Do pike travel in schools?

[bloopbloob]

Just wondering, do pike travel in schools? I thought that for the most part they were fairly solitary, although I know they will hang out in close proximity. But today I was fishing Coal lake, nothing for almost the first 2 hours, then it went nuts. Not an overstatement that I couldn't keep up to the bites/fish on my two lines in the water. fish on one line, before I could get it in, other line was going off. Release it and run to other line, get fish in, reset bait, go to reset other line, fish already on the one i just dropped in. maybe landed just over a dozen pike, 30+bites in about half an hour. I could reset my line, watch it go down, and watch a strike on its initial fall, it was crazy. Then it all died down, so i figured maybe they were travelling in a school and on the move, so i headed back to some shallower holes i had drilled earlier, and i found bite after bite again..... Never had this happen before....
Insight?

[jacob1202]

negative... they are a solitary fish... the reason why u had a good string of hits is probably because it took them so long to hone in on the smell of your bait and once they started moving in more were attracted to the flashes and commotion in the water

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by jacob1202

negative... they are a solitary fish... the reason why u had a good string of hits is probably because it took them so long to hone in on the smell of your bait and once they started moving in more were attracted to the flashes and commotion in the water

wrong

[jacob1202]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

wrong

ok then sir... you tell it how it is then

[nicemustang]

They don't school, they get into packs. A little different but kinda same concept.

[jesse34567]

Not school like whitefish but they can be found in smaller packs for sure.

[Vessey]

I think they can be in schools because they are attracted to the samething not because they are actually schooling how a bait fish would though. When diving I have seen prime ambush spots with up to 5 pike in them just watching for something to eat, I think they just tolerate each other.

[just_dave]

Oh yeah, I've watched them in packs of over ten in rivers and lakes. Plain sight in a river, down hole camera in a lake. They're like gangsters.

[KegRiver]

No Pike do not travel in schools, they tried it but the students kept eating the teachers.

[Dust1n]

theer like wolves "packs"

[moosehunter3-0]

Quite often on the aqua-vu they are in pairs. When the bite is on the bite is on. I've sat and watched tip ups all day and in the last hour had one hole go crazy with fish after getting no action for 4 hours.

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by jacob1202

ok then sir... you tell it how it is then

sorry couldnt get back into the forum, the other comments have it tho, they may not school in the regular sense of the word like perch, but they do hang out and hunt in groups, Ive seen it quite a few times personally.

[Crusty]

Do pike travel in schools?


They travel in lakes on their way to gangland style ambushes.

[Crusty]

[Jwood 456]

When I fished at Wababum lake last winter for pike off of Fallis, If I saw one pike strike my hook, I would sometimes see up to 4 more pike look at or strike mine or my fishing buddy's hook close to the same time. Usually though if I saw pike travel in pack, usually it would be a pack of two.

[ishootbambi]

i find pike to be like a coyote.....but in water. food can attract a group, and sometimes they will team up to ambush prey, but they are more or less solitary most of the time. they seem to be territorial at preferred hunting grounds, but can work together at times. i dont know if it has been studied, but thats what i have seen anyway.

[sdimedru]

fishin last spring at Hanmore in my bellyboat, hittin pike after pike (2-3lb'ers) when 20-30 swam right past me as I was changing lures, all of them nearer the surface.... it was amazing!

looked like some form of a "school"

[chubbdarter]

i doubt this question can be answered with a blanket answer and maybe more lake specific....many variables come into play with lake habitat
the most important variable ...whats everyones definition of a SCHOOL
In my home water.........
hammerhandles(under 5lbs) do group up maybe for safety reasons...except in the spring time.
i personally think small pike(5-10 lbs) do congregate
Medium (10 to 20) at certain times on certain structures do seem to travel in small groups (4-6)
large pike (20-25) sometimes in pairs
pike over 25 almost always solitary....the only exception was what i witnessed my wife do one winter.
i also believe schooling has alot to do with lake size or ideal enviroment abundance.........typically a large lake has more ideal enviroments so fish that are keying on better oxygen..better forage..etc are dispersed more and dont need to congregate.
on a smaller lake or a lake which doesnt have a abundance of ideal enviroments or forage may see fish forced to key on a few spots..hence schooling happens

[Guitarplayingfish]

Pike are territorial

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by Guitarplayingfish

Pike are territorial

maybe some places, but I have a favorite little bay I fish in, and I watch the fish come in and out on the camera, like they are doing a circuit, and its lots of different fish, not one. including 5 or 6 at a time. maybe they are territorial when the hens are guarding their nests, but when pike are hunting they travel to different areas

[chubbdarter]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

maybe some places, but I have a favorite little bay I fish in, and I watch the fish come in and out on the camera, like they are doing a circuit, and its lots of different fish, not one. including 5 or 6 at a time. maybe they are territorial when the hens are guarding their nests, but when pike are hunting they travel to different areas

thats interesting ive from my experience never seen a pike nest ....i didnt even know they made a nest.
ive seen alot of pike spawn and a female swims thru vegetation in shallow water with numerous males swimming near her as she broadcasts her eggs while males fertilize them.
ive even examined some of the weeds and seen the sticky eggs.

[pikester]

Yes some pike, especially big pike will hunt in pairs & three's; a wolf pack if you will! I've seen it happen too many times to be coincidence.

[Dust1n]

if its in the spring it most likly ones a male or ones a female

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by sdimedru

fishin last spring at Hanmore in my bellyboat, hittin pike after pike (2-3lb'ers) when 20-30 swam right past me as I was changing lures, all of them nearer the surface.... it was amazing!

looked like some form of a "school"

lol! sorry.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

maybe some places, but I have a favorite little bay I fish in, and I watch the fish come in and out on the camera, like they are doing a circuit, and its lots of different fish, not one. including 5 or 6 at a time. maybe they are territorial when the hens are guarding their nests, but when pike are hunting they travel to different areas

Pike don't Guard there nest to my knowledge. In Pigeon Lake they spawn in 6" to 3'0 of water up the creek in the Northwest corner of the lake in the marsh areas. When that area use to open fishing was hot for 1 week after in the creek as it entered the lake and then that was the end of the hot streak.

[Dust1n]

pike will stack up on drop offs to feed off suspended perch and whites ect that go into the deeper thepths

[slough shark]

From my experience and sightings I think a school of baitfish comes around and when they pass by the pike see them and come out from their positions and put the run on them. I've just never seen the pike travel in groups until there is baitfish or a reason for them moving but when something edible moves around they come out of the woodwork.