1st Pickerel

[newbiedmv]

Nope there isn't. This motor has a compass autopilot that is heaven on earth to me after the MG.  I just point it and press the button. I can still steer a little with it on.

I'd have to do a lot of work to go to 36v and about $10k. ??

[Further North]

1 hour ago, newbiedmv said:

I'd have to do a lot of work to go to 36v and about $10k. ??

80# thrust would be fine for your boat.

That's what I put on a boat about the size of yours I built last year before I bought my drift boat.  It worked great...and still does...I fish with the new owner often.

 

[gim]

12 hours ago, BassinCNY said:

I think chain pickerel are the best tasting fish there are.

Ya I sorta don't think so.  Pike are very similar to a chain pickerel and I can tell you with 100% positivity they are not the best tasting fish there are.  I can name at least 3 or 4 freshwater species of fish readily available here that are better.

 

My personal favorite is yellow perch out of cold water.  Haven't caught a sizable amount of those in years though.

[J Francho]

I don't eat chain pickerel - it's not worth the time to fillet them, but northern pike is delicious.  It's not up there with walleye or yellow perch, but it is one the top 5 freshwater eating fish.  I can't think of a better species to make fish stock from for sauces.  Whenever I fished Oneida, we'd always load the well up with a limit of pickerel and deliver them to the local Chinese restaurant in exchange for some dinner.  They loved them for their own use.

[newbiedmv]

When I was a kid we would "sell" our catfish catch to the local crab house...and catfish wasn't on the menu. ?

[gim]

42 minutes ago, J Francho said:

It's not up there with walleye or yellow perch

Years ago, the bag limit on perch used to be 100 daily here.  Can you believe that?  100 freaking perch.  People didn't know they tasted so good and there was an abundance of sizable ones here.  Well, then it went to 50, then to 25, and now its 20.  I think even 20 is too much at this point because people know about them now.  Its virtually impossible to find a school of jumbos here anymore.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

Its virtually impossible to find a school of jumbos here anymore.

It's like Crappie - which is another good tasting fish. Use to be that 'Tonka would supply decent quantities of 1.5#-2# Whites and 2#-2.5# Blacks....now I'm lucky to get 1#-1.5# of either.

[newbiedmv]

Be glad you don't have snakeheads. They decimate perch, bluegill, crappie and everything. They've invested every waterway below the Mason Dixon line

[gim]

4 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

It's like Crappie - which is another good tasting fish. Use to be that 'Tonka would supply decent quantities of 1.5#-2# Whites and 2#-2.5# Blacks....now I'm lucky to get 1#-1.5# of either.

I agree.  Crappie populations have and will continue to be decimated not only on Tonka, but on many other lakes too.  Its primarily because of advancements in ice angling and the immense amount of pressure received.  That being said, I think Tonka still has by far the best crappie fishing of any lake in the area.

 

4 minutes ago, newbiedmv said:

Be glad you don't have snakeheads. They decimate perch, bluegill, crappie and everything.

I'm always baffled when someone starts blaming a predatory species of fish for low numbers of other fish.  I don't know if snakeheads are doing just that, but I will tell you that the primary predator that is decimating panfish populations here are anglers, not another species of fish.  Some people have blamed muskies or smallmouth bass for reducing walleye populations here and the science simply does not back that up.  Its over harvest of walleyes by anglers.

[J Francho]

People say that the yellow perch disappeared around here, but in spring there are gigantic schools in shallow on Lake Ontario.  The fish are all big and I'm talking gigantic schools, like a few square miles.  Personally, I think they could probably increase the limits.  There used to be a sustainable commercial yellow perch industry, but that disappeared with the 50 fish/day limit.  I have no problem finding 20 or so for a fish fry in late fall.

[newbiedmv]

The snakeheads here multiply super fast and we are still figuring out how to catch them. One they're skidish as heck and for some reason "bump" your lure. The DNR seems to have given up on them.

Local lake is flooded with them, since they like panfish I might buy a few of the 4 or more segmented panfish lures I've seen next spring.

You really need to sneak up on them on a cloudy day. Or catch a bluegill and put a big hook in it and let it swim around.

[Further North]

45 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'm always baffled when someone starts blaming a predatory species of fish for low numbers of other fish.  I don't know if snakeheads are doing just that, but I will tell you that the primary predator that is decimating panfish populations here are anglers, not another species of fish.  Some people have blamed muskies or smallmouth bass for reducing walleye populations here and the science simply does not back that up.  Its over harvest of walleyes by anglers.

Exactly...predators can only eat so much before there's no food for them left to eat...

