Just for Bud:
In common with most coarse fish, pike have a normal 'growing span' of 12-15 years only. Ageing from scale reading will 'under-age' old pike which have ceased growth because no growth checks will be recorded on the scales.
Anglers observations have shown that pike do not all die once growth ceases; we know that some fish can live on well into their 20s and possibly older. For example one fish which was tagged at a weight of 16.75lbs and with a length of 36.5in was aged at 14 years. Six years later it was re-caught weighing and measuring exactly the same! Pike are known to live to a maximum of fifty years.
Bud does have a point in that the greatest number of fish in the population that are sexually mature will be medium sized. Giant, old females are just not that common.
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