Blue Pike?

[wall-i-king]

Hey Guys
was up fising Many Point lake in the ponsford ares this weekend and I was wondering if any of you have ever seen a blue pike out of lakes in the DL area or anywhere for that matter. I was staying at Whaley's resort on the lake and someone brought in a fish that I am saying was for sure a blue pike. They had a stringer of walleyes and the first thing taht I noticed was that one of them had a distinct bluish tint to it. It was not even golden at all. It looked like a walleye but it was blue. What are your thoughts on this. I am almost convinced what I saw was a blue pike but I am wondering if any of you have seen the same thing or if it was maybe just a mutated pigment or something. Hope to hear from ya.

keep fishin'
wall-i-king

[mooneye]

I've fished Many Point quite a bit but have never heard of it having blue walleye. I have however heard of lakes in Ontario that have them, they are usually really deep lakes and Many Point definitely falls into this category. That is interesting...

[cookboy]

I seem to recall my great uncle from Texas occasionally calling walleye, blue pike.

[mooneye]

Hey Wall-i-King,

I did some more searching on these fish and found this site,
www.fishontario.com/articles/blue-walleye/
check it out...apparently they are native to Lake Erie, Niagra River, and Lake Ontario....

[RK]

Hiya,
As someone else mentioned, 'blue pike' were supposedly native and unique to some of the great lakes and connected waters. There was a major commercial fishery for them on Erie, and between that and water quality issues, they're generally regarded as extinct in Erie. Very little is known about them - they don't know if they were a genetic strain of walleye, an odd color variant, or a whole 'nother species. There are occasionally reports of them being caught in some of the lakes up there, and I know there is some research going on about them, but I don't think there are any difinitive answers as to exactly what they were genetically.

As far as Many Point goes, I can remember my dad, who's now in his 60s, talking about catching funny looking walleyes there when he was a kid - my great uncle ran a camp on the lake way back when (I'm named after him, and he was apparently prone to dropping everything and going fishing on a regular basis too - funny how that works...). My guess is it's just a color mutation that shows up in walleyes there from time to time - a genetic oddity. There are a number of relatively common color mutations in fish of all species, one real common one being stark yellow coloring.

Then there's the OTHER blue pike, which are sometimes called Sliver Pike. These are actually northern pike rather than walleyes, and they are, in fact, sorta blue. In a few lakes, pike show up that have no markings on them at all, just silvery sides and blue/green backs. They are neat looking as all get out. I've caught them up to about 12 lbs. (a lake I ice fish has a lot of them) and the state record is 19 lbs, out of Snowbank Lake. Mary Penny and Jack Penny, who write for us at Esox Angler, and are two of the best big pike specialists in the world, have caught several big silver pike in Canada and Alaska. Mary caught one year before last that was a shade over 25 pounds. If you glanced at the photo you'd think it was a clear sided muskie, but it's a great big pike. Silver pike can show up in any lake, but are fairly common in a few lakes in MN like Belle Taine near Nevis and a few other lakes around Nevis and Park Rapids, for example. It wouldn't surprise me if they're in Many Point as well. They're cool looking fish.

Cheers,
RK

[Chico]

I remember catching walleye that had the blue tint when I was a kid growing up on Rainy Lake. I guess I never thought it was a variance in the species. Interesting.

Hey cookboy- Does your name mean you're from the great northeast logging town of Cook? If so, have you been on Vermillion this year and what is the news up there?

Adios

Chico

[This message has been edited by Chico (edited 06-04-2004).]

[cookboy]

Chico, yes I am from the metropolis of Cook. I grew up on Vermilion and my folks still live there.
I was just there last weekend and the fishing was poor. My wife caught 1 walleye friday night and that was it. The wind made it impossible to get out the rest of the weekend. I did catch a few on opener but, the fishing wasn't as good as it usually is. My friends who fish it often said they have been getting them in deeper water. The old timers say it's been to cold. So, hopefully better fishing is yet to come.
Most folks have never heard of Cook let alone know where it is. color me impressed.

[Beeber]

Hey Cookboy,

What year did you graduate. I graduated from CHS in 91.

Later

Beeber

[blackdog]

Hey RK

Have you caught a flying carp yet in your Tuffy boat?

[cookboy]

Beeber,
'89. I'm the only Bergman from that year.

[RK]

Hey Blackdog -

Tuffy's history man - sold it this winter. Running around in a Tracker Tundra... No flying carp tho. Snagged a sheepshead in the tail fishing walleyes this spring. That count?

What's new w/you?

RK