By Ed Munster.
(March 16, 2020) — Recently I took my dog for walk at Haddam Meadows along the footpath to the lower meadow where I encountered biologist Chris McDowell of the Fisheries Division of DEEP. Chris and a couple of his colleagues were netting some Northern Pike which were caught in a fish trap that the biologists had set up.
Chris told me that they are coming daily to Haddam Meadows until they capture sufficient breeding adults for their program. I watched as they determined the sex of the adults and separated the males and females into separate containers. From that point two males for each female will be placed in the two sections of marsh at Haddam Meadows and another marsh in Mansfield. In a few months the process will reversed and the adults will be trapped again and put back into the Connecticut River. The fry will be placed in a number of lakes around Connecticut as part of the Fisheries Department stocking program. Chris explained that all of the license fees collected by the state are used in programs like this to support sport fishing.
According to the fisheries’ website, Northern Pike are the largest freshwater gamefish in Connecticut. They are not native to Connecticut, but have been in the Connecticut River since the mid-1800s and become established in other areas of the state since then. The Northern Pike can get quite large and have excellent fighting ability on a rod and reel. The Connecticut Record is 29 lbs.
Photo by Ed Munster.
