Pike found choked on zander in Netherlands

 

By Patrick Jackson BBC News

Mr Spaargaren found the fish near his home

Anglers are scratching their heads after a pike was found dead with a zander - a fish of similar size - jammed in its mouth in the Netherlands.

Rene Spaargaren, from Almere near Amsterdam, noticed the dead fish locked together in water near his home and dragged them out with a boat hook.

"It was clear that the pike had bitten off more than it could chew - or swallow, rather," he told BBC News.

British angling expert Charles Jardine said the event was "really unusual".

"What on Earth possessed the pike to take on prey that size?" he asked. "Gluttony just killed that fish."

Mr Spaargaren reported his find to the Dutch nature conservation news website Natuurbericht, which published the story and one of his incredible photographs.
'Not a python'
He came across the fish while doing some work by his jetty this week.

The pike was unable to release its catch once it had bitten

Having calculated roughly that the pike measured about 1m (3.2ft) long and the zander about 75cm (2ft 5in), with a combined weight of about 15 kilos (33lb), he threw them back in the water.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Jardine explained that the zander, sometimes known as the "pike-perch" because of its similarities to the two other species of fish, was an unusual choice of target for a pike.

"A pike is not an alligator or a python - it will not accommodate similar-sized food," he told the BBC.

"Because the teeth on a pike go backward, it would have been unable to release its grip on the zander. It was a death grip for the fish."

Mr Jardine, who champions angling among schoolchildren for the Countryside Alliance Foundation, added: "I have seen Victorian pictures of such things, done with artistic licence, but nobody gave them much credence."

A similar phenomenon was reported in Suffolk, England, in October 2011, when a pike was found dead with a carp in its mouth.

However, that pike was more than four times the size of its prey, according to an article in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20971848

Boat, outdoor shows open Thursday at I-X Center

By D'Arcy Egan, The Plain DeThe Plain Dealer

Boat, outdoor shows open Thursday at I-X Center, with Lake Erie walleye in spotlight

Lake Erie's legendary walleye fishing will be featured at both the Cleveland Outdoor Adventure

 

Show and the Mid-America Boat Show, both opening Thursday at the I-X Center. Max Hartman, 6, reeled in this trophy walleye while late-season walleye fishing on Lake Erie with his dad, fisheries biologist Travis Hartman of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The youngster can forever boast he once caught a walleye longer than his arm - or even his leg. Travis hartman

The Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show and the Mid-America Boat Show both open Thursday at the I-X Center in Cleveland. They are independent shows, with separate admissions, but do have something in common: Lake Erie walleye.
Walleye are the premier game fish around here, driving boat sales and supporting a $2 billion fishing and tourism industry. As expected, both shows focus on the area's favorite fish. The boat show runs through Monday, while the outdoor show wraps up Sunday.
President Ken Alvey of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, producer of the Mid-America Boat Show, says about 75 percent of the boats sold by Northeast Ohio dealers will at one time or another launch on Lake Erie.
"The majority of boats sold here are designed for Lake Erie fishing," Alvey said. "It's not only good for boat sales, which are finally on the upswing this year, but critical for local tourism, and the success of area bait and tackle shops, hotels, motels and restaurants."
Travis Hartman, a fisheries biologist at the Division of Wildlife's Sandusky Fish Research Unit, expects this year's walleye fishing to be about the same as it was in 2012, even with reports of poor walleye reproduction and a shrinking walleye population.
"Lake Erie drives the bus when it comes to statewide license sales and angling effort, a reason the Division of Wildlife has an Erie-centric point of view," Hartman said. "Our 2012 (netting) surveys are done, and I don't see much difference in the walleye population for 2013," said Hartman. "If the weather cooperates, we should see lots of walleye in the 16- to 20-inch range caught around the Western Basin throughout the summer. The prime areas for trophy walleye will be from Kelleys Island to Conneaut."
A little more than 400,000 walleye were caught in 2011, a slump caused by extreme weather, lots of wind and rain and an algal bloom not seen since the 1960s. Good fishing weather in 2012 jump-started a walleye fishing resurgence. The annual catch jumping to about 1 million fish, the average over the last decade.
"The walleye fishing may never again be like the 1980s, when you could catch a limit in a couple of hours. The fishing is still be pretty good these days, depending on the weather, of course."
There has been a change in what Lake Erie anglers want from the big lake. A couple of decades ago, walleye ruled. These days, the annual Lake Erie catch is made up of about a 50-50 mix of walleye and yellow perch, a popular panfish with a liberal daily bag limit of 30 fish.
The Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show will have a wealth of deer and turkey seminars and a trophy deer contest, as well as a mix of fishing seminars. New this year will be kayak fishing and fly casting clinics with Eric Lindstrom of The Backpackers Shop in Sheffield. The legendary Spence Petros returns to talk fishing; Carl Bachtel tackles ice fishing and crappie angling; and guide Pete Alex has the corner on walleye fishing tactics.
For youth anglers, the trout pond is back, and it's free.
Headlining the walleye seminars at the Mid-America Boat Show are Mark Brumbaugh, Jim and Rich Stedke, Gary and Nicholas Zart, Scott Stecher and Hartman. They'll team up for the Walleye College on Saturday from 2-5 p.m. The Bass College on Jan. 20 from 1-4 p.m. features Jonathan Shoemaker, Bryan Coates and Joe Balog. Lance Valentine has seminars on boating electronics.
The boat show is giving away 100 rods and reels to youngsters attending the Saturday Kids Fishing Clinic on Jan. 19 at noon.


Full Article:  http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2013/01/boat_outdoor_shows_open_thursd.html