Northern Pike: Love or hate?

Before we get full time into outdoor columns about hunting, let me do a final end-of-summer column about fishing.

About a month ago I wrote a column about a wonderful July morning in my fishing boat, on a quiet lake, during which I caught no fish, but had a close encounter with one of my favorite birds, the loon. A reader from Swan Lake wrote a letter to the editor calling me a hypocrite for expressing my love for loons while also being a great fan of northern pike. 

First, I want to thank that gentleman for buying the Daily Inter Lake and reading my columns. He must be a regular reader of the Daily Inter Lake because I didn't mention northern pike in my loon column, but have written many times about northern pike fishing. He mentions his love for loons, but said that loons were now scarce on Swan Lake, which he blamed on the abundance of northern pike in Swan Lake.