Northern pike caught and released four times since 1995
Updated: 03-16-2004 08:10:32 AM
WARROAD (AP) - She'd been caught and released four times and nearly doubled in length since 1995.
But the female northern pike's journey came to an end last month, when an angler caught and kept the 37-inch fish while fishing in the Manitoba waters of Lake of the Woods, more than ten miles away from where the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources tagged her.
Tag returns from anglers helped the DNR keep tabs on the fish's whereabouts since crews fitted her with a tag in 1995 as part of a study to learn more about the fish and their movements.
The female pike was 20.8 inches when she was first tagged.
Minnesota anglers then caught and released her at least three more times: in 1998, as a 30-inch fish; in 2000, as a 33-inch fish; and in 2001, as a 35-inch fish.
Then she made a run for the border. While Minnesota law protects all pike from 30 to 40 inches in length, Manitoba has no such regulation, so it was legal to keep her there.
Officials say it was the first report of a tagged northern being recaptured four times.
