What eats pike eggs and fry?
Nearly everything in the marsh, which is why survival is a rounding error. Perch, minnows, and invertebrates — diving beetles, dragonfly larvae, backswimmers — graze the adhesive eggs off the vegetation; hatched fry are hunted by the same cast plus larger fish and wading birds; and from a few weeks old, the deadliest predator of a young pike is a slightly older pike, with sibling cannibalism thinning every cohort. Of a female's 100,000-plus eggs, a handful of fish reaching their first birthday is a normal year. The take-home for anglers: year-class strength is set in the marsh in April and May, and you feel it in the fishing five years later.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Spawning
Same topic, other species
- How long does the crappie spawning window last? — Crappie
- Is bed fishing harmful? Should I do it? — Largemouth Bass
- Why do muskie seasons open so late in spring? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Is there a closed season for perch during the spawn? — Yellow Perch
- Do female smallmouth leave right after spawning? — Smallmouth Bass
- Do other fish eat trout eggs — and is fishing the "egg bite" ethical? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- Does walleye stocking actually work? — Walleye