Advantages of artificial breeding of pike
To understand how to grow pike in artificially created conditions, you should know all the necessary information about this type of fish. The common pike is a heat-loving fish that lives in fresh waters. She prefers places with slow water movement, such as:
- river bays;
- floodplain reservoirs;
- lakes.
Pike living in a pond grow 4-5 times faster than those living in their natural environment. If there is a sufficient amount of food in the reservoir, the weight of fingerlings can reach 400 g, and sometimes 500-800 g. In winter, the fish undergo an active feeding process.
To obtain 1 kg of weight gain, fingerlings will need to eat only 2.5 kg of fish. Fry and larvae, planted in feeding ponds to produce offspring, eat:
- water beetles;
- bedbugs;
- dragonflies;
- tadpoles;
- frogs;
- small fish.
Pike farming is economically profitable.
Its meat has good taste and is not high in calories, which is why it is highly valued in many countries. The fillet of this fish is expensive, and its caviar is even more expensive. Pike act as pond cleaners because... they feed on a variety of beetles, moths, leeches and parasitic organisms. This helps cleanse the reservoir and has a beneficial effect on the life activity of both the pike itself and other species of fish. It grows and reproduces quickly, so there will be no problems with breeding it in an artificial reservoir.
How to catch pike?
After determining “where to look for the toothy fish,” you should take care of your own arsenal of baits. Many people are familiar with fishing with a spinning rod, because it is the main weapon for hunting predators. This type of fishing is popular not only because of its effectiveness, but also because of the enormous splendor of bait, constant contact with the reservoir and active search for predators. Its use is advisable on rivers, lakes, reservoirs and any other water areas. It’s not difficult to master spinning; you just need to purchase an inexpensive set consisting of a rod, reel and cord.
Pond pike are often not picky, and even a beginner can catch it, provided there is a predator in the pond. Along with sport fishing methods, there are stationary methods that involve the use of live bait. To do this, fishermen use “circles” that resemble winter girders. The equipment has no characteristic differences and consists of the structure itself, the main fishing line, a sinker and a leash with a hook. You should not use fluorocarbon leashes, because the “toothy” one bites through any material except metal. Any underwater inhabitant can be used as a nozzle. Roach and rudd have an advantage because their elongated body allows a predator to easily swallow the fish. Crucian carp is also an excellent option. Its survivability preserves the functionality of the equipment for a long time.
Returning to the spinning rod, I would like to note edible rubber, which has become a panacea for lack of bite. Manufacturing with the addition of special attractants, oils and salt gives the bait a huge advantage over alternative baits. Before the freeze-up period, when activity deteriorates significantly, it makes sense to look for a large predator on the riverbed edges of the reservoir. If the channel runs far from the shore, then you can move to the dam, where there is a decent depth.
Purchasing a fry
Pike fry can be purchased from specialized farms, or you can raise them yourself.
Using artificial fertilization of eggs, you can get 10 times more fry than naturally in the wild. During artificial breeding, fewer pike larvae die.
To create the necessary conditions for the life of the eggs, they are kept in special glass containers. Thus, the fry is born after 10 days. For comparison, in the natural environment this process occurs within 1 month. The head of the fry is difficult to see, because part of it closes the gallbladder, which contains nutrients to ensure vital functions for the near future. After 30 days, the fry grow up to 5 cm in length and begin to actively search for food.
In fish farms, you can keep a population of productive fish, from which you can obtain planting material for stocking the pond with pike. To breed fingerlings and further select viable and rapidly developing individuals, fish must be caught in large feeding ponds and reservoirs.
At 1 year of life they are kept in ponds along with carp. Large and medium-sized individuals are selected for breeding. It would also be advisable to select only females that grow much faster than males (it is possible to determine their gender in the autumn season by the presence of reproductive products during autopsy). Having determined the weight of males per large female, it is necessary to select 5 fingerlings with the weight characteristic of males.
Next year they can be kept in ponds for breeding carp broodstock. Thus, adult pikes will eat crucian and carp fry.
The required number of pike breeding stock for a farm is calculated depending on the demand for fry for breeding in artificial ponds. The spawning characteristics of these fish are also taken into account. In the natural environment, no more than 5,000-10,000 fry are produced from 1 nest.
During the process of straining, males produce a small volume of sperm. In this regard, their milk is not enough for mature females. To increase the amount of milk, sperm from males that have been killed is used.
In order for the sperm to be mobile for a longer period of time and its ability to fertilize to be higher, saline solution is added to the milk. To fertilize 3 females, you will need from 500 ml to 1 liter of this solution.
With natural fertilization, there are at least 3 males per 1 female. Using the milk of a killed male (weighing 175 g), up to 50 females can be fertilized. To do this, you need to simultaneously pour the ripened caviar and milk into an enamel bowl. After 30 seconds, you need to stir the eggs using a bird feather. After this, you need to add water and stir again after 15 seconds (so that the duration of fertilization does not exceed 1 minute).
Do I need to feed and what?
To provide the fry with food and increase their yield, part of the reservoir should be separated using a mesh with small cells. Up to 12 perches that have reached sexual maturity are released there. The young perch will be born later and will become food for the pike fry.
