The pike, Esox lucius Linnaeus, is a predatory fish that supports important fisheries and could substantially impact prey populations around the temperate northern hemisphere. Consumption of prey by pike is most readily estimated using the energy budget to calculate food intake indirectly using estimates of growth rate and metabolism. Resting metabolic rate, R s , is a particularly important component of such calculations. Here, the available estimates of R s are reviewed and compared. Scaling coefficients for variation with body mass are consistent between the two studies in which they have been derived (0.81, 0.82). However, the effect of temperature on R s markedly varies among studies (Q 10 from 1.73 to 4.80). There is substantial variation in R s (twofold to fourfold) among studies when temperature and fish size are accounted for. This variation is shown to have a large effect on energy budget calculations of energy intake and to be sufficient to account for imbalances in published budgets. These effects depend on age of pike and season; in one energy budget model, a 50% reduction in R s resulted in decrease of 19-42% in estimated energy intake of pike. Potential causes of among-study variation in R s are discussed and it is recommended that standard techniques by applied in the future to differentiate between genuine biological variation among populations and experimental factors.