Why Not Pike? by Mike Bleech Pike are built to look up. Notice the location of the eyes. So, baits or lures do not need to get close to the bottom. 6 photos by the author The most popular popper of the time was slowly retrieved along the edge of a calm pocket below a small point in the Allegheny River. Then, a long, green fish rocketed out of the water at least 3 feet and hit the popper on the way down. It was not a big pike, maybe 24 inches long but that seemed big to an 11-year-old boy who had never seen a Northern Pike except in pictures. That was the beginning of a long, stubborn affair with pike, unusual in Pennsylvania where pike have never gained a big following. Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * September/October 2014 PFBC Facebook: PaFishandBoat