Blue pike another rare treat for angler
Rob Kalpinski has been a life-long angler, first in his youth near Stevens Point and more recently in southeastern Wisconsin, and over that time has developed a special respect for one species: northern pike.
"They are native, for starters, and they are obviously pretty impressive predator fish," said Kalpinski, 48, and a resident of Milwaukee County. "And they have shown me they can survive even in some pretty marginal urban and suburban waters."
Kalpinski, who works as a teacher to teenagers at the Val Phillips Juvenile Justice Center in the Wauwatosa School District, has made it a quest to fish for pike on rivers close to his home. He's often accompanied by his children Jon, 17, and Kaya, 9.
Most other anglers he encounters are fishing for carp.
But he has been pleasantly surprised by the action he gets from "water wolves."
And though Kalpinski has caught many hundreds of northerns in Wisconsin, he wasn't prepared for the fish that surfaced Aug. 14 from the brown water of the Root River in Caledonia.
The fish was a northern pike, alright, with the typical elongated body and light spots on its flanks.
And at 18.5-inches in length, it certainly wasn't the biggest Kalpinski had ever landed.
But this fish had a color unlike any northern he'd ever seen - blue.
"I did a double take," Kalpinski said. "I thought, 'Is it natural or is it from chemicals in the water?' It was very unusual to say the least."
The blue coloration was especially evident on the head, mouth and lips of the fish.
Kalpinski unhooked the fish and took a couple quick photos, then released it.
To make the experience even more notable, he caught the same fish three more times over the next three weeks.
While it would likely take tissue samples and scientific examination to determine the cause of the blue coloration on the Root River pike, some blue-colored variants of fish, including distinct species, have occurred and continue to be found in North America.
Perhaps the best-known was the fabled blue pike (actually a distinct species of walleye) of Lake Erie. It was commercially-caught and very popular in markets and restaurants through the early-20th century. However, it succumbed to over-expoitation and pollution. It last spawned in 1954, according to fisheries reports, and is considered extinct.
Some blue-colored walleye persist farther north, however.
Wayne Schaefer, professor emeritus
Rob Kalpinski holds a blue-colored northern pike caught in the Root River in Racine County. Kalpinksi has caught-and-released the unusually-hued, 19-inch-long fish four times this year.
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The work has revealed the blue coloration is due to a mucous on the fish and is thought to be produced as protection from ultraviolet radiation, Schaefer told CBC News in a 2019 article.
The unusually-hued fish are almost exclusively found in the higher latitudes of North America and produce more of the mucous in summer than winter.
Genetic testing has shown the fish are a color-variant of the normal walleye species, and not the species formerly caught in Lake Erie.
Despite all of this, blue-colored northern pike are extremely rare in any part of the world.
In Wisconsin, Department of Natural Resources fisheries crews handle thousands
of northern pike in a typical year of lake and river surveys, said Max Wolter, fisheries supervisor based in Hayward.
But he can't remember ever seeing or hearing of a blue-colored northern pike caught in Wisconsin.
So Kalpinski's catch is a very rare fish, indeed.
So is this: After Kalpinski caughtand-released the fish for the first time Aug. 14, he repeated the act three times, the most recent being Sept. 6.
He takes meticulous notes and observations of his catches and is confident its the same fish.
"It's a stunning fish," Kalpinski said. "Very different from any pike I've ever caught."
Kalpinkski measured the northern each time he caught it. On Sept. 6, he said it was 0.5 inches longer than it was in mid-August.
Kalpinski is also extremely careful with his fish handling.
The fish are landed quickly, kept wet as much as possible, unhooked and released in less than 30 seconds, he said.
His angling technique is styled after European canal or bank fishing - poles set in holders, live bait on single hooks and suspended beneath floats.
He carries a hook cutter in case he determines severing the hook shank will
speed the release and increase the odds of the fish's survival.
The success of such techniques is evident by his repeat catches of the uniquely-colored pike.
"These are my babies," he said. "I release all of them and hope they continue to thrive and grow."
As to the cause of the fish's blue coloration, for now it remains a mystery.
"It's one of those things that keeps me fascinated in fishing," Kalpinski said. "Any outing can bring a new surprise."
Trapshooting scholarship for Schmutzer: Haley Schmutzer, a senior at Waterford High School, has signed a letter of intent to join the collegiate trapshooting team next year at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska.
Schmutzer is a member of the Waterford Wolverine Shooting team, which competes in the Scholastic Clay Target Program.
Schumtzer shot a 176 out of 200 targets and finished 80th out of 133 competitors in singles trap at the 2020 SCTP national championship.
She also hit 60 out of 125 in International (Bunker) trap, good for 35th out of 43 competitors.
Schmutzer will attend Concordia on both athletic and academic scholarships.