Spawning of pike

Pike one of the first goes to spawn, so zhor it occurs in late February and lasts only until early March.

After winter, the fish is depleted, during the winter it loses all fat reserves, so in search of food it goes to the mouths of rivers, to small streams, in search of an opportunity to profit prey.

During this period, the predator eagerly swallows any fish that it manages to catch. Her victim could be roach, bleak, crucian, even goby and minnows, which she ignores in the summer.

Spawning of pike occurs in small rivers or streams, where there are necessary conditions for the life of young animals. In some cases, the fish spawn in bays with a quiet current. The main thing is that the place has a suitable depth for laying eggs.

This predator spawns in the third year of his life. At this time, it already reaches a length of thirty centimeters with a weight of 350 grams. Males are ready to participate in breeding already from two years, although some of them mature in a year.

The time for laying eggs is related to the geographical location of the pond where the pike should spawn. The more north it is, the later spawning begins.

The optimum depth, on which the spawning usually takes place, is one and a half meters. For reproduction, this predator prefers sites with a hard, covered vegetation, a bottom with standing water or a very weak current.

Spawning of pike begins, usually at the end of March or early April.

Very often it is a coastal edge in narrow open water, while on the greater part of the reservoir there is still loose ice. And in closed reservoirs, it can come and a little later, in 2-3 weeks, depending on the degree of thawing of ice.

Early pike spawn is due to the fact that during this period the remaining predators are either inactive or not yet present. This provides protection for the development of eggs and juveniles.

In addition, it allows young animals to have fodder in the form of fry of other fish, which spawn later. By the time of their appearance, small carnivores already have significant sizes and pass on to this kind of food.

The pike spawns in small flocks, usually three or four, of which only one is a female. Often there are fights between males. Once in spawning place, the eggs begin to lay off the smallest fish, then the middle ones, and only then comes the turn of the largest pike.

To the spawning grounds, predators come up late at night. The most active time for laying eggs is midday, as pikes are already exhausted by the evening. All night they rest in the nearest floodplain and in the morning they renew the spawning with a new force.

Spawning of pikes is the only time when she does not eat anything. It is usually believed that after the end of laying eggs for several weeks, it is sick and does not feed. In fact, the female may well "eat" a male immediately after mating, although this is not a very common phenomenon.

The number of eggs in pike is about twenty percent of their weight. To develop young fish, water should be heated to 8-10 degrees. Caviar ripens a week and a half, although in small water, where the sun gets to, small fish can appear in 8 days.

To ensure the normal reproduction until the end of March, all ponds are prohibited from fishing for pike.

After the spawning of the pike predator, the zhor begins. The fish remains close to the spawning site, where there is a weak current. The first to begin to live on individuals that have reached a weight of just over a half a kilogram.

As the water warms up, the pike is activated. Trying to satisfy her hunger, she loses caution and rushes to practically all the baits.

Fishing for pike in the spring is short-lived: "fishing happiness" lasts about two weeks. During this period the spoon-bait is not so important, the main thing is that the skills of the spinner get bait in the field of view of the predator.