Apex Predator

"Do these things have teeth?"

Let's just start here. We don't condone it. We don't promote it. We don't try to make a buck off it. It's a shame that they are here, and the people responsible for spreading them around have forever altered the landscape of Maine fishing's on a rapidly increasing number of waters. The responsible parties are criminals, plain and simple, and their decisions have, and will continue, to rob generations of what once was.

Northern Pike are a menace, but they are here, and unfortunately, there is no going back. The spread of invasive fish species in Maine has become so alarming that I am giving some serious thought to pulling out altogether and heading for greener pastures. It seems that their spread has no end in sight, and as they continue to expand, the collapse of more cold water fisheries seems likely to follow- if the Belgrade Lakes are any indication.

That's a pretty tough pill to swallow.

We fish rivers where these fish are present, and we do from time to time hook them, and even manage to land them on 8 pound flourcarbon tippets. So, yes, we are smiling in this picture, because in the moment, it was something to smile about- three guys, fishing on a river, and sticking a big fish in the net (anybody would be smiling with that thing latched onto the end a 6 wt!). But in the big picture, it's a reminder of what we as anglers in Maine have lost, and what we are going to continue to lose in the future.

It was a great fish to catch on a fly rod, and the gentleman who managed it should be proud, and I don't mean to detract from a personal achievement in anyway.

I just wish we had done it in Minnesota, or Wisconsin, or Canada, or where ever the hell these things came from.

Tyler