Mike G.,
Sorry this reply took so long. Yes, we are still stocking northern pike fingerlings in Winchester. Actually, we just stocked the last fingerlings for this year a couple of weeks ago. We have stocked there since '01. That year we put ~1,000 fingerlings in. We have stocked ~2,000 fish each year since then. If the pike growth in Winchester is similar to Bantam or Mansfield Hollow those fish from '01 should be at least 30" or better this year. We have conducted night electrofishing before and after we began stocking pike to assess any potential changes to the existing fisheries. We have not seen any significant changes yet. In Mansfield Hollow the data shows pretty good evidence that the bass population actually improved after pike were stocked and became established, and this has been the findings in other locations as well. We plan to do our spring trapnetting in Winchester next year for the first time and hope to see a healthy pike population with several different year classes. The fish stocked in '01 and '02 should be sexually mature and capabale of spawning. We were getting some reports of pike being caught during the winter icefishery and I have seen a few posts and gotten calls of a few others since the spring, but it has actually been less than I would have anticipated. Hopefully, pike fishing will pick-up through this fall and into next year (and beyond!).