what disease?? pike tumor?
 

Hey all, I was thinking of sending this pic to Alberta wildlife.....does anyone know what it is? I know fish can get cancer etc......or maybe its just an infected bite...weird :sick: gross!!

anyone know what it is? he was undersized and released.

Jen

out of Wizard Lake

Pike mess
 

I dont know what that is.... I caught one alot similar a few days ago but worse.... it was about 8 pounds and was one of the most discusting things I have ever seen:tongue2:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../P10100171.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../P10100201.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../P10100181.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../P10100191.jpg

It almost looks like it was attacked by another fish and new skin is trying to form over guts that were hanging out:tongue2: I let that one go:tongue2:

Barbwire

I Think l,d leave them on the ice for the coyotes and mags , if it is a fish disease no sense letting them spread it around .

your absolutly right barbwire its the result of a bad bite i had the exact same thing on a pike in devils lake last year i took it to fish and wildlife the took and let me know a week later

and bud that kind of advice can get someone that didnt know better you can was game fish so any concerns about the quality cantact the closest f&w

BAHHH , Wheres them Penguins , this time l,m on the right , haaaaa.

ugh
 

u sould of tossed that pike into the bushes.

It's interesting that they seem to be in the same spot.

Well I think its an abscess then....I noticed a lot of the smaller pikes had teeth marks in the same area.....maybe that's where big ones strike.


No, i am not tossing fish into the bushes....you never know they might live through it and heal (they still had an appetite, eh?) they are tough, those pike!

J

We have talked to F&W about perch with white sores all over them, they said it was fine to not put that back in the lake.
Depends who you talk to.
Beth

You should definitely put them back in the lake. Its not normally like one fish gets it and spreads it to others, many lakes have varying degrees of disease outbreaks. Sores like that can be caused by many different parasites, diseases, or stresses. I have seen some fish survive through worse ailments than that in the past. Always worth sending a picture into fish and wildlife though, they may appreciate knowledge of different outbreaks in different lakes.

It is also illegal not to return a sport fish you're not retaining to the water, throwing fish in the bushes is not a good idea. No officer with any knowledge of fish would recommend that. I have witnessed fish with much worse ailments than that make a full recovery, on top of that I've caught a pike missing the top half of its mouth and on another occasion one missing the majority of its gills on one side, both looked pretty healthy and the injuries were not recent (fully healed over). Both were retained for supper as they were legal by only a few inches and i was by chance hungry that day (i like to keep the smallest pike possible and let the big mature spawners go).

Just food for thought.

I agree jrs, Just cause a pike has a growth on it doesnt mean it has the plague an is gonna destroy the lake. No fish deserves to be tossed into the bushes.

Barbwire

It is unlawfull to waste or disregard the edible flesh of any legaly kept game fish. Eat it or release it.

Growths
 

I caught a pike at Ironwood about 10 years ago with what looked like a cauliflower on its head. Took it to F&W and they told me it was quite common to have a growth but they would run tests on it and call if anything out of the ordinary. No call

Would you eat it , not me , in the bushes for the crows she goes.

Tossing these fish in the bush would be an offence, I hope most would turn in anyone found doing so........

http://www.srd.alberta.ca/fishwildli...umors_fish.pdf


Please read the section Public Signifigance


Excellent Alberta resource

Actually you should all take them big monster pike home to the frying pan or the wall , in a lake with a Walleye zero limit a bunch of those big ole girls or boys around , they will soon eat the lake out of big Walleye , and the lake will be even worse off for Walleye population.
Huge 20 lb plus pike dont do the spawning anyway , its the 5 pounders that do most of it , them Grannys just cruise and eat everything in sight , and lots of it.

JRS is on the money, most of these fish will survive, pose no threat to other fish or human health and generally recover from the virus causing the ulcer.

If you're not going to eat it what is the harm in releasing it?

Unreal.
 

Huge 20 lb plus pike dont do the spawning anyway , its the 5 pounders that do most of it , them Grannys just cruise and eat everything in sight , and lots of it............BUD
Just curious as to where you get your information, BUD.........maybe I will fill you in on some "facts" so you won't post any more false information.
First of all..........huge, 20 lb plus pike are your major spawners. Males rarely, if ever, get that large. Those are all the mature females, some of which can be 25+ years old.......especially the farther north you go.
Second.....them "grannys" don't just cruise and eat everything in sight. They are hugely territorial, the biggest fish claiming the best territory (that is cover, optimal water temp, availiability/access to food). Rarely do those big ones ever have to venture out of their territory, let alone "cruise around".
Third.....it has also been proven that a smaller predatory fish (pike, in this case, BUD) will do more damage to another species population than a larger one. The big ones tend to eat a bigger meal, less often. A 20+ pounder might eat a 5 lb walleye, but a 10 pounder will eat samller walleye, more often, thus never allowing the walleye to reach any size. It is also proven that walleye are not a pikes favorite meal........if given a choice (like in most of the lakes in Alberta), pike prefer the "soft-finned" species (carp, burbot, whitefish) and will actually pass up walleye for one of these.
Oh, by the way, this isn't up for debate or "just my opinion"........these are facts taught by a professor at Lakeland College. Maybe he's wrong though..............lol.

