Shaped for attack, demonised and feared, the pike is written into the history of fishing as a savage cannibal of immense appetites. Medieval in appearance, with its marbled flank of gold and green and a head similar to a Barracuda, these fish demand to be at the very top of the aquatic food chain. They have survived for millions of years and are so vital to the maintenance of the delicate balance of healthy wild fish populations in our river systems. These fish are the true keepers of the stream.
This is a single minded creature capable of long periods, weeks or more, of motionless waiting on the bed of the river. A predator so static that it gathers the silt as it smokes across the river bottom. You can even see them in outline as large brown logs, static and apparently indifferent, patiently waiting and waiting until senses alert and with the arc of the river in view, they sense a distressed or diseased fish and attack their prey with explosive force. They live in the dark backwaters of the river, the silent low flow water roofed with an accumulated debris of plants, flowers and reeds. Here they are protected and undisturbed from water turbulence and have maximum visibility to the food they are waiting for, and are protected from the larger cannibalistic female pike who are the main threat to their survival. It is not always easy being at the top of the food chain.
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