HABITAT

Distribution

The northern pike can be found almost everywhere north of the fiftieth parallel in North America, Europe, and Asia. In North America its furthest southward limit is the Ohio River and its northern limit is Alaska. Whether the fish is found in the Soviet Union, England, Ireland, or Canada, biologists see it as the same fish in all jurisdictions. In Canada, there are few areas where the pike can't be found. But they are absent from large areas of British Columbia and the Maritime provinces. Records show that northern Ontario is the place where these big fish are at home. Or is it? It might just indicate that northern waters are the place where people fish for pike. There may be fish somewhere in the lower Great Lakes that might intimidate the northern fish.

On the other hand, pike may not live long enough in the south to really achieve the growth that northern fish do. The pike's life span seems to be related to how fast the fish grows. If a pike lives in warm waters in the southern part of its range, it may be finished after ten or 12 years. In the north, though, slow-growing coldwater pike may live as long as 24 or 26 years on the average.

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