thanks for setting things straight there Bobby, reading down through this thread I was hoping someone would call that BS that Bud was throwing out there. Unbelieveable that someone would write information down that has absolutley no truth. People should put back big pike unless you're keeping one for a mount, to sustain our fisheries.

YUP , hes wrong , the MONSTER 20 lb plus grannys dont spawn ,FACT.

I have caught many 20+ plus pike in spawning condition not sure where your facts are coming from but in many southern waterbodies 20+ pike are not often past prime spawning age........

I my self would release the fish, If it does not survive the disease then there are bald eagles and other animals around that will clean them up.

As for the debate on spawning age for the pike hope this site helps:

http://wonderclub.com/Wildlife/fish/...37;20pike.html

:wave:

Thanks for trying to explain to a not smart about large fish spawning Bobby.
Reading many post here and you get an arm chair Biologist flipping crop from their lips gets pretty annoying at times and it is great for people that know something to share his or her knowledge with the board members. Why eat a 20 pound old fish when you can enjoy a nice tasty firm young fish, and to get a mount done what is wrong with a replica ? I wish more people that fish and hunt would join conservation groups to learn more about fish and all other game. ACA has lots of fun fish related projects one can help out with, SRD has volunteer opportunities, AFGA, S***A, AHEIA all these organizations teach and encourage volunteer activities and their is so much to learn.

I would love to met Bud on the river or lake and he can visit the bush's and the magpies and coyotes can have a manure sandwich.

The law says you cannot leave game meat spoil if you want to toss fish you should not be out fishing.

Like dick weeds that toss good eating sucker fish.

This does not make any sense at all, if the walleye limit is zero, that means no retention of walleye is allowed. This also in turn means that the walleye will stunt themselves, if no retention is allowed..therefore the big pike are needed to keep the walleye populations in healthy (non stunted) numbers.

I cant believe I just read such a stupid statement, idiots these days...:mad3:

Bud, please use your brain for half a second next time before you make such an uneducated post.

Good Stuff
 

If you don't plan on eating the fish you may as well release it. There was a similar thread last year about tossing suckers in the bush because of how much damage they do on other species (eating eggs). Except as I recall it was a more evenly matched debate. Glad to see that this is a one sided battle and good on you boys for setting the facts straight. Give yourselves a pat on the back for jumping on this user for their blatantly illegal statements.

With that said if the biologists and law makers set out to stop certain aquatic pests or diseases like they have with CWD and Dutch elm then I for one would follow the rules they set.

We don't have a lot of water here in Alberta and we have a lot of fisher men and women. I dread the thought........but one day we will likely have to release all fish in order to sustain our fisheries, so for the moment being let’s enjoy the rules we currently have and feel justified in our actions.

Bobby if you don't mind me asking what did you take in school at Lakeland? I'm interested in gaining such knowledge.

Fisher - I would also suggest the Environmental Science course offered in Lethbridge (2 year diploma) and fully transferable to the Uof L. Excellent course with good job opportunities for grads. Most of the grads I know were working shortly after graduation in either fisheries or wildlife related fields. Have hired more recent grads as well and they still seem to be well trained and educated.

I don't mind at all Fisher......I am very proud of the program and my diploma. I took Wildlife Guiding & Outfitting and Adventure Tourism and rodeoed on the side. Probably the best 3 years of my life.

There's a few guys on here with education and experience in fish and wildlife, but just as many arm chair biologists. Just a little tidbit i came across the other day (i believe it was based on a European study) but the bigger the pike the more eggs (most of us knew that), and not by a few. The most eggs i could find record of being laid by a single pike was roughly 1 000 000, by a 32 lb specimen. That's a heck of a lot of eggs.

And if someones taking the two years at Lethbridge College, make sure you stick around for the third year (F&WTech). Probably the best education available based on bang for your buck (very small group, tons of experience). I know several people that took this route, all have jobs they enjoy or had jobs and moved onto more university. I don't know anyone that's taken the Lakeland route but it sounds like a pretty good program as well.