19" Pickerel takes 10th oz. Swedish Pimple

Comment

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on September 30, 2013 at 4:06pm

John, I missed your small pond story.
Of course, the best place to catch any fish is where it is.
I know of plenty "jackfish*" in the South Edisto River, really just a small black water rill. Not the kind of place one usually associates with esox, but there they are.
It's hard to make generalities stick, in specific situations - there are always exceptions to every rule.
But I do love the image of a toothless pike, ashamed and hiding from the world.
* "jackfish" is the colloquial name for Pickerel, here in the South.

Comment by John Sheehan on September 30, 2013 at 3:25pm

I anchored, and fan casted Dick ,and I do think Pike and Pickerel share very similar tactics to catching their prey.

David ,did you see my comment about catching pickerel in small ponds in shallow water in the summer months?BTW ,I've read that 'excuse ' about Pike having no teeth  in a book also. HA HA!

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on September 30, 2013 at 2:28pm

Ben, there used to be a belief that pike* lose their teeth and summer, and so would hide out until they grew back later.
what we now know is they are actually cooler water fish and so go deeper to get the temperature they like. being reclusive, they also prefer to get away from all the summer activity at the .
so you have to look for deep structure near food. At least, that's the way I understand it.
* when I say Pike, I mean all members of the esox clan.

Comment by dick tabbert on September 30, 2013 at 2:04pm

John we don't have pickeral here but if pike behave in the same manner I fish the outside weed edge horizontally that way you cover much more water.

Comment by John Sheehan on September 30, 2013 at 1:29pm

I just looked through my pickerel photos ,and actually Dec., Feb., and March are  the three months I haven't caught any pickerel .The summer months I found them in small ponds . My goal is a Pickerel calendar showing a catch from all months . This is very doable where I live in NJ and just have to make it a quest.

Comment by John Sheehan on September 30, 2013 at 1:03pm

Ben- I try to allow time  to fish for Pickerel in September through to winter ice fishing into late April .Then I give up the pursuit the remaining 4 months .I would like to know how to get them 12 months of the year though .

Comment by Ben Seay on September 30, 2013 at 11:26am

Nice fish! I like to target Pickerel, but it seems to be a real challenge sometimes. Seems like they don't hardly bite at all during the warm months, but in the cooler/cold months they apparently are more active. Also, I had been using steel leaders most of the time and I wonder if the leader spooks the fish. If so, I guess I could just make some mono leaders and see if that helps.

Comment by dick tabbert on September 30, 2013 at 11:07am

Amen on that one toothy's do tend to raise havoc with your baits especially when your not fishing for them.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on September 30, 2013 at 10:51am

Beautiful fish, in my esteem.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on September 30, 2013 at 10:50am

These aren't real common, locally. Lake Murray (home lake) doesn't have a lot of vegetative growth, so the pike numbers aren't all that high. During the summer, some kid caught a 2 footer which made the news; thats how uncommon big ones are.

But I got lucky and hung a nice one about like John's early this year. I was casting a 'Krocodile' spoon to a surface boil, thinking maybe some striper had worked their way close to shore.

What I got was a freight train assault on that spoon. The rod was snatched so fast, I was glad for the "forgiving" qualities of monofilament. After a nice back and forth series of runs, I landed myself a chain pickerel. It had gotten hooked deep in the gill plates, though, and there was a lot of blood, so I had to harvest the fish. I go to keep the spoon, though,. and it now wears a debarbed DOUBLE hook, instead of that lethal treble.

I went back for days hoping to hook another pickerel, to no avail. I still hope to before winter shuts things down.

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