Penn’s Outdoors

With the decreasing number of fishermen in Pennsylvania, it seems to be rare to meet someone new that likes to fish as much as I do.  My daughter has started playing soccer this year.  At practice one evening, I heard two of the dads talking about fishing.  It didn’t take long before I was part of that conversation.  Now, I look forward to every practice to talk fishing. 

During one of our conversations, we talked about PA’s most underrated fish, the chain pickerel.  Pickerel can be a lot of fun.  These feisty fish can provide fast action under the right conditions.  So, I decided to do some research on fishing for pickerel.  Here’s what I found.

Pickerel Species

Pickerel are a member of the pike family.  Most people know about chain pickerel but there are two other types of pickerel in PA.

• Redfin Pickerel - The redfin is a small pickerel in the Delaware River watershed in Pennsylvania. It can also be found occasionally in the Susquehanna River watershed.  These small pickerel rarely exceed 12 inches.  You’ll know you caught one by the fins which are unspotted and reddish.

• Grass Pickerel - Grass pickerel are found in northwestern Pennsylvania, in both the Lake Erie and Allegheny River watersheds.  They have wavy markings on their sides.  They also don’t usually exceed 12 inches long. 

These species are not targeted by anglers due to their small size.  Chain pickerel are a different story. They can make for a rewarding day of fishing.  In Pennsylvania, chain pickerel are almost exclusive to the Delaware, Susquehanna and Potomac River watersheds. They are popular in the Poconos region.  If you are taking a family vacation to the Poconos, a trip with the children to a local pickerel lake can be a highlight of the trip for everyone.  Here is how the Fish Commission describes the chain pickerel…

Identification: Chain pickerel can grow to more than 30 inches long, but one of 25 inches and four or five pounds is considered a trophy in Pennsylvania. The state record is an eight-pounder. Two-pound pickerel are common where the fish have enough to eat. The chain pickerel hides easily in its weedy habitat, with its dark, greenish-yellow back, fading to lighter yellow-green along the sides. Over the sides is a pattern of dark chainlike markings that gives the fish its name. The belly is white. A dark mark, like a clown’s painted tear, appears below each eye. The fins are unmarked and pale. As is typical of pickerel, both the cheek and the opercle, or gill cover, are fully scaled. Chain pickerel have a long snout. The distance from the tip of the nose to the front of the eye is greater than the distance from the back of the eye to the end of the gill cover.

Habitat: Chain pickerel live in and around weedbeds and sunken stumps and logs in natural lakes, swampy ponds and manmade impoundments. They can also be found in the sluggish parts of clear streams and in the naturally acidic, tannin-stained waters that drain boggy wetlands, as in northeastern Pennsylvania. Chain pickerel are commonly shallow-water dwellers, but they can live in deep lakes. They don’t travel far from their selected home areas, and they tolerate a wide temperature range.

Where to Go

Chain pickerel aren’t located everywhere in PA.  In fact, their primary region is mostly in the northeastern part of the State.  The Fish Commission’s list of waters holding chain pickerel include only 27 of PA’s 67 counties.  I, personally, know of a few bodies of water not on this list that hold some pickerel but the list is a good place to start your search.

One of PA’s most popular destinations for pickerel is Peck’s Pond, a 315 acre lake in Pike County.  Peck’s Pond was the pickerel destination of choice in Pennsylvania Game and Fish Magazine’s 2008 fishing calendar.  They suggested fishing through the ice in March.

Size

Some people think of pickerel only as a miniature version of a northern pike.  While northern pike are usually bigger, pickerel can get to a very respectable size.  While most pickerel will be less than 2 pounds, pickerel in the 4 to 5 pound are very possible.  What about the State record?  It was a hawg coming in at 8lbs 14 ounces.  Check out this State Record fatty…

Dave Wilson of Honesdale hooked the fish on January 17th while ice fishing using a tip-up baited with a minnow at Long Pond Lake in Wayne County. The fish measured 30 inches in length.  By the way the world record comes in at 9lbs 6ozs from Georgia.

