North American Journal of Fisheries Management 14:769-775, 1994 > Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 1994

Hooking Mortality of Northern Pike Angled through Ice

ROBERT B. DuBois
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Post Office Box 125. Brule, Wisconsin 54820, USA

TERRY L. MARGENAU
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Post Office Box 309, Spooner. Wisconsin 54801. USA

R. SCOT STEWART
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2801 Coho Street, Suite 101, Madison. Wisconsin 53713. USA
PAUL K. CUNNINGHAM

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 101 South Webster Street. Post Office Box 7921. Madison. Wisconsin 53707. USA

PAUL W. RASMUSSEN
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 1350 Femrite Drive. Monona. Wisconsin 53716, USA Abstract. Short-term (48-h) hooking mortality was examined for 185 northern pike Esox lucius angled through ice on baited still lines from three Wisconsin lakes. Mortality from capture with size-4 treble hooks baited with live fish was negligible (< 1%); however, mortality associated with pike hooks (also known as Swedish hooks) baited with rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax was substantial (33%). Additionally, mortality was greater for deeply hooked fish, and for fish exposed to short handling times. Pike hooks were associated with a higher percentage of deeply hooked fish than were treble hooks, but hooking location alone did not fully explain the difference in mortality between hook types. Offish that bled at capture, 84% survived. The length of time that northern pike were allowed to run with the bait plus the time associated with hooking and landing the fish was unrelated to either mortality or hooking location. The use of pike hooks may not be compatible with management of northern pike fisheries if minimum size limits or catch-and-release regulations are used to attain management objectives. The northern pike Esox lucius is a popular yearround target of anglers throughout the southern part of its North American range. However, populations in some lakes have reduced size structures because of overexploitation (Kempinger and Carline 1978; Diana 1983; Olson and Cunningham 1989). The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has proposed increased minimum length limits and reduced possession limits to reduce exploitation of northern pike in some waters. The success of these regulations would depend on angler compliance and the survival of released fish; however, information on hooking mortality of northern pike is scarce, and no information is available for those caught through ice. Ice-angled northern pike constitute a large portion of the annual harvest of this species from Wisconsin lakes62% of the annual harvest from lakes smaller than 200 ha and 36% of the annual harvest from lakes larger than 200 ha (WDNR, unpublished data). Low levels of hooking mortality have typically been reported for northern pike caught during icefree conditions. Burkholder (1992) reported mortality ranging from 0 to 4.8% for northern pike held for 5 d after capture with artificial lures rigged with a variety of hook types from small experimental ponds and a lake in Alaska. Falk and Gillman (1975) used artificial lures with single and treble hooks to capture northern pike and reported relatively low mortality (5.3-10.5%). Although it was not the primary focus of their study, Weithman and Anderson (1978) reported low hooking mortality (<2%) of yearling esocids (combined assortment of northern pike, muskellunge Esox masquinongy. and their F\ hybrid) caught on artificial spinners. Similarly, Beukema (1970) incidentally reported low, but unspecified, mortality

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of northern pike angled with artificial spinners or live cyprinids. During winter in Wisconsin, northern pike are typically still-fished through ice with natural bait, and anglers often allow fish to run with the bait for several seconds to several minutes before setting the hook. This method of fishing might result in a greater percentage of deeply hooked fish relative to those hooked more quickly on artificial baits. Additionally, unhooking northern pike can be a relatively lengthy process that often requires anglers to use jaw spreaders and other tools to avoid being injured by the fish's teeth. Thus, there is concern about the survival of northern pike released after being caught through ice. We evaluated the mortality of northern pike caught through ice with two hook types commonly used in Wisconsin. Our objectives were to measure the short-term (48-h) mortality associated with each hook type and to assess whether hooking location, handling time, fish size, or the amount of time fish were allowed to take the bait contributed to mortality.
Methods Northern pike hooking mortality was examined once at each of three lakes. Angling on Long Lake (4635'N, 9120'W) occurred on 15 December 1992 from 0800 to 1530 hours with the aid of 28 volunteer anglers. Long Lake is a softwater seepage lake with a surface area of 106 ha and maximum depth of 7 m. Air temperature varied from 1 to 4C, and wind speed was less than 5 km/h. On Lipsett Lake (4553'N, 9203'W), angling occurred on 30 January 1993 from 0800 to 1600 hours with aid from 39 anglers. Lipsett Lake is a 161 -ha drainage lake with a maximum depth of 7 m. Air temperature ranged from 1 to 3C, and wind speed averaged about 16 km/h. On Lake Mendota (4307'N, 8925'W), 43 volunteers fished from 0800 to 1630 hours on 20 February 1993. Lake Mendota is a 3,983-ha drainage lake with a maximum depth of 25 m. Air temperature varied from -6 to -2C, and wind speed averaged 21 km/h. Volunteer anglers included only natural resources professionals and members of local sports clubs. Anglers used commercially purchased tip-ups, lines, and steel leaders of their choice, but were provided with two standardized hook and bait types commonly used by Wisconsin anglers. We examined separately the mortality of northern pike hooked on size-4 treble hooks baited with live white suckers Catostomus commersoni or golden

