Identifying Pike/Pickerel

[TheManInBlack]

Do small pike sometimes have different markings than full grown pike?
I was fishing in a place that I have for years, that I know has northern pike, but didn't think had pickerel.
I caught a few hammer handle pike that had markings that didn't look like a northern pike.  They were more like vertical tiger stripes, but at a slight angle.
So I am curious as to whether these are pike or pickerel.  In hindsight, I should have taken a picture to post here.

[IceBalls]

I would think they are juvenile Pike.  Pickerel have very distinctive "chain-like" markings ... even when they are very young.

[EatenByLimestone]

When in doubt Gill cover scale patterns will tell.   

www.dnr.illinois.gov/education/Pages/WAFPike.aspx

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

The black color that forms the " chain " in pickerel scales does not exist in the scales of pike at any life stage, at least in any water I have ever fished. Pike have the cream-colored, bean shaped spots their whole life as far as I am aware. The only time pike have any black color on them is when they have black dots from a parasitic infection, but these are isolated dots and nothing like the chain pattern in pickerel.

[fishbone]

google----pike pickerel hybrid----could be a mix of both---look at pics of the hybreds

[TheManInBlack]

Thanks for the confirmation, Devo.  I did a little research, and found this: http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/10460-identifying-juvenile-grass-pickerel-and-juvenile-northern-pike/
It definitely had the markings shown in the two pictures just above the large adult northern pike.
The pike I caught was bigger than the ones in the picture, but only about 10-12 inches long.
I am kind of surprised that they still had those markings at that size, though I have not caught that many pike this small.

[OneBucketMike]

Thanks for the confirmation, Devo.  I did a little research, and found this: http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/10460-identifying-juvenile-grass-pickerel-and-juvenile-northern-pike/
It definitely had the markings shown in the two pictures just above the large adult northern pike.
The pike I caught was bigger than the ones in the picture, but only about 10-12 inches long.
I am kind of surprised that they still had those markings at that size, though I have not caught that many pike this small.

Hi Joe, I found another thread that also relates to what Devo said about a Juvenile Pike. http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=111976.0

[buz23]

It is a possibility that the fish were hybrids.  There are a number of them in Lake Champlain.  Google it up, there's a web site with lots of pictures.  They have slanted bars rather than the chain or spot patterns of non-hybrids.

[trapper2000]

sounds like a little northern

[TheManInBlack]

sounds like a little northern

Yep, there markings were exactly like the ones shown in the pictures I linked to of the juvenile northerns.
I just hadn't caught many that small in my life.

It's good to see the small fish in there, they may grow up to be giants in a few years!

I agree!  A good sign for the future!

[trapper2000]

when I was young I netted a small pike about 8 inches long  when I was smelting ,I set a fish tank up  for him fed him minnows ,had him about a year and let him go ....unbeivable how fast he could  grab those minnows or how fast he grew

[TheManInBlack]

when I was young I netted a small pike about 8 inches long  when I was smelting ,I set a fish tank up  for him fed him minnows ,had him about a year and let him go ....unbeivable how fast he could  grab those minnows or how fast he grew

Sounds like that would be a pretty cool thing to watch!

The first pike I ever caught I was casting for bass from the shoreline with a rapala.  I had retrieved the lure and was just about to lift it out of the water when a pike came flying out of the weeds next to the shore line and nailed it!  He hit it so fast and hard, he actually got hooked on top of his nose.  Boy did that catch me off guard!  The second pike I caught as a kid was much the same way too.  They were just lying in wait in the weeds in the shallow water waiting to ambush.  They really are fascinating predators.

[Retired ECO]

Hey, EatenByLimestone, why no one pays any attention to your post when you are "spot" on !! Correct I.D. is by the scales on the gill plate. My ECO exam way back in 1956 had three pictures of gill plates, Muskie, Northern Pike and Pickerel. You had to ID the fish by the scales on the gill plate. Everything on those exams tested your knowledge of the outdoors. Not any more !! Another one I remember was : what is the only waterfowl without web feet. Won't bore y'all with what my mark was,  was hired in November 1957. Old geezer I am !!
JTP

[TheManInBlack]

Hey, EatenByLimestone, why no one pays any attention to your post when you are "spot" on !!

It is definitely interesting and something to remember for next time, but didn't really answer the question I asked, which was "do small pike have different markings than full grown pike").  And unfortunately, I really cannot go back to time to check out the gill plate of the fish I threw back

Though it did not answer my question directly, it should aid in future identification.  So thanks for the information.

[waterwolf16]

Pickerel will always have scales across the entire gill plate where northerns have them only on top also chain pickerel have a vertical black line below the eye that northerns dont have

[wildlifer100]

Look at the eye.  If there is a black line that is vertical ththrough the eye it is a pickerel.   

[Gills-only]

I know the grass pickerel that we have here in a few lakes has the black vertical line, and only gets about 6-10" long

[mealworm]

"Slanted vertical tiger stripes" sounds like a musky or tiger musky maybe a pic would help, all the small pile I have caught look just like adult pike just smaller. Never seen a juvenile  northern or pickerel with vertical stripes

[Gills-only]

The grass pickerel I speak of only has one black line that runs thru the eye (vertical)

[trapper2000]

the line threw the eyes  gill plate scales  the chain design truth ...if ya can't tell the difference  just fish for perch and gills

[TheManInBlack]

"Slanted vertical tiger stripes" sounds like a musky or tiger musky maybe a pic would help, all the small pile I have caught look just like adult pike just smaller. Never seen a juvenile  northern or pickerel with vertical stripes

Guys, this was already resolved weeks ago.  If you read the posts up above yours, you can see that.

I made reference to this link here: http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/10460-identifying-juvenile-grass-pickerel-and-juvenile-northern-pike/
Look at the 6th and 7th pictures on the page of the juvenile northern pike.  That was exactly what the fish I caught looked like, they were just a bit longer, that's all.
I guess that not all juvenile pike look like that, but they can look like that.

I caught a bunch of pickerel later in the season in a different body of water.  I had forgotten about the tell-tale blank line through the eye, but catching them reminded me of that.
BTW, we get some pretty big pickerel up our way.  We have caught a bunch in the 19-23 inch range.  The 23 incher was a beauty!

[outdoors4good]

You can also identify them by the pores on the underside of their chin.  A pike will have 5, a pickerel will have more than 5.  Fish are fascinating.

[trapper2000]

best way I know is ,if you toss a pike and a pickerel both on the ice and watch  the  birds eat the pike first everytime! its  true  go on try it your self and see