Why release the big pike in particular?

Because a big pike is nearly irreplaceable on any timescale that matters to your fishing. A meter-long female is typically 10–20 years old at northern latitudes, one of a tiny handful of apex individuals in her lake, the most valuable egg-producer in the system — fecundity scales steeply with size — and the standing enforcement against hammer-handle stunting. Kill her, and her replacement is a decade or more away, if the lake produces one. The trophy pike fisheries that still exist are, almost without exception, waters where big fish go back; where a fish meal is wanted, the mid-size surplus male is the biologically honest choice.

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