Pickerel are Jerks

[gim]

On 4/26/2022 at 10:22 PM, PhishLI said:

Besides that I know what a pickerel bite feels like, especially when they only bite the back half of a plastic bait.

I’m very familiar with this too. There’s usually a quick “tap tap tap” if it’s a smaller one. If it’s a bigger one, there’s a “thud” and then it’s just very heavy or there’s nothing left (bit off).

 

Either way, it’s often followed with some profanity.

[KSanford33]

I know I’m in the minority on this, but I like pickerel. Yes, you most definitely need to have some kind of leader, but I’m in northeast NY; there’s a bunch of fish that require leaders. 
 

My goal every time I go on the water is to catch fish, so if I spend an afternoon catching a bunch of snot rockets, that’s a day well spent. 

[Further North]

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

I know I’m in the minority on this, but I like pickerel. Yes, you most definitely need to have some kind of leader, but I’m in northeast NY; there’s a bunch of fish that require leaders. 
 

My goal every time I go on the water is to catch fish, so if I spend an afternoon catching a bunch of snot rockets, that’s a day well spent. 

I'm pretty sure I'd be right there with you if I lived there.

I have to "settle" for pike and muskie. ?

[KSanford33]

39 minutes ago, Further North said:

I'm pretty sure I'd be right there with you if I lived there.

I have to "settle" for pike and muskie. ?

Tough life man… ?

 

I try to pike frequently, but with mixed results. 

[Bird]

We have one particular lake that is well populated with pickerel. Can't say that I like catching them.

They like jerkbaits and flukes but fight like little girls. Lol

They are pretty fish though.

[Further North]

14 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

Tough life man… ?

 

I try to pike frequently, but with mixed results. 

Pike can be tough - at times.

We've had a weird lack of them around here the last few years, I'm not the only one who has noticed it.

I'm headed to LOTW in a couple weeks for (in this order): Muskie, pike and smallies.  Should be fun.

 

[PhishLI]

19 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

I know I’m in the minority on this, but I like pickerel.

A Pickerel Story

 

I don't hate pickerel, or any other fish, but I'm really only interested in targeting bass.

 

There was a lake I passed nearly every day for years, but could barely see from the highway, and only for a brief moment at that. The surrounding woods hid it well, but what I could see told me it was bassy. Lily pads mean bass to me, and this place was lush with them. Once I got the itch to go fishing again after a decades long hiatus, this was where I wanted to start. At that point it was already late September of that year and, as I'd come to find out, this was a tough place to catch bass in. Thankfully, the pickerel were willing to play ball, and this place held some lunkers. It took me a while to crack the bass code here, and over several months pickerel were all I could catch, so I was thrilled to beat the skunk by any means necessary. With the season winding down, and the water temps cooling off, the big ones put up a heck of a fight.

 

 I'm cursed with a head full of stored numbers. Old defunct phone numbers, credit cards, whatever, but I'm bad with names unless I use a mnemonic device. Whatever pops out about a person, I'll attach it to their name and spare myself future awkwardness. Yesterday I stopped at a pond I rarely ever go to. Some guy introduced himself and wanted to talk fishing. I'd probably forget Tony's name before the conversation ended, but I'll never forget "Hairpiece" Tony.

 

Back to the beginning at the pickerel lake several years ago: One night as I was just about to walk through the gate, I passed two older, big, lumbering guys dressed in chest waders. Getting a set for myself had been on my mind, as this place really called for them, so I stopped, introduced myself, and asked about their waders. The more pleasant of the two was happy to tell me all about his, discussed their proper care, etc, but the other guy seemed impatient and remained quiet. At some point the pleasant guy asked me what I was fishing for, so I told him "bass", then showed him my ancient tackle box from '77 with a B.A.S.S sticker still affixed to it. That's all the impatient guy needed to hear. His entire demeanor changed for the better.