shiners Notemigonus crysoleucas, 11-19 cm long, and pike hooks (also known as Swedish hooks; Figure 1) baited with dead rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, 12-15 cm long. Both size-4 and size-10 pike hooks were used in this study, but there is little difference in size between them (Figure 1). These were the most common hooks bought by northern pike anglers in bait shops in our area. Anglers on Long Lake and Lake Mendota were asked to fish at least one pike hook. (Each angler is allowed to fish three lines in Wisconsin.) Data collection methods were the same on all three lakes; flag time, handling time, anatomical hooking location, occurrence of bleeding, and total length (TL) were recorded for each northern pike captured. Flag time consisted of the length of time from the strike (indicated by a raised tip-up flag) to the time the fish was removed from the water. Playing time (hook set to removal from the water) was not recorded separately, but was invariably just a few seconds. Therefore, flag time closely approximated the amount of time fish were allowed to run with the bait. Handling time commenced when a northern pike was removed from the water and ended with its placement into a water-filled cooler (45-L volume or larger), and included unhooking (anglers used jaw spreaders and forceps), measurement, and fin-clipping or Floy-tagging. On Long and Lipsett lakes, northern pike were given minimal tip-of-fin clips to indicate the type of hook used, occurrence of bleeding, and one of four hooking locations: jaws, roof or floor of the mouth and tongue, gill, and gullet (esophagus and stomach). On Lake Mendota northern pike were Floy-tagged because there were other studies in progress involving fin-clipped fish. After initial data collection, northern pike were transferred to a central holding area on each lake within 10 min of capture. On all three lakes, two cylindrical holding nets (both 1.2 m in diameter, one 2.7 m long, the other 3.7 m long) were suspended side by side in water about 4.5 m deep. The surrounding areas were fenced with snow fencing for public safety. During the 48-h holding period each hole in the ice was covered with 2.5cm-thick styrofoam sheeting, which was then covered with snow to minimize refreezing. After 48 h, northern pike were recorded as dead, alive (active, easily able to orient, and showing no sign of serious injury), or crippled (sluggish, slow to orient, or showing other evidence of serious injury). All surviving fish were released. Logistic regression models were used to examine the effects of lake, hook type, hooking location,

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FIGURE 1 .Illustration of a rainbow smell as typically fished on a size-10 pike hook with a size-4 pike hook and a size-4 treble hook shown for comparison. All hooks are drawn to the same scale.

fish length, flag time, and handling time on mortality within 48 h of capture and on bleeding at the time of capture. Significance tests for logistic regression models were based on likelihood ratio chi-square tests for the effect of dropping the factor from the model (Agresti 1990). Northern pike hooked in the gills, esophagus, and stomach were classified as deeply hooked. (Those hooked in the gills could not be considered as a separate category for statistical analysis because the sample size was too small.) Northern pike hooked in the jaws, roof of the mouth, floor of the mouth, or snagged externally were classified as superficially hooked. We also used logistic regression models to investigate the relationship between hooking location and lake, hook type, fish length, and flag time. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the effects of lake, hook type, and hooking location on handling time. We did not use data from Lake Mendota in the statistical analyses because of the low number of fish caught, lack of deaths, and the fact that no fish were caught on pike hooks. Data were analyzed with the SAS (SAS Institute 1989) and S-Plus (Statistical Sciences 1991) statistical programs.

