Pike is a freshwater fish noted for its greedy appetite and fighting quality. There are several species (kinds) of pikes. Pikes have long, slender bodies and a duckbill-shaped snout filled with many teeth. Two kinds of pikes are called pickerel: the bulldog pickerel, also called the redfin pickerel, the mud pickerel, or the grass pickerel; and the chain pickerel. The three forms of muskellunge also are pikes. The so-called pike perch, more accurately called walleye, is a perch. The gar pike (garfish) is a gar. See Muskellunge; Pickerel.
The northern pike and the muskellunge are the most important pikes. They are often displayed as trophy fish. The northern pike lives in the northern fresh waters of Europe and Asia, and in the Great Lakes and smaller lakes in Canada and the upper Mississippi Valley of North America. The northern pike may grow to be 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and weigh more than 40 pounds (18 kilograms). It commonly weighs from 2 to 10 pounds (0.9 to 4.5 kilograms). It is bluish- or greenish-gray, with irregular rows of whitish or yellowish spots. The northern pike is a fine game fish. Its flesh is good to eat.
