Not only are they one of the toughest-fighting fish, northern pike are more eager to bite than other fish. Photo by Mitch Kezar/Windigo Images.

There are stone-cold killers cruising almost every Minnesota lake and river!

Northern pike, missile-shaped toothy critters, lie in wait for any prey unlucky enough to swim by. Pike are known cannibals and are so ravenous they'll consume fish nearly their same size.

Sounds pretty cool, huh?

Before cueing the theme music from Jaws, it should be noted that most Minnesota pike are pretty danged small.

Oh sure, that 20-inch pike is scary to your average baitfish, but it's nothing like those that once lurked the shadowy depths. There was a time decades ago when wheelbarrows were filled with those that had been caught, snared, harpooned, pitch forked and shot from lakes and rivers.

People would pull pike ranging from 3 to 5 feet out of the water, club them on the head -- if they hadn't already shot it in the head -- and put them on a meat pole. There are tons of old photographs showing these meat poles and the most impressive fish hanging are pike.

Pike used to be a maligned fish because people thought they decimated game fish populations. The limit was 25 pike a day, but cooler heads prevailed over time and northerns are once again regaining prestige as a trophy species.

Still, it's tough to find more than a handful of lakes around the state where a 40-inch or larger pike is a reality. Catch-and-release angling, along with regulations on specific bodies of water, has brought big pike back to Minnesota much to the delight of anglers.

Northern pike are plenty of fun to catch. Not only are they one of the toughest-fighting fish, they are more eager to bite than other fish. Ask any walleye or bass angler who has had a pike grab his line. While most of these catches are not praised, big pike have saved many a muskie angler's bad day.

More and more anglers are beginning to specifically target pike, but not like they once did. Meat poles and wheelbarrows have been replaced with cameras and fish cradles. Catch, photo and release has revived Minnesota's trophy pike fishery, and here are some of the top lakes to fish this year.

TURTLE RIVER CHAIN
Beltrami County
Bemidji-area anglers are known for their love of chasing walleyes and muskies, but this is one of the best areas in the state for finding big-time northern pike. One of the best bodies of water in the area is the Turtle River chain, including Movil, Turtle River and Big Turtle lakes.

Near the town of Turtle River in southern Beltrami County, Turtle River Lake has a public access at the northwest end of the lake off County Road 21. It's a lake worth scouting ahead of time because of the way it snakes around. There are plenty of big pike hideouts and the best locations require some hunting.

The DNR's fisheries office in Bemidji has placed a special pike regulation on Turtle River requiring anglers to immediately release all pike measuring 24 to 36 inches, with only one over 36 inches allowed. This regulation, implemented in 2003, is intended to improve the quality of the pike population and help maintain a more balanced predator population. A long-term objective of the protected size regulation is to eventually shift populations from high densities of small pike to lower density populations of larger pike.