Some people don't seem to be that smart...or to care.

[Choporoz]

Snakehead lay a lot of eggs....and hatch a lot of fry.  Sounds ominous.   Unless you are a bass or a perch or a bluegill or crappie that feast on them.  I haven't seen data yet that concludes snakeheads decimate any species in any particular lake or water system.

  Our local pickerel came up from their summer depths a few weeks ago...all at once...lol....this guy was grazing close to my dock

[newbiedmv]

I just don't like them much. Except to eat..snakeheads that us.

Nice Pickerel 

 

[newbiedmv]

Thanks to the moderator that corrected the title ?

[newbiedmv]

54 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Snakehead lay a lot of eggs....and hatch a lot of fry.  Sounds ominous.   Unless you are a bass or a perch or a bluegill or crappie that feast on them.  I haven't seen data yet that concludes snakeheads decimate any species in any particular lake or water system.

  Our local pickerel came up from their summer depths a few weeks ago...all at once...lol....this guy was grazing close to my dock

What body of water? I'm hoping Lake Anna?

[Choporoz]

2 hours ago, newbiedmv said:

What body of water? I'm hoping Lake Anna?

The hammer handle?   In NC.   Never caught one that long in VA.

[newbiedmv]

Over fishing is a problem I've seen here. Below is an excerpt from an article.

 is a drastic prediction, because the iconic Chesapeake Bay species amount to a half-billion-dollar industry in the Eastern U.S., according to one study for a recreational fishing organization.

"It's a potential if we wait two, three, or four years to really start cracking down on the harvest," Winegrad said. "It is a potential that we would be forced into such a drastic measure."

"Back in the 1980's we were experiencing similar declines," he added.

The famous five-year rockfish moratorium engineered by Winegrad and supporters in 1985 is credited with saving the species from complete collapse.

Populations of the fish came roaring back in the years after the moratorium was lifted in 1990.

Oh BTW: people yelled and complained every day for 5 years.

As far as snakeheads go I'd rather not see them get to the level of the Asian Carp problem in Kentucky. 

[Fallser]

Since pike and chain pickerel have come in the thread

Canadian Pike

 

South Jersey Chain Pickerel

 

As far as eating go, I like both but as mentioned they're a pain in the butt to clean.  Not as good as perch or walleye though.

[MN Fisher]

14 minutes ago, Fallser said:

Not as good as perch or walleye though.

Ya - those are better and easier to clean.

 

both are in the same family too - as well as Sauger...all close cousins.

[MassBass]

Yes you can easily see the pattern difference between the chain pickerel and the northern pike, this is the easiest way to differentiate them I have found; fishing water where both are present, I always make sure to get a positive id even on little guys.  

[Fallser]

Another way to distinguish them.  Chain Pickerel have a prominent vertical black line under the eye.  I've never noticed it in pike, even small ones.  Here's a picture of a grass pickerel which is the smallest member of the Esox family, they seldom get over 12 inches in length. You can see the distinct black line under the eye.

[MassBass]

21 hours ago, Fallser said:

Another way to distinguish them.  Chain Pickerel have a prominent vertical black line under the eye.  I've never noticed it in pike, even small ones.  Here's a picture of a grass pickerel which is the smallest member of the Esox family, they seldom get over 12 inches in length. You can see the distinct black line under the eye.

Where did you catch that? Pond, backwater?

[Fallser]

On 10/23/2021 at 6:17 PM, MassBass said:

Where did you catch that? Pond, backwater?

Caught it in a small lake in central Vermont.  I was fly fishing for panfish off a small fishing dock the state had put in.  It was sitting on the edge of some weeds along the bank.  Tied a large nymph on my tippet, cast and retrieved the nymph in front of it and it jumped on it.

I knew it wasn't a small pike or musky.  Took a couple of pictures, went back to my sister's place and googled it.  It was the first and probably the last one I'll ever catch.

[newbiedmv]

I was too bored. Anyway I looked up pike fishing and read 5 or 6 articles  I think 4 of them recommended the lure I was using, even down to the color on 2 of them.

Below is the closest picture I could find. Mine has 3 yellow beads on it 1/2oz, and a #3 or #4 treble hook.

Very very well balanced. Doesn't fold up on you in the cast.

I'll go back up there in May with some wire or braid leaders. I got a real nice net now so I can save some fingers. 

I had no idea this was a pike lure, guess the musky one beside it should have told me.

 

Oh, I'm guessing but that longer red "hair" is the only difference.  I caught more off it in two months than the previous 2 years. Mostly small mouth.