 

They spent the next half hour chatting with me. The newly transformed impatient guy now did most of the talking. He even generously gave me some of his favorite pre-rigged plastics to try for myself. The pleasant guy barely got a word in edgewise, only the occasional nod of agreement. Just as this chin wag began to wind down, I decided to show them a picture of a giant pickerel I'd caught there. That's when the formerly impatient guy got nutty. He went on a rant about how he despises pickerel, calling them snot rockets, and how he wished they'd all die. He was truly animated in his hatred for them during this seemingly minutes long screed. When the impatient guy finally exhausted himself, the pleasant guy just looked at me with a smile and said, "I like pickerel". What a pair they made!

 

It was time for me to get to it, and for them to leave. They invited me to fish with them in the future, so we exchanged phone numbers, then said goodbye. I entered their names in my phone as "Danny hates pickerel" and "Harry likes pickerel".

[gim]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

We've had a weird lack of them around here the last few years, I'm not the only one who has noticed it.

 

That is odd.  I would tend to think you have a general abundance of hammer handles just like we do here in Minnesota.

[KSanford33]

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

A Pickerel Story

 

I don't hate pickerel, or any other fish, but I'm really only interested in targeting bass.

 

There was a lake I passed nearly every day for years, but could barely see from the highway, and only for a brief moment at that. The surrounding woods hid it well, but what I could see told me it was bassy. Lily pads mean bass to me, and this place was lush with them. Once I got the itch to go fishing again after a decades long hiatus, this was where I wanted to start. At that point it was already late September of that year and, as I'd come to find out, this was a tough place to catch bass in. Thankfully, the pickerel were willing to play ball, and this place held some lunkers. It took me a while to crack the bass code here, and over several months pickerel were all I could catch, so I was thrilled to beat the skunk by any means necessary. With the season winding down, and the water temps cooling off, the big ones put up a heck of a fight.

 

 I'm cursed with a head full of stored numbers. Old defunct phone numbers, credit cards, whatever, but I'm bad with names unless I use a mnemonic device. Whatever pops out about a person, I'll attach it to their name and spare myself future awkwardness. Yesterday I stopped at a pond I rarely ever go to. Some guy introduced himself and wanted to talk fishing. I'd probably forget Tony's name before the conversation ended, but I'll never forget "Hairpiece" Tony.

 

Back to the beginning at the pickerel lake several years ago: One night as I was just about to walk through the gate, I passed two older, big, lumbering guys dressed in chest waders. Getting a set for myself had been on my mind, as this place really called for them, so I stopped, introduced myself, and asked about their waders. The more pleasant of the two was happy to tell me all about his, discussed their proper care, etc, but the other guy seemed impatient and remained quiet. At some point the pleasant guy asked me what I was fishing for, so I told him "bass", then showed him my ancient tackle box from '77 with a B.A.S.S sticker still affixed to it. That's all the impatient guy needed to hear. His entire demeanor changed for the better.

 

They spent the next half hour chatting with me. The newly transformed impatient guy now did most of the talking. He even generously gave me some of his favorite pre-rigged plastics to try for myself. The pleasant guy barely got a word in edgewise, only the occasional nod of agreement. Just as this chin wag began to wind down, I decided to show them a picture of a giant pickerel I'd caught there. That's when the formerly impatient guy got nutty. He went on a rant about how he despises pickerel, calling them snot rockets, and how he wished they'd all die. He was truly animated in his hatred for them during this seemingly minutes long screed. When the impatient guy finally exhausted himself, the pleasant guy just looked at me with a smile and said, "I like pickerel". What a pair they made!

 

It was time for me to get to it, and for them to leave. They invited me to fish with them in the future, so we exchanged phone numbers, then said goodbye. I entered their names in my phone as "Danny hates pickerel" and "Harry likes pickerel".

This is legit funny and actually an excellent idea. I'm just like you; I can tell you my girlfriend's phone number from 1997, but I hardly ever remember names.

[Further North]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

That is odd.  I would tend to think you have a general abundance of hammer handles just like we do here in Minnesota.

Yep.  Very odd.  Lots of people I know have commented on it.