Tips on pickerel fishing?

[Gregorym38]

Found a lake called new brooklyn lake, on fishbrain some pretty big pickerel have been pulled out of the water. Went there and used rapalas, whopper ploppers, and various other lures. They seem very pressured and hesitant to bite lures. Would live bait work better? What rig do i need? 
Also when i was there i saw loads of bait fish jumping at the surface, my thought is they were being chased by something

Just now, Gregorym38 said:

Found a lake called new brooklyn lake, on fishbrain some pretty big pickerel have been pulled out of the water. Went there and used rapalas, whopper ploppers, and various other lures. They seem very pressured and hesitant to bite lures. Would live bait work better? What rig do i need? 
Also when i was there i saw loads of bait fish jumping at the surface, my thought is they were being chased by something

Can i catch bait fish there?? Or should i buy minnows

[Gregorym38]

26 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

Found a lake called new brooklyn lake, on fishbrain some pretty big pickerel have been pulled out of the water. Went there and used rapalas, whopper ploppers, and various other lures. They seem very pressured and hesitant to bite lures. Would live bait work better? What rig do i need? 
Also when i was there i saw loads of bait fish jumping at the surface, my thought is they were being chased by something

Can i catch bait fish there?? Or should i buy minnows

Also, i use 10 lb braid, which i recognize is not ideal. I will place an order for fishing stuff soon, should i get a bigger leader? I doubt i will have the opportunity to fish for them that much so im not looking to spend a lot

[Jar11591]

Something shiny and fast moving like an in-line spinner is what you want for pickerel. 

[Deleted account]

4 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Also, i use 10 lb braid, which i recognize is not ideal. I will place an order for fishing stuff soon, should i get a bigger leader? I doubt i will have the opportunity to fish for them that much so im not looking to spend a lot

Put a 15-20 lb short mono leader on that braid, and you'll be fine. Pickerel will bite pretty much any lure, but if you want the big ones (consistently) use big lures. If you are going to use a spinner, bend down or cut off one of the points (or switch out to a single hook) and don't squeeze the poor thing around the neck like everyone seems to do, put a bent finger in the gill plate to lift it, or better yet, remove the hook with the fish in the water. Truth be told, I'm a pickerel fisher who occassionally catches bass as a bycatch...  

 

 

[Captain Phil]

Here in Florida we consider pickerel a nuisance.   They love spinnerbaits.  The more expensive the lure, the more they tear them up.  ☺️

[Deleted account]

On 10/26/2022 at 6:52 AM, Captain Phil said:

Here in Florida we consider pickerel a nuisance.  

 

That's true in most places, in another month of so these dumb green things won't interrupt my pickerel catching as much around here ...  

[padlin]

I changed from straight braid to a 15 lb leader earlier this year to try and stop all the bite offs from pickerel, it's worked. Not that I'm fishing for them, but using craws yesterday I'll bet I caught 20 piks to 10 bass. For the most [part in the ponds I fish the edges where it's shallow I get all smalls, out in 3' or deeper they get bigger. The biggest this year was 3.5 lb, on a spinnerbait. On something like that I don't need a leader as the wire takes care of the teeth.

 

All that worked yesterday were the plastics.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

Here in Florida we consider pickerel a nuisance.   They love spinnerbaits.  The more expensive the lure, the more they tear them up.  ☺️

They can smell the money on them…….

[Finessegenics]

Spinnerbaits, in-line spinners, and casting spoons are great for all esox species 

[Further North]

10 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Also, i use 10 lb braid, which i recognize is not ideal. I will place an order for fishing stuff soon, should i get a bigger leader? I doubt i will have the opportunity to fish for them that much so im not looking to spend a lot

Wire leader is best, hands down.  Any fluoro or mono that'll work with your 10# braid will get cut sooner of later.

Tieable wire is the best wire out there.  AFW Surflon is one.  Rio (typically found on fly fishing websites) is another, and offers 13 multi-strand coated wire, which should match favorably to your 10# braid.

I FG knot it into my braid (Alberto will work), then I tie in a clip of some kind (I use Mustad Fastach, both with, and without a swivel, depends on the lure I'm using) with a Perfection loop.

That's as fail safe as you'll get, and no, the wire does not inhibit the action of the lures.

[gim]

We don't have pickerel here.  We have their bigger cousins though, northern pike.  And muskie, both pure strain and tigers.  Certain times of the year my lures get annihilated, especially the flashy moving lures like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, in-line spinners, crank baits, etc.  I've added a section of Seaguar Blue Label to my setups when using these presentations.  Last year I used 20 pound, wasn't enough.  This year I used 30 and did not get bit off once all season.  If they make it in a 25 pound test, I might try that next season.

[MassBass]

Im a chain pickerel die hard, glide baits and soft jerkbaits I will suggest, along with the baits already mentioned. Big pickerel that have been pressured and are wise are very difficult to catch, live shiner through the ice tends to be the most productive way.   

[Gregorym38]

Great tips. I will try a heavier leader, and will also cast out some flashy spoons. Thinking of buying the johnson silver minnow, seems like a good all around lure. Can go through weeds or open water, doesnt matter. If that fails i am most certainly trying minnows. Whats the rig of choice for that? The lake is very calm and the majority of the commotion from bait fish are hugging the edges of grasslines and banks. I will however probably try to fish as many areas of the lake as i can all from the shoreline

[gim]

16 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

Whats the rig of choice for that?