If there is not enough food in the pond, the growth of the fry slows down. In this regard, during the breeding of this fish, on the 15th day from the moment the larvae emerge from the eggs, they must be transplanted into a feeding pond. There the fry will be able to obtain food in the required quantity.
You need to know how to catch a fry without harming it. They should be caught with caution: water from the pond must be drained gradually, while simultaneously adding fresh water. It is easiest to catch fry using catchers directly in front of the spillway bed.
To prevent the fry from getting lost in the grass, it must first be mowed and removed.
Fish habitats
The most favorite habitat of fish, by the way, just like its deep-seated friends, is vegetation, for example, it can be an overgrown place near the shore, full of algae or mud, also a favorite place is tree branches lowered into the water, for example, willows, but the most remarkable place is a submerged tree or its roots.
If you suddenly see such a picture, you can be one hundred percent sure that a pike lives there, most often it is a willow, pine or aspen. Such a picture with a tree can usually be seen near steep banks. Another identifying mark is muddy water, so there is absolutely nothing to catch on sandy beaches with clean and clear water, even if there are overgrown areas in such bodies of water.
Spring pike fishing with spinning rod
Wobbler and pike
Spinner for rotan
First of all, this is due to the fact that there are a lot of vacationers and swimmers on such beaches, but on wild beaches it is worth taking a closer look. However, there are some exceptions.
Culinary value of pike
Pike fillet is rich in nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Eating it has a positive effect on the condition of the skin and mucous membranes, the health of the digestive and nervous systems. The meat of this fish normalizes blood sugar levels and acts as an antioxidant. It should be present in the diet if thyroid function is impaired.
Fish contains microelements that have a positive effect on metabolic processes in the body:
- magnesium;
- potassium;
- phosphorus.
Among other things, it contains B vitamins. Regular consumption of this fish (in any form) will reduce the likelihood of cardiac arrhythmia.
Pike fillet contains 84 kcal.
The nutritional value of the product is:
- proteins - 18.4 g;
- fats - 1.1 g;
- carbohydrates - 0 g.
Pike breeding as a business
Pond maintenance as a business has been popular for many decades. The range of equipment for artificial reservoirs is large. It is selected depending on the needs of the individual species of fish that will be grown in it. To raise pike at home, you need to purchase a standard set of mechanisms, which includes:
- Gravity biofilter. It is used to purify water from various types of contaminants and products of flowering of aquatic vegetation.
- Compressors for supplying oxygen to the water column. In principle, they are identical to those installed in home aquariums. The difference lies in the size of the equipment.
- Pumps for pumping in and out of water from a reservoir.
- Feeders to feed the fish.
It is also necessary to install a water supply for a closed RAS, which must take into account all the features of local conditions. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct a preliminary analysis of local conditions and possible risks and prospects in the market.
The selection of equipment for a reservoir has one important feature: the smaller its size, the greater the number of different mechanisms that must be placed in it to create optimal conditions for the life of fish. Therefore, to grow fish in a country house or on a farm, the size of the reservoir must be at least 100 m².
Where to look
The likelihood of encountering a large pike greatly depends on the composition of the water, the depth of the reservoir and the size of the shoreline. The reservoir should have areas with cool water throughout the year, that is, in the summer the reservoir should not warm up to the bottom. That is, various cold water sources must flow into the reservoir, and groundwater inflows are necessary.
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As it turned out, pikes love places where cool underground water flows into a reservoir; they like to camp in such places in the summer.
Pike of the same age living in rivers are slightly shorter than pike living in standing water.
The oxygen content in the reservoir should not fall below 3 mg/l. Because of this condition, it is pointless to look for trophy pike in reservoirs that are less than 3 meters deep; it is unlikely to survive there and can only enter by accident or during spawning. For this reason, in the warm season, when the oxygen level in the water drops sharply, the predator will find and look for places with cool water in which there is more oxygen.
Trophy fish require large prey sufficient to satisfy its appetite and spend a minimum of energy on its extraction. For this reason, the predator should be looked for in reservoirs rich in food supply for white fish. Trophy pike will live in such places. To catch it, you need to use large baits.
Often during feeding, pike are close to places with a high density of perch.
The main food item is perch measuring 8-10 cm. An additional food item is bream, so large schools of bream always attract a predator.
Large pike are rarely found in the same place, they are constantly expanding their hunting territory and often have two to four feeding sites.
In lakes where there is no food supply of relatively large sizes, most pike grow slowly and rarely reach sizes of more than a meter. Nevertheless, they meet and hunt their smaller brothers. For this reason, on some lakes there may not be small pike, perhaps there are only large ones, but they will ignore your small bait, try changing the size and maybe you will get lucky.
Water clarity has been found to influence the weight of predators. As a rule, in reservoirs where the visual depth of visibility is one meter greater, compared to other reservoirs, the weight of the fish is 6% more. Therefore, the cleaner the water in the reservoir, the thicker the pike in it.
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In places where there is a long winter in shallow water bodies that freeze almost to the bottom, the probability of survival of a trophy pike is almost zero.
A layer of ice blocks the supply of oxygen to the reservoir, which is why plants and other fish begin to actively consume oxygen, and new ones are not produced by plants due to the lack of sunlight. For this reason, a well-known fish pestilence occurs. In such cases, trophy fish practically do not survive, but small specimens may well survive. There is no point in looking for trophies in such places.
