Advice for catching Pickerel

[Pkfish49]

I'm seeking advice from experienced anglers who are good at landing Pickerel.  It's my favorite fish to catch and eat, but I'm not doing a great job of catching them.  There are tons of Pickerel in one of my main lakes.  Most of the other guys who fish there are sport Bass folks, so they consider the Escoids junk fish and always throw them back.  More for me!

 

In New York State, Pickerel season opens the first Saturday in May, so I'll be on the water early on May 2nd.  I'd like to avoid my usual pattern that time of year, which involves throwing shiny meeps and having to throw back a number of non-keepers, and possibly not getting any keepers all weekend.  15 inch is the minimum size for New York, but even late in the season, my keepers are just over the limit.  In early may, I usually toss back lots of 13-14 inch ones.  I realize that many may have just been bred, but there should be lots left over from past seasons, as nobody else wants them.

 

I've caught a few keepers with worms and Cotton Cordell Wally Diver lures, but it's hard and sometimes impossible to use anything with a treble hook, as the lake is very weedy.  I was able to hack the meeps and replace the treble hooks with single weedless hooks, but unfortunately, haven't had as much success as I thought I would.

 

What are the good Pickerel fisherman using to catch my prized fish?

[soflabasser]

I have caught many chain pickerel on spinnerbaits in the Everglades which is a place with lots of aquatic vegetation.

[BassinCNY]

Chain pickerel are my favorite fish to eat too. Definitely not my favorite to clean though. I usually use a white spinner bait with a metal leader. If you enjoy catching pickerel you should make a trip up to Oneida lake.

[Nelson Delaney]

An old timer once told me knee high till July for pickerel.  It seems to be accurate.  Early in the season they seem to bite anything that moves in shallows.  Try top water baits, spooks, torpedo’s. And any type of fluke bait will work in the weeds. 

[Bird]

I don't target pickerel but this one particular lake I fish a few times a year has plenty of them and while bass fishing catch them with regularity on Flukes and Jerkbaits.

They are beautiful fish.

[Stumpy13]

I fish near Albany and though I don’t target pickerel I catch them often enough. Most I have caught on a jerk bait or in-line spinner. I have a knock off vibrax minnow that I am tempted to retire but they seem to like it even though it is beat up.

[Pkfish49]

On 3/15/2020 at 6:51 PM, BassinCNY said:

Chain pickerel are my favorite fish to eat too. Definitely not my favorite to clean though. I usually use a white spinner bait with a metal leader. If you enjoy catching pickerel you should make a trip up to Oneida lake.

I'm a bad butcher when it comes to filleting normal boned fish, so I don't even bother with Pickerel. I just cut the head off behind the gill and gut it.

[Ogandrews]

I don’t fish for pickerel but pike and musky are my main targets and are also Esox. My number 1 early season bait is a jerkbait hands down. Throw it on a 15-20 lbs titanium leader and you’ll be set. My other go to year round is a keitech. Mostly I’m throwing 4.8-6.8, but with pickerel being smaller I bet a 3.8 would be money. Perch colors are always good, as well as whatever forage there is in your lake.

 

[Pkfish49]

I have a system.  I am now the Pickerel master!  On my last outing, I caught the New York State limit of 5!  I did catch 2 with a crankbait, but also had a lot of success with this system the rest of the trip:

 

My normal spinning reel setup with 10 lb mono.  Snap swivel. I clip a 3/0 circle hook to the swivel and add a large bobber above it.  I'm sure anglers with better feel than I can do without the bobber, but it helps me a lot.  I thread a worm through the eye of the hook and follow the curvature, ensuring that none of the hook is exposed.  Cast out, give a few seconds after the landing, and then reel in very slowly.  When the bobber goes down, don't set the hook yet, (learned the hard way with a few losses from bad hooksets) but instead reel in a drop more and the fish generally takes a hard bite.  Then set the hook gently by lifting the pole up, keep tension, and reel the sucker in.

 

I don't know if it was seasonal or the conditions, but most of the ones that I caught were deep in the Lily Pads, and in very shallow water.

 

These are some other setups that didn't work as well:

 

#4 hook.  I've caught Pickerel with this before, but on the last trip, must have lost at least 5 or 6 when the Pickerel swallowed the hook whole and ripped it from the line.

 

 

Senkos (3/0 - 5/0 circle hooks) with both Wacky and Texas Rigs.  I caught a few with each setup, but lost far too many from bad hooksets.  Not sure what was going on - maybe the Pickerel didn't take the fake worms seriously enough and didn't take big enough gulps.

[Angry John]

While living in ct I targeted them for a season just because.  They love flash and seem to be caught easily on reaction baits.  Large white rooster tails were an all day catching affair along with the bluegill kvd 1.5.  Some heavy flourocarbon leader seemed to keep more baits but still bit off a lot.  Blade baits also worked great but got bit off even faster.  They will also destroy a frog in one or two fish.

