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Pickerel

Introduction

Chain pickerel (esox niger) are a popular northeastern U.S. game fish. Chain pickerel range from Maine to Arkansas and north to the Great Lakes. As the smallest members of the pike family, chain pickerel do not usually inhabit the same waters as the larger pike family members, northern pike and muskellunge.

In fertile weedy lakes, the pickerel quickly reaches about sixteen inches in two years. Past two years of age, its growth rate slows so that in three or four years more, the pickerel reaches a length of around twenty inches. At the end of its ten year life-span, the pickerel may be over two-and-a-half feet and weigh over six pounds.

Behaviour

Chain pickerel frequent the same structure-filled waters as largemouth bass and rarely venture far from sections of aquatic growth. Underwater brushy areas provide shelter and feeding grounds for the fish, whose main diet consists largely of small ambushed fish.

Fishing Techniques

Pickerel are bottom feeders - their eyes are on the top of their head, positioned for viewing the waters above. Live minnow bait works well for all seasons of pickerel fishing. Fishing minnows is difficult for larger pickerel, because the biggest fish are often motionless in deep weed beds or under obstructions. Smaller pickerel swim at the edges of weed beds in shallower water.

To catch decent-sized sixteen-inch pickerel, fish a three-inch minnow on a No. 4 hook. Attach the hook to a twelve-inch length of fifteen-pound monofilament to prevent pickerel teeth from cutting the line, and add a slip shot ten or twelve inches above the hook to weight the bait. Attach a bobber at a length that lets the minnow reach close to the weeds, but not become entangled in them. Fish the minnow in weed bed openings and around brushy areas. Try this technique in different weed beds if no pickerel appear in ten or fifteen minutes.

Try to set the hook as soon as the bobber is pulled beneath the surface. After the pickerel swallows the minnow and swims away, the hook will likely lodge deep in the fish's throat or stomach, making removal of the hook impossible without killing the fish.

In the summer, larger fish keep to the bottoms of weed beds in cool water from six to twelve feet deep. When the lakes cool in the spring and fall, a few big pickerel might be found feeding in shallower waters. Many big pickerel are caught in the winter by ice fishermen. Situated above a twelve-foot-deep weed bed, the anglers can carefully suspend minnows above the weeds without entangling the bait.

Minnows are not the only year-round pickerel favourites; brightly-coloured artificial lures also produce regardless of the season. An example of an outfit for fishing artificial lures is a light six-and-a-half-foot spinning rod and a spinning reel with eight-pound test line. Use an eight-inch plastic worm (preferably a bright orange or red worm with a twisted tail) hooked Texas-style.

As previously stated, pickerel are in deep weed beds during the summer. Cast the worm over the submerged brushy areas, and while retrieving it hop the worm over the weed bed Continue to actively hop the worm right to the side of the boat, because many times a big pickerel will follow the lure a distance before striking. Casting to deep weed beds requires patience and several casts, because the larger fish are at least six-year-old veterans.

Use the same hopping technique in the spring and fall, but cast the worm into densely weeded shallower water. Quickly retrieve the lure over the weed beds, with irregular stops and twitches in weed openings. Expect a violent strike and set the hook quickly. A similar skittering technique with a triangle of pork rind, a perch belly with stomach fins, or anything else resembling a fast-moving minnow will catch big pickerel. Continue fishing productive weed beds using surface plugs, large silver Bang-O-Lures and other floater-divers worked quickly over the water with an occasional pause at strategic openings.

In rivers and streams, use brown trout fishing techniques and Gray Ghost streamers for the big bottom feeders. Larger pickerel continue bottom feeding in the cooler water throughout hot summer days. Pickerel feed continuously throughout the day, but like all pike family members, are inactive at night.

Pickerel, especially cold-water pickerel, make great table fare. Pickerel are a very bony species that contain y-shaped bones that dissolve during cooking. Smaller pickerel fillets are deep fried, and in the process the bones dissolve. Fillet the larger pickerel and score the pieces with a knife to the y-shaped bones. To dissolve the larger bones, bake the scored fillets for two hours (at 250ºF) in an inch of milk.

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