I don't know what's legal or not legal for you to use for live bait in NJ, but here in MN the bait of choice would be a sucker minnow on a quick strike rig.  The bigger the sucker, the bigger the target.  Muskie guys are using big suckers right now.  Like 15 inch suckers under a bobber the size of a softball.  They wait and wait and wait until they can wait no more and then go home lol

[Gregorym38]

Just now, gimruis said:

I don't know what's legal or not legal for you to use for live bait in NJ, but here in MN the bait of choice would be a sucker minnow on a quick strike rig.  The bigger the sucker, the bigger the target.  Muskie guys are using big suckers right now.  Like 15 inch suckers under a bobber the size of a softball.  They wait and wait and wait until they can wait no more and then go home lol

Oh wow. Im hoping there are some decent ones!!! Just downstream i caught a 20” fish, and the baitfish just were seeming to go crazy in the lake

[Further North]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

We don't have pickerel here.  We have their bigger cousins though, northern pike.  And muskie, both pure strain and tigers.  Certain times of the year my lures get annihilated, especially the flashy moving lures like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, in-line spinners, crank baits, etc.  I've added a section of Seaguar Blue Label to my setups when using these presentations.  Last year I used 20 pound, wasn't enough.  This year I used 30 and did not get bit off once all season.  If they make it in a 25 pound test, I might try that next season.

Tieable wire is more supple than that fluorocarbon,  have you considered it?

 

...and the light weight don't even drag a small bass popper down on a fly rod.

 

You know your stuff, I am just curious. 

[gim]

1 minute ago, Further North said:

Tieable wire is more supple than that fluorocarbon,  have you considered it?

Yes, but I do a fair amount of fishing in highly pressured clear water and wire will limit the amount of bites I can get from bass.  In murkier water I have no doubt it wouldn't make much of a difference.

[Further North]

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Yes, but I do a fair amount of fishing in highly pressured clear water and wire will limit the amount of bites I can get from bass.  In murkier water I have no doubt it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Yeah, you deal with probably 20x the pressure I do.  Maybe more.

 

...the water isn't any clearer though. 

[KSanford33]

I've caught a ton of picks this year on the biggest Keitech Fat Impact you can find. And reel it faster than you think you should. Bass are ambush predators, but members of the esox family are chase predators.

[Gregorym38]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

Yeah, you deal with probably 20x the pressure I do.  Maybe more.

 

...the water isn't any clearer though. 

Less pressure in your spots huh? How far north?

 

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

I've caught a ton of picks this year on the biggest Keitech Fat Impact you can find. And reel it faster than you think you should. Bass are ambush predators, but members of the esox family are chase predators.

I have those, kind of small tho? I think its 4.5 inches. I tried it at the lake and didnt get anything, i guess i shouldve reeled it in faster

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, KSanford33 said:

but members of the esox family are chase predators.

Yes and no. They will follow a bait right up to your rod tip sometimes, but they also sit in strategic spots well camouflaged, and strike with a single burst of speed that is really hard to believe. Had something happen last winter that I'd never seen before, I stood in one spot for about an hour and caught 15 really big pickerel from the same exact spot, they had pushed small LMBs (about 5-7") tight against a rise on the bottom with dying matt of grass, and were picking them off every time they would wonder away from it. I didn't figure it out right away, but after the 3rd one with a giant belly, I looked down it's mouth, and there was the proof, made a slight lure and presentation adjustment, and it was game on, I doubt it will repeat itself, but I'm gonna try. The funniest thing (to me) is in really cold water, they will follow your lure right to your feet, and if you don't make too much of a commotion, they will just sit there, I've had 3 of them at one time like that, but they get hard to catch then, and I don't usually use live bait, which is usually the ticket then.

2 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Oh wow. Im hoping there are some decent ones!!! Just downstream i caught a 20” fish, and the baitfish just were seeming to go crazy in the lake

 

Dude, you are in NJ, They should change the nickname from the Garden State to the Pickerel State.

[KSanford33]

34 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

Less pressure in your spots huh? How far north?

 

I have those, kind of small tho? I think its 4.5 inches. I tried it at the lake and didnt get anything, i guess i shouldve reeled it in faster

I was reeling mine almost as quickly as I could past some reeds, and invariably one would come out and run it down. 

[Deleted account]

3 minutes ago, KSanford33 said:

I was reeling mine almost as quickly as I could past some reeds, and invariably one would come out and run it down. 

Once they get on the pre spawn they get very aggressive, and you can't take a lure away from them when they want it even with one of Nigel Tufnel's reels...

[KSanford33]

3 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Once they get on the pre spawn they get very aggressive, and you can't take a lure away from them when they want it even with one of Nigel Tufnel's reels...

Hahaha, great reference! I only wish I could run into that with their larger cousins. 

[MassBass]

3 hours ago, KSanford33 said:

 Bass are ambush predators, but members of the esox family are chase predators.

I would argue that Esox, and especially the pickerel family, are the definition of ambush predators. They are streamlimed and powerful, but they are built for quick bursts of speed. In some lakes where there is a healthy pickerel population, you can see the juveniles lurking in the shallow grass. They just sit there perfectly still, waiting for an ambush opportunity. Their metabolic rate dosen't allow them to chase for sustained time, for example a huge musky can tire quickly and become very stressed.