When to Fish

Here are some charts from the Commission’s Chain Pickerel Management Report from 2005.

Average catch per angler hour of chain pickerel from medium size Pennsylvania reservoirs.

Average catch per angler hour of chain pickerel from large size Pennsylvania reservoirs.

Average catch per angler hour of chain pickerel from Pennsylvania rivers.

These charts are interesting.  May is the best time to catch pickerel on large size reservoirs and rivers but February is the best chance on medium sized reservoirs.  But notice the average catch per hour numbers on the y axis of the charts.  Clearly, medium sized reservoirs produce the best chances at catching numbers of Pickerel regardless of the time of year.

There is a bit of a mystery surrounding chain pickerel. It is best described by In-Fisherman.

Chain pickerel are toughest to catch just after ice-out. Where they hide from late March through mid-April is a mystery even pickerel experts like Aziz haven’t solved. Perhaps they slip into postspawn lethargy. As water temperatures rise into the high 50F range and low 60s, however, chain pickerel reappear in shallow weeds.

Chain pickerel spawn when the water temperature are in the high 40s to low 50s.  This probably explains why pickerel fishing drops off in March and returns in April and May. 

There’s also some debate on the best time to catch big chain pickerel.  Some claim that through the ice is the best time while others like the summer time when big pickerel are consistently found on deep weedlines.  For those of us who don’t ice fish, I believe that our best chance is when we can still find the bigger pickerel shallow which lasts until the water temperature gets to be about 65 degrees.

Habitat of Chain Pickerel

When you think pickerel, think weeds, weeds, weeds and more weeds.  I rarely fish anything else.  Pickerel like to ambush and weeds give them ample opportunity to do so.  Wood (and other structure) can also sometimes produce but wood without weeds rarely get a cast from me.

Gear for Chain Pickerel

My standard gear for targeting pickerel is a medium light action rod.  I would not recommend anything higher than a medium action rod even if targeting bigger pickerel.  You can even drop down to ultra light tackle for some real fun.  Even the small pickerel will feel like trophies with ultra light gear. 

I am using 8lb test mostly for pickerel.  I find 6lb or less line too fragile to hold up to the teeth of pickerel.

Baits and Techniques for Chain Pickerel

What do pickerel eat? Basically, they eat anything they can, even each other. Minnows, perch, frogs, insects, and mice are all part of their smorgasbord.  Pickerel can eat fish almost as long as their own body length.    This leaves lots of options for what baits to use.

I know nothing about ice fishing.  So, I can’t comment too much on the best ways to catch pickerel through the ice.  I’m told that minnows are  your best bet to put down through the ice. 

During the open-water season, I love a good shiny spinner.  I don’t usually get too big with my spinners, but I also don’t go tiny.  A #2 Mepps is a top pickerel chaser bait for me.  I don’t worry about a dressing. 

Though, I hope to take a trip in the next couple of weeks to a pickerel spot and plan to experiment with some topwater baits.  Rod Teehan wrote for In-Fisherman…

By early June, about the same time aquatic weeds break the surface, they’re going strong, striking viciously at various baits and lures, sometimes making a nuisance of themselves to anglers focusing on trout, bass, or pike. This is topwater time. Whirring a buzzbait, bulging a spinnerbait, walking a Zara Spook, jerkin’ a Baby Torpedo, or twitchin” an Original Floating Rapala elicits crashing takes. Pickerel attack with huge swirls and flying water–a truly spectacular strike, particularly if the chain is large. Crankbaits, spoons, in-line spinners, and jigs also produce, along with soft plastics of all sorts. But for anglers who enjoy surface fishing, June is topside time for pickerel.

While summer can be a more difficult time to catch pickerel, especially big pickerel, don’t give up.  Big pickerel, like big pike, move deep as the water warms.  Deep weedlines are key.  You need to put lures down in front of them.  Typical trolling baits such as spoons, crankbaits, etc. will produce. 

