pike of the same age.

[ecmilley]

Sounds like we can all do a part in not realeasing pike caught in the kawarthas time for a fish fry

[mike rousseau]

I still haven't got my first tiger

 

Very cool

[Fisherpete]

Nice tiger Mark! It's way too late for the keeping pike and hoping it helps them go away strategy - I've had an 11 pike landed and 10+ more follow day while muskie fishing Balsam this year... They are here to stay. 40" pike are being caught. Nothing wrong with a good pike fry though - so eat away!

[Tom McCutcheon]

Sad to say, but Pete is right. They are here and the research we have done since 2009 on the Pike Invasion, has given us little hope of trying to stop it. It took over a 100 years for the Northern Pike to filter in through the locks. If a marine railway (similar to the one at Big Chute) had been constructed at each end of the Kawartha waterway when the thought of a navigation route was conceived, it's possible we would not be discussing this today.

Northern Pike are a great sport fish, so long as all that are in the system are not hammer handles, and their larger cousin the Muskie can learn to adapt.

[manitoubass2]

Not sure why you guys arent eating pike anyway???

 

A 25-30" pike is amazing taste and alot of meat.

 

I love walleye/perch and crappie, Ill never stop fishing them. But every year im releasing more of those and keeping much more pike

 

And its undeniably the easiest fish to catch

Edited August 28, 2016 by manitoubass2

[Tom McCutcheon]

OH!!!! WE"RE EATING THEM RICK.....

[manitoubass2]

OH!!!! WE"RE EATING THEM RICK.....

Awesome!

 

It bugs me when people say they dislike pike.

 

Filleted right and cooked side by side with walleye, personally ill eat the pike. But i love doing this to people "that hate pike" and let em know afterwards thats what they just ate???

[Smokercrafty]

I'd have to agree, although I can't say I've landed many eyes, but, the bigger pike I've landed, would be my choice to hit the pan, over the eyes.

Awesome looking tiger Op! Such crisp lines make for great photos.

[ecmilley]

Did a bunch of pike in fish crisp last weekend wasnt that bad and still had the knack for cleaning them