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Leopard Pike With North Dakota’s Game & Fish

Category: News Release

 May 6th, 2019 by Keith Worrall  1006

Modified May 6th, 2019 at 12:47 PM

North Dakota Game and Fish Department
May 3 at 6:48 AM ·

Leopard Pike? Northern pike typically have a cream colored belly, olive sides with oblong cream colored spots, and a dark olive back. However, two additional naturally occurring color variations have been observed in North American northern pike populations. Leopard pike have a dark mottled pattern on cream colored sides and silver pike lack spots and may have olive to blue-gray sides. NDGF Biologists observed one of these vibrantly colored leopard northern pike this spring on Lake Oahe. As if this 40 inch fish wasn’t striking enough…she is now also sporting some jewelry in the form of a jaw tag as part of our trophy northern pike tagging study.

(Thanks to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for sharing their pike coloration comparison photo with us.)