Results Angler Catch Anglers caught 185 northern pike from the three lakes; 161 were taken on treble hooks and 24 on pike hooks. On Lake Mendota, northern pike were caught only on treble hooks. Sizes of northern pike caught on Long Lake (mean TL, 457 mm; range, 325-693 mm; N = 83) and Lipsett Lake (mean TL, 447 mm; range, 368-650 mm; N = 94) were similar, whereas fish caught from Lake Mendota were larger (mean TL, 640 mm; range, 549-759 mm, TV = 8). Northern pike caught on pike hooks averaged 495 mm TL, slightly larger than the average of 455 mm TL for treble-hooked fish. Catch rates were 0.40 and 0.34 fish/angler-hour on Long and Lipsett lakes, respectively (hook types combined); a catch rate for Lake Mendota was not calculated because some anglers left the lake unannounced due to slow fishing. Flag times averaged 89 s (range, 10-315 s) on the three lakes and did not differ among lakes (P = 0.80, ANOVA).

Mortality and Hooking Injury On Long Lake, 5 of 13 northern pike captured

on pike hooks died, compared with 0 of 70 north-

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TABLE 1.Mortality of northern pike caught through ice on treble hooks and pike hooks in three Wisconsin lakes. Deep hooking = gills, esophagus, and stomach; superficial hooking = jaws, roof or floor of mouth, or snagged externally.
Number Num- dead Percent 95% ber after mor- confidence interval caught 48 h tality 11 13 24
26 135 161 185

Hook type Pike

Hooking location Deep Superficial Total Deep Superficial Total

6 2 8
1 0 1 9

54.5 15.4 33.3 3.8 0 0.6

4.9

27.1-80.0 2.8-41.0 17.8-52.1

0.2-17.0 0-2.2 0-2.9 2.6-8.3

Treble

Overall

ern pike captured on treble hooks. Results from Lipsett Lake were similar; 3 of 11 northern pike caught on pike hooks died, compared with only 1 of 83 taken on treble hooks. All 8 northern pike angled from Lake Mendota on treble hooks were alive after 48 h. Combining results from the three lakes, less than 1% of northern pike caught on treble hooks died, whereas 33% of those caught on pike hooks died. Among the 9 northern pike that died, 6 had been hooked in the esophagus or stomach (of only 13 northern pike so hooked), and 1 had been hooked in a gill (of 25 so hooked), 1 in the roof of the mouth, and 1 in the upper jaw. Mortality was greater for fish caught on pike hooks (P = 0.0003), for deeply hooked fish (P < 0.0001; Table 1), and for fish subjected to short handling times (P < 0.0001). Handling times were not recorded for 13 of the 185 fish, including 1 that died. With only 8 deaths among fish for which handling times had been recorded, it was difficult to assess whether the effect of handling time was linear on the logistic scale. Therefore, the data were reanalyzed without including handling time

as an independent variable; this provided a larger data set because it included fish with missing handling times. Hook type (P < 0.0001) and hooking location (P = 0.006) were also significant factors in this analysis. No interactions among independent variables were significant for either of these analyses. The estimated proportions of fish that would die according to the model that included only hook type and hooking location were 0.58 for deeply hooked and 0.13 for superficially hooked fish caught on pike hooks, and 0.026 for deeply hooked and 0.003 for superficially hooked fish caught on treble hooks. Logistic regression models for bleeding at capture gave similar results; hook type (P = 0.03), hooking location (P < 0.0001), and handling time (P = 0.048) all had significant effects. Bleeding was more likely with fish caught on pike hooks (67% of fish caught on pike hooks were bleeding, compared with 24% of treble-hooked fish; Table 2), for deeply hooked fish, and for fish subjected to short handling times. Hook type and hooking location also significantly affected bleeding when the model was fit to a larger data set that did not include handling time. All fish that died were bleeding at the time of capture; however, 84% of fish that bled at capture survived. Among the independent variables (lake, hook type, fish length, and flag time), the only significant predictor of hooking location was hook type (P 0.01), with pike hooks resulting in a higher incidence of deeply hooked fish (11 of 24 fish caught on pike hooks were deeply hooked, versus 25 of 153 fish caught on treble hooks). When hooking location was taken into account, there was an additional effect on mortality attributable to hook type. Because handling time was probably affected by hooking location, it was not included as an independent variable in models for hooking location. A three-way ANOVA for the effects of lake,

