European vs. North American Pike

[Dan Hanon]

Larry,

Have you ever fished for pike in Europe? Why do European pike have the ability to get so much larger? I have seen many reports of 40lb fish and some records in the 50's! Do you think it is the climate and available forage, or are there genetic differences in attainable size? I suppose its a combination of all, but I want to know your thoughts. I wonder if North American pike would attain the larger sizes if stocked into a productive European fishery, such as the Baltic Sea?

[aka anglinarcher]

Dan, I am going to piggy back on this one myself. I use to wonder that same thing about the Zander verses the Walleye.

From what I can tell, there were some limited attempts to stalk the Zander in the US in the early 70's, but they never did well, never getting the size or attention that they did in Europe where they get huge.