Pike

[Buckshot]

I was out shooting at the weekend.
Walking along a backwater to the Thames I came accross this dead Pike on the bank
It's about a metre or so long.
Didn't look like it had any killing bites (although the belly was ripped open just by the gills - looked post mortom though)

Anyone have any idea as to why/ how it died and ended up on the bank?
The best I can come up with is it either died naturally and floated to the side of the bank as the water level dropped (in a week it's gone down about 12-15 inches) or it beached itself somehow.
It doesn't look bloated so it's not been dead long

What do the fishermen amoung you think???

Cheers

Mark

 

[bushcraftbob]

Hmmm baffling...I remember years ago a lot of anglers would automatically kill the pike they caught as they saw them as a menace to fish stocks etc, but you don't really hear of that much these days.

 

[robin wood]

My guess is it's been hooked and not landed, cut it open see if it has a big spinner stuck inside.

 

[Buckshot]

I should have said the back water is on private land with no fishing rights and is only about 6-8 feet wide at this point. In fact, 50 yards up it tapers to a very wet and muddy ditch. The Thames is probably about a mile away by water (about 50yds away accross land though)

Cheers

Mark

 

[Kepis]

Looking at the detritus and silt on top of the fish it looks like it might have died of natural causes and it just got stuck on the mud when the water receded, it certainly doesn't look like it's been dead long as the eyes have not clouded from what i can see, the bloody spot behind the pectoral fin is interesting though, can you enhance that part of the image and post it up?

 

[Buckshot]

Not sure I can enlarge the image maver.
I can tell you the bloody spot is due to a rip/ cut between the two fins. Didn't look close enough to see if it was a clean cut but it did look quite straight.

Mark

 

[Kepis]

No worries Mark,

Looking at it again, im still swaying with natural causes, the cut could have been caused by the fish rubbing against something in the water causing the rupture, like a dead reed or the like.

 

[Grooveski]

Could it have caught/landed with a gaff?
Always imagined gaffing would cause more damage than that but having never tried it....

 

[Kepis]

A gaff would leave a puncture mark rather than a cut, if it had been a gaff and the skin ripped it wouldn't leave a straight line but a more jagged and uneven tear - good thought though

 

[hiraeth]

Could the puncture wound have been caused by something trying to feed on it on the bank and was disturbed before it got to far. It did cross my mind it may have died trying to retrive its hat ?

 

[Kepis]

It did cross my mind it may have died trying to retrive its hat ?

 

[Buckshot]

It did cross my mind it may have died trying to retrive its hat ?

 

[Scrumpy]

Looks like a natural death to me, if a mink or zander would have got hold of it there would be more missing, shame really, good eating size.