[Pkfish49]

18 minutes ago, Angry John said:

While living in ct I targeted them for a season just because.  They love flash and seem to be caught easily on reaction baits.  Large white rooster tails were an all day catching affair along with the bluegill kvd 1.5.  Some heavy flourocarbon leader seemed to keep more baits but still bit off a lot.  Blade baits also worked great but got bit off even faster.  They will also destroy a frog in one or two fish.

You reminded me to skip a frog over the Lily Pads on my next outing.  Never caught anything with a frog. Would be fun.  A few years ago, the Pickerel were all over my silver Mepps, but for some reason they don't have the same attraction this season.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, Pkfish49 said:

I have a system.  I am now the Pickerel master!  On my last outing, I caught the New York State limit of 5!  I did catch 2 with a crankbait, but also had a lot of success with this system the rest of the trip:

 

My normal spinning reel setup with 10 lb mono.  Snap swivel. I clip a 3/0 circle hook to the swivel and add a large bobber above it.  I'm sure anglers with better feel than I can do without the bobber, but it helps me a lot.  I thread a worm through the eye of the hook and follow the curvature, ensuring that none of the hook is exposed.  Cast out, give a few seconds after the landing, and then reel in very slowly.  When the bobber goes down, don't set the hook yet, (learned the hard way with a few losses from bad hooksets) but instead reel in a drop more and the fish generally takes a hard bite.  Then set the hook gently by lifting the pole up, keep tension, and reel the sucker in.

Sounds like you figured out how to catch the chain pickerel in your area. 

[Angry John]

1 hour ago, Pkfish49 said:

You reminded me to skip a frog over the Lily Pads on my next outing.  Never caught anything with a frog. Would be fun.  A few years ago, the Pickerel were all over my silver Mepps, but for some reason they don't have the same attraction this season.

The mepps #3 worked the best but I did catch a few big ones on a #5. On a related note their gills are also sharp and I dont think I have ever lost so much blood out of my hand ever.  It just kept pouring out.

[RoLo]

 

When I lived in Jersey (close to your latitude), I spent a lot of time targeting pickerel.

I was motivated by the fact that New Jersey set 2 former world records:

Green Pond: 9-0 and Lower Aetna Lake: 9-3 

 

Pickerel are never far from vegetation, as you well know, so I mostly used weedless lures.

One of my favorite lures was a 1/2 oz Johnson spoon (2½”) with a Mister Twister Grub (pearl)

If you're out for blood (PB or numbers), I know of nothing better than a jig & dead minnow (any minnow).

Drag it slowly along the bottom with intermittent twitches.

My favorite month was May, followed by November. but many of the largest pickerel are taken thru the ice.

 

Roger

 

[Pkfish49]

11 hours ago, Angry John said:

The mepps #3 worked the best but I did catch a few big ones on a #5. On a related note their gills are also sharp and I dont think I have ever lost so much blood out of my hand ever.  It just kept pouring out.

I had mostly been using #4 and #5.  I'll have to try some #3.  You are reminding me to inspect my raincoat.  One of the Pickerel that I landed bit by raincoat and I had a hard time pulling it off.  Hoping there is no damage.

[gnappi]

When I lived in the Catskills I had no problem catching the larger fish on a Rapala with the diving lip broken off. The lure drives them nutso skimming across the water. 

[Uncle_MC]

I too love catching and eating pickerel! Vegetation is always the key to finding them. They are ambush predators and can often be spotted waiting motionless in vegetation. When prey swims by, they curl into an "s" and dart out lightning-fast to catch it. Keeping this characteristic in mind, I do best with reaction baits pulled past likely holding spots.

 

You said your lake is pretty weedy. For artificials, try pulling a willow-leaf spinnerbait or plastic grub on a jighead. White and chartreuse are the only colors you will need. Twitching a weightless T-Rigged Fluke or Trick Worm can replicate a vulnerable wounded baitfish accurately and the erratic action and slow fall can trigger a lot of strikes. A buzzbait or walk-the-dog bait worked over the top of weedy areas can also be very productive. 

[Vilas15]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:29 PM, Angry John said:

The mepps #3 worked the best but I did catch a few big ones on a #5. On a related note their gills are also sharp and I dont think I have ever lost so much blood out of my hand ever.  It just kept pouring out.

Yup thats the gill rakers. If you go for a grip on the gill plate make sure to keep your fingers flat to the surface. I only try that grip on pike bigger than say 20" anyways. 

[NYWayfarer]

Like others I catch Pickerel while Bass fishing. Anything that moves past these toothy critters mouth is fair game.

 

I have caught them on in-line spinners, crankbaits, trout magnets, Senkos and live worms. 

 

 

[Eric Matechak]

chain pickerel are my absolute favorite fish to target for ice fishing but I rarely fish for them in summer. They do love frogs and shiners so a topwater frog you don't mind getting destroyed by teeth is a good option. or simply a 5" golden shiner cast up along weed edges

[Teal]

Fire tiger, chartreuse, sexy shad, and chrome, and all white.  Any of those color combos on a 1.5 or 2.0 size crank or spinner/chatterbait.  They loooooove chasing moving baits.  I've caught them on topwater walkers/poppers too! Donkey rigged flukes are deadly when they are chasing baits. They tend to run in packs chasing an easy lunch.