TABLE 2.Hooking locations and occurrence of bleeding of northern pike caught through the ice on treble hooks and pike hooks from three Wisconsin lakes.
Treble hooks
Number caught 88 42 21
7

Pike hooks
Number dead after 48 h 0 0 0 1 0 1 Number caught 4 10 4 6 0 24 Number bleeding
2 6 3 5 0 16

Hooking location Upper or lower jaw Roof or floor of mouth Gills Esophagus-stomach Snag (outside head or body) Total

Number bleeding 17 3 13 6 0 39

Number dead after 48 h 1 I 1 5 0 8

3 161

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bled heavily at the time of capture, yet survived the 48-h holding period. Additionally, three fish that suffered a complete severing of a gill arch as a result of hooking damage survived the 48-h holding period. Other studies of northern pike hooking mortality that examined hooking location (Falk and Gillman 1975; Burkholder 1992) did not observe enough deaths to draw valid inferences relating mortality to hooking location. Although air temperatures were relatively mild during the two days when most of the fish were caught, it is unclear whether air temperature affected our results. Air temperature during winter may affect survival of released northern pike more than most species of game fish, because northern pike are typically exposed to long handling times. Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush angled through ice at colder air temperatures (14 to 8C) than we experienced also showed relatively high surDiscussion vival (Dextrase and Ball 1991). Possibly, survival The very low (< 1 %) hooking mortality of north- of released northern pike might be lower at conern pike angled through ice with live bait on treble siderably colder air temperatures or wind chills hooks was somewhat unexpected because of pre- than we encountered (because of quick freezing of viously reported hooking mortality up to 10.5% sensitive body tissues), but we also suspect that for northern pike angled with artificial lures (Falk fewer anglers fish during extremely harsh weather and Gillman 1975). Although our sample size of conditions. northern pike angled with pike hooks was not large, The effect of water temperature on survival of the finding that these hooks subjected fish to sub- released northern pike is similarly unclear, and the stantial mortality is firm. The reason for this mor- topic would benefit from additional study. Results tality is not certain because dead fish were not with the more intensively studied salmonids have autopsied to determine the extent of hooking dam- been difficult to interpret; some workers reported age. A partial explanation must lie in the finding increasing mortality with increasing water temthat northern pike caught on pike hooks were more peratures (Benson and Bulkley 1963; Klein 1965; often deeply hooked (hooked in the gills, esoph- Dotson 1982), but others reported no apparent agus, or stomach) than those caught on treble effect of water temperature on mortality (Marnell hooks. Deeply hooked northern pike, especially and Hunsaker 1970; Loftus et al. 1988). Among those hooked in the esophagus or stomach, were investigations where salmonids were angled more likely to die or receive a crippling injury than through ice with live bait, Dextrase and Ball (1991) fish hooked in the jaws, roof, or floor of the mouth. reported 10% mortality of lake trout and Klein However, the increased mortality attributable to (Colorado Division of Wildlife, unpublished) repike hooks cannot be explained solely by hooking corded 20% mortality of rainbow trout Oncorhynlocation, because our analyses showed that hook chus mykiss. These results are at the low end of type significantly affected mortality even after the mortality range (20-50%) generally reported hooking location was taken into account. It is pos- for salmonids angled with bait during ice-free seasible that pike hooks, constructed of larger-gauge sons (Shelter and Allison 1955; Stringer 1967; metal than that of size-4 treble hooks, caused larg- Hunsaker et al. 1970; Warner and Johnson 1978; er or deeper wounds, or resulted in more tissue Hulbert and Engstrom-Heg 1980). We did not indamage during hook-set or playing of the fish. clude hatchery studies in this analysis because they Bleeding also occurred more frequently with pike may not have fully reflected actual fishing condihooks than with treble hooks and was associated tions. Because a relatively small number of dead fish with every fish that died. Although most northern pike that bled did not die, blood loss (not quan- were observed, we could not be certain that the tified) may have been a contributing survival fac- effects of the continuous independent variables tor. Several northern pike taken on pike hooks (handling time, fish length, flag time) were linear