An overlooked bait for all members of the pike family during the summer is a Texas rigged plastic worms. Toothy pickerel will chew up these plastics.  Don’t be afraid to go big here, even up to 7 or 8 inch baits.  The retrieve is usually a bit faster than when working a worm for largemouth bass.  Often times, I will steadily swim the worm, retrieving just slow enough to keep the bait at the desired depth.  Periodically, I will let the bait fall during the retrieve.  If the fish are sluggish, I will even let the bait rest on the bottom for awhile. There are times, when members of the pike family, turn off from the aggressive strikes, which they are so famous for, and are only susceptible if they think the meal is an easy one.  Letting the bait lay on the bottom can be hard to resist for even the most finicky of pickerel. 

In the fall, a return to open-water spring techniques can produce well.

Color selection is described well at Catcherman.com…

I find that pickerel prefer brightly colored lures or flashy ones, though occasionally crawdad and shad patterns will also work. My favorite colors are neon green, yellow, white, and orange. There are, however, variations of each, such as dark green, gold, and silver that work very well. I believe crayfish become more important during the early spring and late fall, so the crayfish pattern is advisable. I didn’t mention it above because I have yet to do it, but one technique I’d like to try is Carolina rigging a soft plastic crayfish. This may be effective.

How about fly fishing?  Here is a great article on fly fishing for pickerel at FlyAnglersOnline.com. 

Pickerel don’t hit flies the way they do lures. Spoons, spinners and plugs generate both visual stimulus and vibrations that spur the fish to hit it on the move. Unlike lures, flies get strikes based almost entirely on visual stimulation, and the pause is often more pivotal than the retrieve. Experiment with the pace of your stripping. Watch the fly sink, and look for the green and white flash signaling a strike. Sometimes in bright sun, it will take a pickerel a full three count before he rushes the fly. And always play that fly right up to the end. As anyone who has tangled with this fish knows, chainsides have the bold habit of dogging a lure right to the rod tip - often with explosive boat side strikes.

Rob Woodruff discuss specific techniques at TheFlyFishingForum.com.

Top flies for Pickerel are streamers and poppers. Streamers or poppers in white, chartreuse, yellow and silver (and combinations thereof) work well most days, but on some days the fish seem to prefer darker colors like black, olive and purple. A 3 or 4 weight rod with a floating line is a good match, and a sink tip fly line is not a bad idea on sunny days.

Leader or No Leader for Chain Pickerel

I know some people who state that you should never fish for pickerel without a steel leader.  I’ve caught pickerel up to 20 inches and have never had one cut me off.  I would hate to advise that you don’t use a leader and have a big one cut you off.  So, I think it really depends on the size of pickerel that you are targeting.  If you aren’t going after big ones, you can probably get away without a leader.  You should retie frequently to keep your line fresh.  I have started using braid this year, which seems like it would hold up pretty well against pickerel teeth.

Don’t Forget Needle Nose Pliers

If you haven’t fished for chain pickerel, they have sharp teeth.  There’s no lipping a pickerel.  Don’t forget a needle nose pliers for unhooking.  I am not a believer in jaw spreaders.  Jaw spreaders are a tool that expands the mouth so that you can get to your hook if taken deep.  But jaw spreads can puncture the upper and lower walls of the pickerel’s mouth, causing unnecessary damage to the fish.

Don’t Over Think Pickerel Fishing

The bottom line for fishing chain pickerel is don’t over think things.  Grab a light action rod, a spinner, map to a local pickerel spot and get out there. These fish are so much fun to catch.  Oh yeah, grab a kid along if you go.  FYI, it is best to get the parent’s permission before grabbing a random child.  But we have a serious problem in that the next generation aren’t involved in fishing and hunting.  Chain pickerel are a great way for children and adults, alike, to have fun fishing.