A fierce predator, this big fish’s streamlined body is ideal for quick acceleration (darting). It also loves to hide to surprise its prey.

The pike’s mouth is literally covered with teeth: more than 700! The teeth on its jaws are very long, and its tongue and palate are covered with smaller backward-pointing teeth.

The latter trap the prey, which is forced to the back of the pike’s throat to be swallowed.

Fish are cold-blooded; their body temperature varies with the surrounding water.

So, what do fish do in winter? The colder their environment, the more they slow down. They move more slowly and eat less.

As of a certain temperature, most of them hibernate. They settle at the bottom, virtually motionless, and wait for warmer weather. The old and the sick don’t survive.

Today, the best place in the world to fish for tomcod in the winter is Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade in the Mauricie region!

Between December and January, the tomcod migrate upriver to spawn in Rivière Sainte-Anne.

At the height of the ice fishing season, thousands of fishermen dangle their lines under the ice, hoping to catch this delicious little codfish!