Pickerel pointers

[you]

I occasionally catch chain pickerel while bass fishing. Always enjoy the jumpy, frenetic fights and their beautiful markings and coloration.

 

I don’t really know how to target them, though—haven’t noticed an overall pattern to the specific baits, times, or seasons when I catch them aside from proximity to vegetation.

 

Has anyone here spent time targeting pickerel specifically? Any pointers on good presentations or techniques? I mainly fish natural lakes in Florida, but I’m curious about what works anywhere.

[MediumMouthBass]

Here in PA almost every body of water has chain pickerel, some have pike or musky added as well. The one lake i fish is around 50% bass and 50% pickerel (well for bigger game fish that is). Some pickerel run away when a bigger bass lure goes near them and some will attack it.

They dont swim around all day like most of species, they hover. Yep thats right hover, they stay suspended in an area waiting for food to come by and then viscously attack at a very high speed.

 

Usually they are right nearby lily pads or grass waiting to ambush minnows or other small fish, from spring till around july they are in a few inches of water to 4 feet deep. Ive caught a few so far this season on panfish jigs with a soft plastic minnow by casting a foot or 2 off the bank in 8 inches of water.

 

For baits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinnerbaits/buzzbaits, ploppers, topwater poppers, spooks, bladed jigs, paddle tail swimbaits, flukes, wacky worms, or other smaller sized minnow lures like spoons or spinners. Live minnows work really good too.

 

They have teeth and bite through most fluoro, mono, and braided lines so either a very high test fluoro leader (around 50lbs-120lbs) or a steel leader to prevent bite offs.

Edit. Fish fast, very fast. They really like anything moving fast and will generate a viscous strike.

[Kirtley Howe]

My opinion...fishing open water around weed beds us a good old Red and White spoon. IN the weeds use a Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon. Just be sure to carefully sharpen the hook on the Silver Minnow. Straight from the package the hook is really dull. That said, just about small to medium sized bass lure will catch pickerel. They are voracious and have a nasty temper and will attack anything that swims if they think they can eat it. Though not common, I have had them hit Musky sized lures so sometimes a large lure will work.

[padlin]

FWIW… Anything I’ve used for bass has also caught pickerel. If I wanted pickerel I’d target bass. The ponds I fish bigger pickerel seem to like a bit deeper water, like 3+’, in the shallows I get millions of dink pics. I’m a braid guy, when in pickerel infested water I use a 12 or 15 lb leader and retie at the first sign of nicks.

 

I might try to avoid Rage baits, too soft for pickerel. Legs and such are gone in no time. Zoom seems to last longer, doesn’t work as well either.

 

 

[Further North]

I'm not sure what baits to use...we don't have pickerel here...but use wire leaders. 

 

The best choice is to tie them into you main line, swivel and snap (Iuse Mustad Fastach) of some kind at the business end.

[you]

Thanks for the tips, y'all. Interesting to see the perspectives from up north.

 

I figured as much about the leaders. My most frequent experience with pickerel is an aggressive bite followed by and excited hookset followed by my line coming back with no resistance and no lure.

 

It's like setting the hook on a razor blade.

[J Francho]

You need to tie on an expensive bait that you cherish and is irreplaceable in order to catch them.

[you]

@J Francho  Haha, I'll switch to flies then. My tying technique is so bad that I can never tie the same pattern twice--each one is irreplaceable.

[PourMyOwn]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

You need to tie on an expensive bait that you cherish and is irreplaceable in order to catch them.

So true, I've lost so many discontinued baits to those slime rockets it's not even funny.

[Tlauz]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

You need to tie on an expensive bait that you cherish and is irreplaceable in order to catch them.

I bought some Terminator Titanium Spinnerbaits off  Ebay.  The pike said thank you ?

[gim]

3 hours ago, you said:

My most frequent experience with pickerel is an aggressive bite followed by and excited hookset followed by my line coming back with no resistance and no lure.

 

It's like setting the hook on a razor blade.

 

Lmao, been there done that.  There's a heavy "thump" and then its just sheared off line with nothing left.  Four letter swear word follows.

1 hour ago, Tlauz said:

I bought some Terminator Titanium Spinnerbaits off  Ebay.  The pike said thank you ?

 

That really sucks given that they are discontinued.  I've still got a few of them left and I'm guarding them with my life from the pack of teeth.

 

[MassBass]

Chain pickerel react very strongly to an erratic jerkbait, like original rapala, etc. There will always be some shallow but try outside weededges to. In heavy weeds you can get the same kind of bite with a weightless fluke t rig fished erratically.

[casts_by_fly]

I guess I've gotten lucky.  I've never had a pickerel bite me off.  Caught plenty the past couple years and they are usually what save me from a skunk.  Even this one didn't bite me off:

 

 

 

 

In terms of what to use to target them, spinnerbaits are the biggie for me. They won't leave them alone.  Small willow blades and bring them across the edges of weeds.  Smaller wide wobble crankbaits are the other.  Above is a bomber, others have been on DTs, DT Fat's, and lipless crankbaits.  

 

[Fallser]

Generally, I fly fish for them.  They'll take top waters, poppers, sliders and frog patterns.  I use a 25 # tippet when I fish for them or bass.  

 

Spinning gear, when I use it , and what my fishing buddies use.  Top water minnow type lures, poppers, hula poppers, Spooks, Tiny Torpedoes, in-line spinners fished fast, spinner baits, buzz baits.  I don't use wire leaders.  Either fluorocarbon or braid tied directly to the bait.  I've been bit off a couple of times but not often enough to use wire.  

 

The lakes we fish are shallow and weedy.  That's why the emphasis on top water baits.

Where.  In and on the edges of lily pads, fallen timber or stumps, edges of weed beds, on top of submerged weed beds.

 

We even keep or two to fry up for dinner.  They're actually pretty tasty.  You just have make sure you remove the Y-bones.

 

[you]

Thanks for the additional tips, folks.

 

@casts_by_fly that's a heck of a crankbait eat. I almost feel bad for the fish.

[TheSwearingAngler]

My experience is they love thump and flash, so spinnerbaits and chatterbaits do the best for me… I lean more on regular spinnerbaits until the winter when the weeds are less issue then throw more inline spinners.

 

I caught this PB a week or so ago on a chatterbait with a diesel minnow.. 

 

[you]

Nice fish! My PB was just a bit smaller at 23". That one hit a topwater.

 

I've been meaning to try chatterbaits again. Thanks for the tip.