Northern pike
Esox lucius
Also known asPike · Jackfish · Jack (Canadian colloquial) · Hecht (German) · Brochet (French)
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 2000 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 45% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.50% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.50% of body weight
- Max density
- 20 g per litre
A 5000 g adult eats about 75.0 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~750 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | prohibited | Invasive in Alaska outside its native Yukon-drainage range; active eradication; possession of live pike restricted. verified 2026-05-29 |
| Washington | prohibited | Prohibited invasive in the Columbia River basin; live possession banned. verified 2026-05-29 |
| eu-general | check local regulations | Native; game and food fish, pond stocking regulated by member states. verified 2026-05-29 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Esox lucius, the northern pike, is one of the most widely distributed freshwater fish in the world, circumpolar across the northern hemisphere: North America from Alaska through Canada into the northern United States, Europe from Britain to Siberia, and northern Asia. It is an apex freshwater predator that ambushes prey from cover in weedy, shallow water, taking fish above all but also frogs, crayfish, and the occasional small mammal or bird. Most fish run 40 to 55 cm, with adults to about 1 to 1.5 metres and the largest near 150 cm and 28 kg; the rod-and-line record is a 25 kg pike from Germany in 1986, and fish grow larger in Eurasia than in North America. Females outlive and outgrow males, reaching twenty years or more. The flesh is white, flaky, and well flavored but famously bony, threaded with Y-shaped intramuscular bones that make filleting awkward and limit its market in North America, though pike is prized food in much of Europe, especially Scandinavia and central Europe.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- temperate (handles seasonal swings)
- USDA zones
- 3–8 (winter low around -40°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- no
- Cooling needed
- no
Care notes
A cold-water predator with very limited aquaponics use, here for completeness. Pike are near-obligate piscivores that eat other fish and largely refuse pelleted feed in most settings, though some European hatcheries have pellet-trained fingerlings under tight control with uneven success. Raising them usually means a steady supply of live feeder fish, which is costly, labor-heavy, and a route for parasites and disease. They are cold-water fish, best around 15–20°C within a range of about 4–24°C, spawning in early spring when water first reaches roughly 6 to 12 C. Growth on live prey is fast, 500–1 g in the first year and continuing for years, with feed conversion around 3 to 5 because the feed is whole prey rather than concentrated pellet. Cannibalism is severe and size-driven: young pike eat smaller young pike, and in the wild only a small fraction of hatchlings survive, so culture demands single-size cohorts and frequent grading. Stock low, 5 to 10 g/L, since pike are solitary, territorial ambush hunters. The species is not recommended for aquaponics; it matters mainly in European extensive pond polyculture, where a few pike are stocked to crop excess carp and bream fry and keep populations in balance. Note that pike are a damaging invasive in parts of the western US, such as Alaska and the Columbia basin, where they are prohibited.