CHAIN PICKEREL: A GREAT CHALLENGE

The chain pickerel is a popular gamefish in the eastern and southern parts of the United States. The chain pickerel is a slender and elongated fish and bears black, chain-like markings. The body colors will vary from green to almost bronze depending on it’s habitat. The natural distribution of the chain pickerel is in regions where the larger pikes are either rare or non-existent. It’s range extends from Maine to Texas and north to the Great Lakes. Chain pickerel grow to catchable lengths in a relatively short period of time. It will reach 14 inches in about 3 years, 20 inches in about 6 years and can reach 36 inches and 9 pounds in 10 years.

ANGLING VALUE

Chain pickerel provide anglers with a year round fishery with good numbers of fish caught during the warmer months as well as thru the ice. Minnows and shiners are the preferred baits among all fishermen. Most fishermen will present the larger baits in the hopes of attracting a large and feisty pickerel. When the temperatures start to cool down, there is no slow down of pickerel activity. Fishermen will fish partially frozen waters as well as open and frozen lakes and ponds.

Pickerel are aggressive feeders and the diet includes minnows, crayfish, insects, frogs, mice, newts and just about any other living thing that enters it’s domain and this includes smaller pickerel. Although chain pickerel are considered to be aggressive feeders, they do experience periods of slower feeding and even fasting. Pickerel, after a fasting period, have been known to try and swallow a baitfish as big as himself. To say the least, they can be unpredictable. The angler who catches pickerel consistently will vary his methods according to conditions and the perceived mood of the fish.

The pickerel’s habitat overlaps that of the largemouth bass. Ordinarily you will find pickerel around lily pads, in beds of muskgrass and pond weed. Weeds are important to it’s methods of feeding. Unlike the bass, pickerel do not roam around in search of food unless the food supply is limited. It prefers to wait for bait to pass by it. Fishing the heaviest of weeds is important as the pickerel will be lying in ambush for it’s next meal. Therefor it is important for anglers to cover a lot of ground in search of a lunker. If you miss a good fish, the chances are good that the same fish will be in the same location the next day or even the next week. As a general rule the best pickerel fishing occurs from the shoreline to about eight feet. During the summer periods pickerel may widen their range to as much as fifteen feet of water where baitfish are more abundant. When fishing in rivers, look for pickerel to be hiding in grassy or weedy areas where the currents slack off and create quite water or back eddies.

A productive technique used by successful pickerel fishermen is to cast parallel along the edges of the weedline. Larger pickerel will seldom leave the cover of the weeds to chase a bait but prefer to stay concealed in heavy cover waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass close by. When using spoons and spinners, keep in mind that pickerel are more prone to strike a moderately fast moving bait unlike a bass that is more apt to strike at a slower moving offering.

Skimming a bait across the surface is quite likely to initiate a strike but only if the speed is correct and there is enough action to catch the attention of the pickerel. Often times a surface bait such as a soft plastic offering or a frog imitation will do little to entice the pickerel. When the bait is allowed to stand still, it will often times be savagely attacked by an aggressive pickerel. Lure speed and presentation id critical to the success of fishermen wishing to take the largest fish