Ice angling for northern pike (Esox lucius) with tip ups: hook style affects angler catch and fish welfare

Catch and release ice angling exposes fish to environments and techniques that differ markedly from those in the open-water season. Accordingly, we studied the influence of quick-strike treble hooks and 0º offset circle hooks on aspects of northern pike (Esox lucius) capture and behaviour using tip-ups during the winter. Based on 221 northern pike captured over three winters, quick strike rigs with multiple hooks had higher catch success, but extended dehooking time and caused more foul hooking. Deep hooking events were infrequent but were most likely to occur when pike were captured on the single treble quick strike rig and circle hook. Camera footage revealed that pike were tentative and appeared to require considerable time to strike. Hook style had no influence on fish behaviour when striking. Our findings suggest that the use of triple treble quick strike rigs may provide benefits to anglers because they hook more and slightly larger fish and do not result in deep-hooking events. Circle hooks caught in the jaw most frequently and were the easiest to remove most of the time; however, they periodically deep-hooked fish, which was unexpected. Ultimately, angler tackle choice will affect their enjoyment of ice angling, and the potential for stress and injury to fish when using tip ups.