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What was the question?We don't have chain pickerel this far west, but we do have grass pickerel (similar but much smaller), and they can choke out small ponds and ditches/creeks that don't have any larger fish if they get a solid foothold. One of my favorite ditches to catch chubs and shiners for catfish bait got overrun with grassies a couple years ago after a flood.
The question was pretty much as you answered, Am I correct in assuming these predatory cannibals will overeat and overpopulate certain waters to even their own demise? Too bad we don't get monster Pike or Muskies down this far south. At least they could be a great sport fish and they would have an endless supply of bite sized pickerel on the menu.
They can definitely take over small waters, especially ones with little to no panfish in them. They won't kill themselves off, but they'll get stunted really badly. That ditch I mentioned earlier is loaded with little 4-6" grassies now, and the chubs and shiners are pretty much gone.You can pickle or smoke small pickerel, if that's your thing, so they aren't entirely worthless, but they can otherwise ruin a good pond or creek.