Nonchalant Perch and a Pike

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

I was visited by a pike today on the Avon - lurking there in the shallows around my swim and about 2ft long (I was float fishing... and not for pike).

What struck me as odd, was that there were a number of small perch accompanying the pike and seemingly indifferent to the danger. The perch were positioned only a little deeper than the pike - possibly out of sight, due to the position of a pike's eyes?

I've had a couple of pike take a perch as I've been bringing the fish to the net, so (other than my eye theory) I don't understand why the pike didn't attack the perch, or why the perch apparently felt safe.

Can anyone explain this behaviour?
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[mikench]

It’s very common on many waters to have pike hovering near your peg ready to pounce as your catch is on its way to the net or, more usually, as you release it. Maybe the perch were following the political advice of keeping your friends close but your enemies even closer. Fish have brains without a doubt.

 

[Philip]

I have a very clear memory from when i was a kid fishing a tiny chalkstream that in most places was only inches deep. However on one bend there was a deeper pool of perhaps a couple of feet and hovering in the middle of it was a Pike. It was only a few pounds in weight but was surrounded by other fish, small roach, dace, minnows and so on, literally all round it and swimming inches from its mouth but it was totally ignoring them. Anyway i decided to try and catch it so caught a small fish and stuck it on a hook with a wire trace with a float. I then plonked it in the pool with the Pike a few feet away from it. The livebait was clearly struggling to swim on the hooks and under the float and the reaction from the Pike was instantaneous. It immediatly began twitching its fins to inch itself round to directly face the bait then shot across the pool like a bullet to grab it. Remember this was whilst still surrounded by other fish.

Imo that Pike attack, as are many, was triggered by what was clearly a distressed fish that was an easy target. While the PIke was not going to expend energy tying to chase the other "healthy" prey around the wounded fish was too good an opportunity to miss.

 

[theartist]

Like Philip's post I also think that pike simply may not have the ability to catch healthy fish, I've also witnessed on a clear chalkstream (the aquarium educator for the angling masses) shoals of roach drift by stationary pike within inches, often the shoals would split in two and go either side knowing full well they got the reaction to get out of there if said Esox got twitchy. But a fish in distress will be a trigger moment no doubt

As an aside I think pike prefer roach to perch no ends up, rarely get one take a perch compared to their favourite red finned buffet the roach which they'll take the first decent one you hook on many occasions.

Also disoriented fish are an opportunity, we've all had pike sit there waiting for our returned fish haven't we?, On one swim on the broads(Bure I think) I had two pike and two big perch in a brief spell by a boat mooring just by lowering the caught fish back in the water by my feet.

 

[Kevin aka Aethelbald]

Imo that Pike attack, as are many, was triggered by what was clearly a distressed fish that was an easy target. While the PIke was not going to expend energy tying to chase the other "healthy" prey around the wounded fish was too good an opportunity to miss.

Great answer - all of it! I guess the pike's long turning circle probably doesn't help in its ability to catch a quick, agile and healthy fish, unless by ambush.

I imagine that numbers fluctuate anyway, but if the prey was too easy to catch, numbers would fall in populations of both predator and prey. Whereas nature / evolution has resulted in a healthy balance.

(Not a true comparison, but when a bird of prey is mobbed by smaller birds, it doesn't put up a fight because it's not worth the effort, or risk of injury. Creatures are smart enough to know best where their next meal is coming from.)
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[Peter Jacobs]

The best one I encountered was at Britford on the Hampshire Avon when teaching the lovely Claudia Crowther (an ex FM member, older members here will remmber her) to trot a stick float. She had been getting on well with me keeping the feed going in and was catvhing roach after roach almost at one per trot and getting quite proficient.

The Bailiff, Stuart, stopped for a bit of a chat and with Claudia reeling in another nice roach when a large pike took the hooked roach. in a huge swirl almost at our feet. Thankfuly it let it go with little sign of any distress. Stuart said he knew that pike, as it has been landed the week before at . . . 24lbs . . . .

 

[Ray Roberts]

A couple of years ago I went for a walk to kill some time when I went to pick up one of my sons. He called after I had left to let me know he wouldn’t be ready for another hour. I decided to take a walk along the banks of the river Cray in a local park. I spotted a few smaller fish, then on my way back to my car I spotted a chub of about three pounds. It was easy to see as unfortunately it had a large patch of white fungus on its flank. I stayed watching it for a few minutes and as I was staring into the water I spotted a pike that was probably approaching double figures edging slowly upstream towards it. The pike was almost static and the movement of it’s fins virtually imperceptible. It got to about four or five feet away and I had to leave before the drama played out to the final conclusion, but it was interesting how stealthily the pike snuck up to its prey. I managed to get a picture of the pike but the chub is just out of shot. Maybe the pike mentioned by the OP was biding its time and the smaller fish would have copped it eventually, slowly, slowly catchy monkey, lol. The presence of a distressed fish may have over come its patience, like a fat bloke walking past a hamburger stall.

This is the pike that I was watching, the water is about a foot or so deep and very clear.

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