hook type, and hooking location on handling time indicated that there was a significant (P 0.045) interaction between lake and hooking location. Lake and hooking location had significant effects on handling times, but these could not be interpreted separately due to their interaction. Handling times were longer on Long Lake than on the other lakes. The mean handling time per northern pike captured on the three lakes was 79 s (range 10-210s). Nine northern pike were classified as crippled after 48 h. Five of these fish had a torn gill arch and four had a bleeding eye. We do not know to what extent these injuries would predispose a fish to die. One fish in each of the above categories was also classified as slow to orient. Three of the northern pike classified as crippled were caught on pike hooks, six were caught on treble hooks.

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on the logistic scale; therefore, conclusions about their effects should be considered tentative. Our estimates of survival of ice-angled northern pike likely reflect optimum fish-handling conditions. The anglers participating in this study were either natural resource professionals or avid club anglers and would be expected to have handled fish with at least average care. However, we doubt that the relatively careful handling in this study led to survival of northern pike substantially higher than that occurring under normal handling conditions. We have no explanation for the tentative conclusion of the positive relation of survival to longer handling times other than to speculate that quicker handling may have been associated with less careful removal of hooks. Although long handling times did not appear to contribute to mortality, we nonetheless recommend that educational efforts to the public stress both prompt and careful handling of northern pike before release to ensure high survival. Many northern pike anglers, especially novices, may not be equipped with jaw spreaders and forceps, and could take considerably longer to handle fish than did our volunteer anglers. Air exposure for periods of time longer than we observed could result in lower survival because of increased extracellular acidosis (Ferguson and Tufts 1992). Although most northern pike examined in this study were relatively small, they were probably representative of the sizes that will most often be released by anglers. Applications of our hooking mortality results, and of our finding of no relationship between flag time and the resulting hooking location, should be limited to northern pike within the size range (325-760 mm) we handled, and to flag times within the range (10-315 s) we observed. Larger northern pike may ingest bait more deeply and quickly than did the fish in our study, and consequently may be more likely to become hooked in critical areas. Our study showed that the use of treble hooks baited with live white suckers or golden shiners (apparently the most prevalent method of ice-angling for northern pike in Wisconsin) caused low postrelease mortality. This finding is noteworthy because this method allows northern pike to run with the bait for up to 5 min before hook-set and includes a relatively lengthy unhooking process. Taken in conjunction with results from open-water studies also showing low mortality of released northern pike (Beukema 1970; Weithman and Anderson 1978; Falk and Gillman 1975; Burkholder 1992), this result justifies the use of length-limit regulations throughout the year. However, we sug-

gest that use of pike hooks, because of the high mortality associated with their use, may need to be restricted if minimum length limits or catchand-release regulations are adopted to manage northern pike fisheries.
Acknowledgments Although they are too numerous to mention individually, we are grateful to the WDNR employees and members of six Madison area sports clubs who enthusiastically volunteered for the angling and recording aspects of this study. We extend special thanks to F. Stoll and C. Sand for constructing the holding nets and fencing; to J. Borth, G. Greene, G. Lindenberger, R. Schwerdtfeger, F. Stoll, and M. Vogelsang for extra effort in making field preparations and assisting with field work; to D. Wedan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) for field assistance; and to R. King for drawing the figure. Review comments from H. Brown, A. Dextrase, J. Lyons, S. Marcquenski, M. Staggs, and several anonymous reviewers were appreciated. This investigation was financed in part with funds authorized by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, Project F-95-P, and the WDNR.
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