The way I heard the stroy when I lived there was that Pike for a long time were considered trash fish that ate trout. The best way to get rid of them was to selectively shot them during spawning.
Even now, many look on pike hunting season as one of their favorite outdoor pastimes.
The times I've been up there in May, I've told my fishing buddies about it. They laughed, never believing, until they hear the gun shots and see the guys going piking with 30/06 rifles.
The laughs are incredible.
FWIW, my favorite pike lure is a shad rap in rainbow trout colors.