Animosity between specialized recreational angler groups is not uncommon, and esocids in particular seem to engender highly polarized views. Negative opinions regarding the pikes date back to the earliest treatises on recreational angling. As early as1496, Bern-ers (1885) denigrated the angling qualities of Northern Pike Esox lucius (along with European Eel Anguilla anguilld): "the pyke also is a devourer of fish. I put them both behynde al other for to angle." James A. Henshall, a past president ofthe American Fisheries Society (1891-1892) and popular author on the subject of American sport fishing, touted the black bass Micropterus spp. as a sport fish far superior to virtually all others, but he had a particular disdain for the pikes: "The mediocrity of the pike as a game fish is doubtless a just estimation in a majority of cases." (Hen-shall 1919). Negative attitudes towards pikes continue today, including and in some cases especially regarding Muskellunge E. masqui-nongy.
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