The northern pike (known as the pike in Britain, sometimes known as jack / jackfish in Canada), Esox lucius, is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and freshwaters of the northern hemisphere (i.e. holarctic in distribution). They are also known by the literal translation of their Latin name, "Waterwolf".
E. lucius is found throughout the northern hemisphere, including Russia, Europe and North America. It is even found in brackish water of the Baltic sea.
Within North America, there are northern pike populations in
North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana, Maryland, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Northern New Mexico and Arizona, Illinois, eastern New York,New Jersey, Idaho, northern New England, most of Canada, particularly Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario (pike are rare in British Columbia and east coast provinces), Alaska, the Ohio Valley, the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries, the Great Lakes Basin and surrounding states, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. They are also stocked in, or have been introduced to, some western lakes and reservoirs for angling purposes, although this practice often threatens other species of fish such as trout and salmon, causing government agencies to exterminate the pike by poisoning lakes.[1]
Northern pike are most often olive, shading into yellow to white along the belly. The flank is marked with short, light bar-like spots and there are a few to many dark spots on the fins. The lower half of the gill cover lacks scales and they have large sensory pores on their head and on the underside of the lower jaw which are part of the lateral line system. Unlike the similar-looking and closely related muskellunge, the northern pike has light markings on a dark body background and fewer than six sensory pores on the underside of each side of the lower jaw.
A hybrid between northern pike and muskellunge is known as a
Tiger Muskellunge(Esox masquinongy x lucius or Esox lucius x masquinongy

[1], depending on the gender of each of the contributing species). In the hybrids, the males are invariably sterile as well are the females.

[2] Another form of northern pike, the silver pike, is not a subspecies but rather a mutation that occurs in scattered populations. Silver pike, sometimes called silver muskellunge, lack the rows of spots and appear silver, white, or silvery-blue in color
Pike grow to a relatively large size; lengths of 150 centimetres (59 in) and weights of 25 kilograms (55 lb) are not unheard of. The heaviest specimen known so far was caught in an abandoned stone quarry, in Germany, in 1983. She (the majority of all pikes over 8 kg or 18 lb are females) was 147 cm (58 in) long and weighed 31 kg (67 lb). The longest pike ever recorded was 152 cm (60 in) long and weighed 28 kg (61 lb). Historic reports of giant pike, caught in nets in Ireland in the late 1800s, of 41 to 42 kg (89 to 92 lb), were researched by
Fred Buller and published in "The Doomsday Book of Mammoth Pike". The British Isles have not managed to produce much in the way of giant pike in the last 50 years and as a result there is substantial doubt surrounding those earlier claims. Currently, the IGFA recognizes a 26 kg (55 lb) pike caught by Lothar Louis in Lake of Grefeern, Germany, on 16 October 1986 as the all-tackle world record northern pike. Northern pike in North America seldom reach the size of their European counterparts; one of the largest specimens known was a 21 kg (46 lb 2 oz) specimen from New York state. It was caught in Great Sacandaga Lake on 15 September 1940 by Peter Dubuc. There are reports of far larger pike, but these are either misidentifications of the pike's larger relative the muskellunge, or simply have not been properly documented and belong in the realm of legend.
As northern pike grow longer, they increase in weight. The relationship between length and weight is not linear. The relationship between total length (L, in inches) and total weight (W, in pounds) for nearly all species of fish can be expressed by an equation of the form:
Invariably, b is close to 3.0 for all species, and c is a constant that varies among species. For northern pike, b = 3.096 and c = 0.000180.

[2]
The relationship described in this section suggests that a 20-inch northern pike will weigh about 2 pounds, while a 26-inch northern pike will weigh about 4 pounds
Pike are found in sluggish streams and shallow, weedy places in lakes, as well as in cold, clear, rocky waters. Pike are typical ambush predators; they lie in wait for prey, holding perfectly still for long periods and then exhibit remarkable acceleration as they strike. The fish has a distinctive habit of catching its prey sideways in the mouth, killing or immobilising it with its sharp teeth, and then turning the prey headfirst to swallow it. It eats mainly fish, but on occasion water voles and ducklings have also been known to fall prey to pike. Pike will aggressively strike at any fish in the vicinity, even at other pike. Young pike have been found dead from choking on a pike of a similar size, an observation referred to by the
renowned English poet Ted Hughes in his poem 'Pike'.

[3] . Northern pike also feed on frogs, insects and leeches. It has often been suggested that pike optimally forage on prey that are from 25 to 35% of their body length.

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