Pike in the San Juan Islands?

Stonedfish said:
There is definitely a good deal of bucket biology that goes on in this state. One lake I fish for LM bass now suddenly has had SM show up in just the past few years.
There is a lake maybe five miles away that has SM. My guess is some SM got transplanted from the other lake via the white bucket……
SF
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That's how they made it to Lake Samish.
 
I grew up right near Chesapeake Bay and we had chain pickerel (1st cousin of pike) in brackish water. I have caught pickerel, Norfolk spot, and bluefish all in the same spot. Oh and occasionally sharks.
 
Bugmeister said:
I would love to fish for pike in Lake Washington (and bonk one if I catch one) but have no idea how to find them. I think I need a Boston Whaler and a lot of help.

The lake is big and my pike skills are small…I caught one (somehow) on a camping trip to Wisconsin when I was little, and have caught a few in MT in a river system, but for the most part they are a mystery.
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You don't need any particular skills to catch pike. If they're present in any significant numbers (and hopefully they're NOT yet in WA waters!) find fish, and you'll find pike.
They're not spooky and not picky eaters (unlike their musky cousins) and as apex ambush predators they'll be hanging either where their food is concentrated, where there's heavy cover, or both. Western WA waters are chilly, and they prefer warm water like LM do, so look for them in shallow weedy bays except at the very height of summer, when they'll follow their prey into deeper lies.
Use big streamers or poppers, and fish them all the way back to the boat.
TBH, though, if they were in Lake WA in any significant #s, you'd hear about more people catching them. The little ones especially are voracious feeders and are hard to avoid when fishing for other species in waters where pike are present. Like any species, the big ones are harder to fool, but if there's no little guys there's probably not enough big ones to target.
Just my 2 cents, as someone who's spent more time trying NOT to catch them while targeting walleye!
 
It would be interesting to know where the fish came from, how long they've been there and who and where the bucket bio lives.
You'd have to think they are a local who wanted to create a pike fishery for themselves. Maybe they have Midwest ties and miss pike fishing?
The cost of a ferry ride these days seems it would likely be that, but who knows.
SF
 
Now that I know which lake it is, I'm formally retracting my "freshwater lens" saltwater migration theory.

The lake outlet is located at ~85m elevation, the outlet is ~775m from salt.

Assuming slope homogeneity (doubtful) and a stream with enough - but not too much - flow volume, I would expect to find coho and possibly sockeye in the lake. This is all dependent on the absence of anadromous barriers, naturally.

As pike are the slightly slimmer energetic equivalent of the slovenly largemouth, ain't no way in hell one arrived at tha lake in a natural fashion.
 
I’ve been by that lake on my way to Lime Kiln a few times. With the amount of bicycle traffic present, I’m envisioning one or several conspirators brought the juvenile pike across on the ferry in their camelback water bladders!
 
Some of the Alaska natives I've worked with fish pike in brackish waters in Alaska. When I asked them what they liked to catch it surprised me the answer was Pike and not Salmon. I can't remember where this was though it was definitely tidal
 
Wadin' Boot said:
Some of the Alaska natives I've worked with fish pike in brackish waters in Alaska. When I asked them what they liked to catch it surprised me the answer was Pike and not Salmon. I can't remember where this was though it was definitely tidal
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Brackish pike is probably delicious!

As @Pink Nighty mentioned, birds can plant fish. Happens all the time. Whether eggs, fry or even adults. That's one reason it's so hard to control them once they're here.
 
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