I don't have issues with pickerel. I don't like to catch them but it will happen. I never let them in the boat, I will just boga gripe them over the side and be very deliberate when removing the hook. There could be some delayed mortality with my handling but I rather not get a hook in my hand.
This. Grip them, remove the hook with pliers, and that's a wrap.
I love the fight in a big pickerel. They take drag as well as any gamefish and then provide the extra challenge of trying to retrieve your lure as they thrash around. The plastic fish grips are perfect for these bad boys (remember, lower lip only) and a pair of pliers or forceps. The small picks are the annoying ones 'cause you can't keep 'em off your hook.
And for the record, I would never kill a fish that I didn't intend to eat without good reason. I understand there are places where local regs mandate the killing of INVASIVE species in order to protect NATIVE species.
And for the record, I would never kill a fish that I didn't intend to eat without good reason. I understand there are places where local regs mandate the killing of INVASIVE species in order to protect NATIVE species.
I was 100% joking. I do not have that bumper sticker and I never intentionally harm any fish. Pickeral are a PITA and you just have to deal with it. I do get a chuckle out of how apprehensive people are to just grab a pickeral and get your hook back. its pretty comical it see guys repelling back as a pickeral flops around on their hook. Just gently palm it just behind the gill opening, remove the hook and try to pin the opponent inside the 10 yard line ( joking)
It is illegal to "take" a pickerel under 15 inches: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/laws-regulations/plain-lang-sum/taking-of-certain-fish.html
...and I would tend to think that "killing" counts as "taking." (I mean, is it really "catch and release" if you release them dead?)
If pickerel outcompeted bass then I would expect to see "pickerel ponds" and "bass ponds" -- pickerel ponds where the pickerel outcompete the bass, and bass ponds where there are no pickerel to outcompete the bass), but I only really see mixed ponds. If there is one, then there is the other. So I don't think either outcompetes the other. They cohabitate the top of the food chain.
I don't mind pickerel when using a mat punch rig -- they're not gonna cut 50+ pound fluoro braid, and some of them put up a terrific fight.
Don't kill the pickerel... if you're catching pickerel then you know you can probably catch bass in that spot too, they don't really outcompete the bass, they are just more aggressive, it is illegal to kill the small ones and the big ones are more fun to catch than to kill anyway.
...and I would tend to think that "killing" counts as "taking." (I mean, is it really "catch and release" if you release them dead?)
If pickerel outcompeted bass then I would expect to see "pickerel ponds" and "bass ponds" -- pickerel ponds where the pickerel outcompete the bass, and bass ponds where there are no pickerel to outcompete the bass), but I only really see mixed ponds. If there is one, then there is the other. So I don't think either outcompetes the other. They cohabitate the top of the food chain.
I don't mind pickerel when using a mat punch rig -- they're not gonna cut 50+ pound fluoro braid, and some of them put up a terrific fight.
Don't kill the pickerel... if you're catching pickerel then you know you can probably catch bass in that spot too, they don't really outcompete the bass, they are just more aggressive, it is illegal to kill the small ones and the big ones are more fun to catch than to kill anyway.
I'm not a biologist but I have no doubt that the pickerel compete with the bass for food and in many ponds are winning the battle. Like I said earlier. I was at a pond yesterday where we caught 15 pickerel for every bass. Even if the bass there had the post spawn blues, the ratio was way higher than most other places we fish. Pickerel suck. For the record, I don't kill them. I use a lip gripper and release.
Dudley has some VERY nice bass to, and what some of you don't understand is that this "problem" has been going on for 50+ years in Dudley, Pickrel have always been dominant there, but never has the bass population gone down because of them, its a good balance. I live right near dudley, and fish it a lot, if you are into catching bass, fish the shores and frogging on the lily pads, last sunday, I got 9 Bass and only 3 pickrel!My father told me that when he was a kid, Pickerel where always there, and there was more than there is not!
I ice fished an derby on Winthrop this winter with my father. 10 traps out with extra large shiners. Ended the day with close to 30 pickerel and maybe 10 bass. All the pickerel were small and all the bass were about average except for one monster 6lber.
Maybe it was because it was winter time, maybe it was the bait size, maybe it was the location on the lake but holy smokes Winthrop is infested with pickerel. Doesn't seem to hold back the lunker bass though.
Maybe it was because it was winter time, maybe it was the bait size, maybe it was the location on the lake but holy smokes Winthrop is infested with pickerel. Doesn't seem to hold back the lunker bass though.
