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Pickerel with Greg

Raised 5 Pickerel in the W and NW calm side of the lake after trolling and drifting didn't pan out in the SE ,E and NE .Each got two , I dropped one . Greg's best ,18.5" ,1#7oz. John's best 18" 1#,4oz. Fish were in 8',to just a few feet of calm water . Small spinners and spoons . Greg scored 1st with a tiny size 1? spinner and then I shortly afterwards raised and dropped a fish the same size as his 16/17 " fish, on a Gold Nungesser spoon tipped with 1/2 a crawler .Both fish were in Wood/ Rock /Weeds/Lily pads .....Greg's 2nd fish hit a brightly painted 2.5 "? flutter spoon , a little farther down the shoreline on wood/dieing Pads and weeds and I got my 1st Fish with the same worm tipped NG spoon shortly afterwards on weed/ Pads in the NW corner . We did the entire run again and using a gold 1/6th oz. Acme Little Cleo/crawler piece, I got the last fish at the NW bend /cut way up on some distinctive dyeing grass growing up out of the water in just a few FOW, inside dead/thick pad area. I missed that the 1st time thinking it was too shallow .
Water temp 48 degrees in the East and 46 in the West where we caught .Got on the water a round 10:15 and didn't contact fish till around noon; got off the water @3:30 .

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Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 8:09am: You're very welcome Steve I agree ," nothing wrong with fish cakes" especially with horseradish ! You catch Pickerel in your area?

Comment by Steve Wilson on November 26, 2014 at 8:01am: Thank ya John......nothing wrong with fish cakes

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 7:49am: Hey Steve! The two side fillets are bony : top and two sides from tail to dorsal fin are not . Care must be taken for two side fillets unless you blend them and make fish cakes which I've done . I use a pliers and pull out side bones (floating ribs) when I don't make fish cakes .I don't mind doing that on a few Pickerel but wouldn't want to do a bunch that way .

Comment by Steve Wilson on November 26, 2014 at 7:40am: Arew they that bony John ??

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 7:28am: Carl , I'm surprised you don't have them around by you . "Southern Pike " as they are sometimes called in the south .

Comment by carl hendrix on November 26, 2014 at 7:22am: bet they do taste good!! thanks for the photo!!

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 7:20am: They fight well on light tackle but you 'll tire them out quickly on medium to heavy tackle . I don't think they have great stamina but they take drag again at the boat and are a speedy fish . I feel they are very good eating and have good looking pink fillets .Here's a Photo of Pickerel fillets :

Comment by carl hendrix on November 26, 2014 at 7:14am: hey John;; I don't have those type around my area;; do they fight good?? I wouldn't know one from the other being i have never even seen one. are they good eating?

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 7:12am: Jim , amazing how shallow and active these fish will be in 46 degree water !Not that they slammed a bait .The takes were light with our small lures .The last pickerel of the day I caught was moving off quickly as he was facing into the wind and coming towards the boat which was smack in the middle of his escape route . I casted in between two large dying mats of Lily pads up into some shallow grass .Noticed a big submerged boulder up by where he was too . Earlier a Green Heron was slinking around this spot . Always a sign right!

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 7:06am: Well the exceptions would be Green Sunfish , Blue spotted Sunfish ,Longear Sunfish and Mud Sunfish .Then I might include "Sunfish" in naming the specific fish . Now can we go over to the Pickerel group David , just kidding pal !