your all over the place lol you should try n pick one or two species to target and get good with them before jumping from bass to catfish to stripers to pike then to pickerel. but if you must catch pickerel go online and find a bass pond near you that is reported to have pickerel and then go and try and catch bass... why? cause you always catch pickerel by accident when fishing for bass lol. try shiners or if you are using artificial then go with shiny things
They will hit just about anything that moves lo I've got em off football jigs,spinnerbaits,inline spinners,swimbaits and I frequently get em on wacky rigs but much like their larger cousins the pike they are suckers for red and chartreuse. Try spoons also if vegetation allows it
Spoons are great red devils early spring when no weeds but anything that acts like a bait fish will get their attention.Beware they are nasty with sharp choppers had one throw hooks into fingers on both hands and then cut me with its teeth the other night.Had hooked its upper and lower jaw together on a treble hook pain in the but to get out and she was none to happy about it!
Spoons are great red devils early spring when no weeds but anything that acts like a bait fish will get their attention.Beware they are nasty with sharp choppers had one throw hooks into fingers on both hands and then cut me with its teeth the other night.Had hooked its upper and lower jaw together on a treble hook pain in the but to get out and she was none to happy about it!
lol ill never forget the first time i picked one up by the gill slit to avoid the teeth only to get shredded by the gill rakers haha. it was like fingering a chick full of razor blades
i always feel bad hooking pickerel though cause their face always seems to get shredded really bad at the drop of a hat.
They key to landing pickerel is to have a lip gripper (my favorite is the Fish Grip http://www.amazon.com/United-Plastics-Fish-Grip-Orange/dp/B002L96JG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369871304&sr=8-1&keywords=fish+grips) AND a set of needle nosed pliers. Never get your hand near their mouths, especially when they are still hooked because they will thrash unexpectedly and you'll end up with a finger full of teeth, hook or both. If you don't have grips you can grasp them behind the head and use the gill plates to keep them from sliding through your hand, but you'll still need the needle nose pliers. The worst is when the big ones swallow your bait deep.
One more thing, if I know I'm going to catch a lot of pickerel I have started replacing the treble hooks on certain baits with tandem hooks. Spinnerbaits are easiest to remove. Jerk baits, those with two or three treble hooks, can be dangerous and also injure the fish. I don't have too many issues with shorter square lips, though, just the longer crank baits.
Last edited by bloomagoo on Wed May 29, 2013 6:57 pm; edited 2 times in total
One more thing, if I know I'm going to catch a lot of pickerel I have started replacing the treble hooks on certain baits with tandem hooks. Spinnerbaits are easiest to remove. Jerk baits, those with two or three treble hooks, can be dangerous and also injure the fish. I don't have too many issues with shorter square lips, though, just the longer crank baits.
Last edited by bloomagoo on Wed May 29, 2013 6:57 pm; edited 2 times in total
It took every once of will not to smash this thing but I never kill a fish for no reason I was really pissed this fish did a number on me.First I get braid slice from battling a Pike and then this tough week for me lol but at least I was rewarded last night with my best haul of the year just about 20lb bag limit and my biggest bass of the year which was close to 5.
