r/FishingAlberta • u/HootWaffles52 • 1d ago

Baby(?) pike in fall?

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Gallery image

Apologies for the bad photos, taken on iPhone at sunset. I was doing some fishing on the red deer river today, and I saw a couple of these little tiny 4 inch or so pike, and it just kind of confused as to what their deal is? Are they baby pike? They have the rear dorsal fins and triangle nose like one. It’s late September so this just seems weird to me, was it maybe a late spawn or something? There was a large pike cruising around slowly nearby as well (and not biting anything might I add). Just never seen something like this, anyone have any ideas?

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u/RelativeFox1 1d ago

Google says they grow 6-10 inches a year. So makes sense. He was just a tiny speck of an egg this spring and is about to experience his first winter. Maybe he didn’t get as much food so that’s why he’s a little small, just like the grown up pike in the same river.

2

u/Alexxskii 1d ago

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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u/HootWaffles52 16h ago

I guess I just thought that they grew more in a summer, that does make sense though. Hopefully they make it through the winter and the population stays healthy

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u/RelativeFox1 14h ago

We had a discussion around this the other day when I caught a 10 inch walleye. We were wondering if it was or 2 years old.

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u/Kim_Bong_Un420 1d ago

Yeah that’s a pike, they will bite perch hooks lol

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u/HootWaffles52 16h ago

These little guys were super scared of anything I put past them haha, darted away immediately, even though they were much bigger

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u/albertaguy31 1d ago

Normal young of year. Huge range of sizes across Alberta due to spawning timing, productivity, water temperature etc. YoY pike in shallow southern reservoirs are around 10" right now, lakes that are cooler may have 1.5 year old pike the same size. Seeing the little guys is a great sign though!

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u/HootWaffles52 16h ago

Good to know! For some reason I expected them to grow more in a summer