California is going to poison* Lake Davis, not once, but twice in an effort to rid the lake of pike. "Since [the mid 90s], millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours have been spent trying to spike the pike." Efforts have included a previous poisoning, electrocution and even explosives (which killed a whopping 5 fish.) So the States grand total of fish dead over the past decade is 65,000 fish.
The article goes on to almost give the solution to the problem and then immediately gives us the reason as to why their efforts have failed so badly. "While not a flashy menu topper like tilapia or trout, pike is edible, even glorified by some palates, though its bones make for challenging chewing. But in California, it is illegal to possess, dead or alive."
So close, yet so far. The simplest answer would be to not only allow fishing pike in this lake, but to completely remove all limits on it. There should be no restrictions as to the limit, size, time of day or season or to the method of catch. While this may not completely eliminate the pike it will severely drop their numbers to a point where they could be managed. Perhaps at that point a poisoning of the lake might make sense to off the rest of them but doing it before hand just seems to be a waste of time, money and resources (including natural ones)
* I should point out that the poisoning is really more specific to fish than to all animals. It is absorbed through the gills and blocks the ability to process oxygen. And tho it is considered safe adding chemicals to water is a hazardous thing at best.