How do you target bass in an area infested with chain pickerel?

[Juniorrocketdad]

I fish a very clear shallow (maxes out at around 9ft) lake that is infested with chain pickerel. While they are fun to catch, I rarely catch bass even though I know there is a healthy population here. What would you all recommend to start getting more bass? The water temp is also ~51 degrees right now.

[Hammer 4]

Don't have any pickeral here, but curious what baits you have been using. Have you tried a senco whacky rigged..?

[Juniorrocketdad]

Yes I have tried a senko wacky rigged briefly and was still only catching pickerel, I have tried Texas rigging senkos and Zoom lizards with similar results. 

[Hammer 4]

Could be that your bass are in the spawning mood, and have Zero interest in feeding, so the pickeral are picking off all your offerings..no pun interned. Is your water clear, stained, or muddy.? If it's clear, can you see bass beds.? That will give you a clue as to what's happening, i.e. no bass biting. 

[Scott F]

Pickerel are a lot more active, and getting ready to spawn, when the water is near 50 degrees, than largemouth are at the same temperature. If it were me, I’d be targeting the pickeral while they are active, then switch back to bass when the pickeral bite slows and the bass get more active as the water warms. 

[Juniorrocketdad]

The water is extremely clear, but I haven’t seen any bass beds, and the few bass I have caught haven’t shone any sign that they have been bedding(red tail fin or torn up fins) my first thought was that it must have something to do with the spawn, could it still be too cold for the aggressive pre spawn behavior for the bass?

[Hammer 4]

1 minute ago, Juniorrocketdad said:

The water is extremely clear, but I haven’t seen any bass beds, and the few bass I have caught haven’t shone any sign that they have been bedding(red tail fin or torn up fins) my first thought was that it must have something to do with the spawn, could it still be too cold for the aggressive pre spawn behavior for the bass?

Possibly, what State are you in..? If your in the north, then maybe. Also was the water you took the temp at, surface or mid depth temps.?

[Juniorrocketdad]

I’m in New Jersey, the water temp was from the fish finder so I’m assuming it takes the temperature at the transducer so maybe a foot or two below the surface?

[Hammer 4]

So, it's possible the Real water temps are 2 maybe 3 degrees cooler at a deeper level..I would do what Scott suggested, have fun while the fish are aggressive, then target the bass. Sorry I couldn't have been more help.

[Scott F]

15 minutes ago, Juniorrocketdad said:

The water is extremely clear, but I haven’t seen any bass beds, and the few bass I have caught haven’t shone any sign that they have been bedding(red tail fin or torn up fins) my first thought was that it must have something to do with the spawn, could it still be too cold for the aggressive pre spawn behavior for the bass?

Largemouth bass won’t be spawning until the water gets much warmer. You won’t see any beds for a few weeks depending on the weather. 

[Ogandrews]

If you really want to target bass I would try to fish deeper water. I’ve never fished for pickerel but my main species I fish for are pike and musky which are in the same family esox. I would assume pickerel are the same as their cousins and are more comfortable in cooler water which means this is some of the prime time for their activity. In my lakes I fish bass will rarely mix with pike because the pike are faster and more aggressive than bass which would make it hard for them to compete for food, not to mention the fact that the pike can eat the bass easily. Pickerel probably aren’t big enough to eat most of the bass but they are still very fast and aggressive which means the bass are probably in a different area. If the pickerel are shallow, try getting into deeper water and fishing slow for the bass. Another thing is if you are getting bit off by pickerel I would recommend investing in some titanium wire. You can tie it as a leader just like you would mono or floro and it will protect you from getting bit off without wrecking your lures action like a traditional steel leader would.

[soflabasser]

Try fishing on the bottom with a trick worm or other bottom lure and see if the bass will bite it more than the chain pickerel.

[ww2farmer]

You just have to put up with them. 

 

I fish several lakes that have pike, and pickerel. With Pike, if your in an area with big pike, chances are bass will be gone. They do NOT want to be around when big pike are in the area. BUT if you can put up with the pike, you will catch a few bass in those areas, and they will be often big ones. A 5+ lb largemouth is not easily intimidated by a pike, and often a bunch of my biggest bass (largemouth that is) of the year are from smack dab in the midst of big pike tuna hauling fest. Smallmouth are different story. If pike are around, they will be as far away from them as they can get, even the big smallmouth don't like being around them.

 

Pickerel on the other hand. They don't get big enough to bother bass, so they will be intermixed all the time, the problem is, pickerel are so dang aggressive they will out hustle the bass to get your baits.

[JediAmoeba]

12 hours ago, Juniorrocketdad said:

I fish a very clear shallow (maxes out at around 9ft) lake that is infested with chain pickerel. While they are fun to catch, I rarely catch bass even though I know there is a healthy population here. What would you all recommend to start getting more bass? The water temp is also ~51 degrees right now.

I dont know where you fish but it sounds like the place I fish...you are always going to catch 4 to 1 more pickerel up until the bass get active.  Pickerel start spawning before 50 degrees... 

 

Later in the year the pickerel hunker down and the bite will flip around.  If the pickerel are really active this means the bass have not quite hit prespawn.  

 

Fyi: where are you fishing?  

[fishwizzard]

I fish a lot of pickerel waters and while I have caught them on most every presentations, bottom contact stuff seems to get the least attention.  Picks seem to key in on baitfish-imitation presentations the most so I think going for more craw type stuff would be a good place to start.  Pick also seem to only rarely hit topwater, so that's an option as well. 

[JediAmoeba]

7 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

Pick also seem to only rarely hit topwater, so that's an option as well. 

 

[fishwizzard]

9 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

 

I did say "rarely"!

[JediAmoeba]

Last year I caught more pickerel on top water than bass...

[fishwizzard]

23 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Last year I caught more pickerel on top water than bass...

Weird, I only manage to land maybe one per year and only get (based on damaged frogs) a few more blowups.  

[JediAmoeba]

2 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

Weird, I only manage to land maybe one per year and only get (based on damaged frogs) a few more blowups.  

Pickerel in the Poconos are nasty and seem to dominate the food chain in these little higher elevation shallow waters.  

[fishwizzard]

2 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Pickerel in the Poconos are nasty and seem to dominate the food chain in these little higher elevation shallow waters.  

I wonder if it's a climate thing, down in central MD I only have a few FW spots where the picks seem to be the primary predator.