Big Pike burrows into mud

I posted about this in my ice fishing story. We caught a big Pike and while trying to get him up, he borrowed into mud (at 30 feet). When he finally came loose and we gaffed him and he was coated with thick black mud. I’ve had other fish try to wrap themselves in weeds, branchs, around dock poles or anything else they could find. but a Big Pike burrowing into soft muddy silt? Anyone else have a story like this?

First of all, thanks for sharing. That’s a pretty cool observation.

I think of it as if someone was pointing a gun at me. I am going to runaway and do whatever I can to make myself safe, even if those decisions seem illogical. I am guessing the pike was sort of trying to “rub/knock the lure off” and the mud was the only thing available.

Wow, ive had big bass and even small walleyes do it when fishing plastics and jigs but a pike? I wonder if a muskie would do it….

my brother has a aqua view set up in his house and as told me about watching an unhooked pike do the same thing..mucking around in the mud

Trying to remove parasites? I guess only the fish know for sure.

I’ve seen pike burrowing around in the mud, too….I always figured they were looking for food of some sort. Bugs? Do perch or other fish hang out down there? I dunno what they were doing, but they were tail up, snout down, almost like a smallie trying to dig crayfish out of the rocks.

In the backwaters I catch pike that have frogs/frog pieces in em once in awhile, the frogs must burrow in the mud to hibernate or whatever and the pike root them out, I’ve also caught pike in the wiggle waggle too that were all silted up on their bellies but never figured out a reason for that

frogs burrow…..but i dont think in 30 feet of water! thats weird but very cool