How to target Pickerel?

[ToadMaster]

Hello all!

First time poster here, I'm hoping to learn a lot.

As the title suggests, how does one target pickerel ice fishing? I live by a ton of bass lakes and I've seen some huge pickerel getting pulled out of them. I've never actually fished for pickerel come wintertime so, I was curious to see how of you guys do it.

[pgachef]

Live bait  Fish in the weeds and you will have all the pickerel you want.

[GCD]

Chain Pickerel or Canadian Walleye-Pickerel?

[hardwater diehard]

Live bait  Fish in the weeds and you will have all the pickerel you want.

Shallow weed flat before a drop off....check them often ...they hit after a check quite often.

[shiveringjoe]

Shallow weed flat before a drop off....check them often ...they hit after a check quite often.

Very true! I have taken a few flags to the face when they hit before the tipup is set in the hole.

[Light liner]

same place the pike are, pike love pickerel.
Goodluck

[ToadMaster]

Sweet, that's easy. How deep do you set the bait? And does jigging work at all?

[hardwater diehard]

Forgot bout that ...wear eye protection

circle hooks and 6 # test leader ...check for nicks and knots often...pickerel love lively bait...unlike their toothy cousins the Pike...vary your depth on your tip ups till you hone in the depth ...if you locate what we call Pickerel grass ..blade like plant good spot

[hardwater diehard]

Sweet, that's easy. How deep do you set the bait? And does jigging work at all?

Jigging will work ..but haven't mastered what to use ...normally pan fishing when those slime darts hit my jig/waxie.

[dsqui]

good info here ive always wondered myself a few lake i fish has them and likeyou just said ill hit one or two jiggin for gills

[hardwater diehard]

Pickled Pickerel ...plenty versions on IS and interweb ... a good cracker.. Wasa comes to mind 

[Bout-Time]

Sweet, that's easy. How deep do you set the bait? And does jigging work at all?

I set up on a transition from a weedy flat (where they hunt) to a deep drop off. Find where it starts to drop off (8-10ft) and put a big shiner halfway down. BANGO

Jig same area with a chartreuse swedish pimple or a yellow 5 of diamonds.

By 10am they usually hit the deeper water though, its usually more of a hot morning bite.

[1MOFISH]

remember that their eyes are on top of their head,so wherever you fish fish up,just above the weeds is prime.
GOD BLESS
mo

[Adkrs]

I think a better question would be...how do you NOT catch pickerel :p I do really well around islands and points. Generally between 10-20ft of water. Above weeds if they're there. They're not shy or picky.  Shiners, perch, fatheads. They'll take BIG bait too. Tried targeting tigers shallow one day. Had suckers out averaging about 8" long. Didn't catch a slime dart below 20". All live bait. I love taking new folks out and throwing out tipups for them. They chase flags all day 

[mattthehairy]

I think a better question would be...how do you NOT catch pickerel :p

I have a soft spot for em, but this is very true. I often hook into em during hard water season without specifically targeting them. I can tell you from my experience they aren't line shy at all. I've caught them with no leaders what-so-ever, I've caught em on mono, I've caught em on wire leaders, they are not "pick"y with regards to hook size, line color, etc.

Shallow weeds and lively bait or a jigging rap/spoon and you'll be on em. I've never caught a huge one through the ice, but have hooked into a few monsters during soft water. Here's one from this summer:

[Thearcher1340]

Ad a buddy catch one this year in NE PA was 27" almost 8 pounds biggest one I ever saw

[shiveringjoe]

If you really want to hook one on the jigging rod... tie on your most expensive tungsten jig and say goodbye! For some reason I can land ~50% of the pike that bite a panfish jig, but pickerel always cut the line. Sometimes the line just goes slack and you never even see a bite.

[Bout-Time]

If you really want to hook one on the jigging rod... tie on your most expensive tungsten jig and say goodbye! For some reason I can land ~50% of the pike that bite a panfish jig, but pickerel always cut the line. Sometimes the line just goes slack and you never even see a bite.

LMAO!

So true!

[bootstrap]

aim for the head. pickerel shooting season here in the spring.

[ToadMaster]

If you really want to hook one on the jigging rod... tie on your most expensive tungsten jig and say goodbye! For some reason I can land ~50% of the pike that bite a panfish jig, but pickerel always cut the line. Sometimes the line just goes slack and you never even see a bite.

Haha similar experiences for me, there's nothing worse than losing a $15 lure when going for bass.

Would it be wise to use a steel/wire leader?  As Matt suggests
 

I can tell you from my experience they aren't line shy at all. I've caught them with no leaders what-so-ever, I've caught em on mono, I've caught em on wire leaders, they are not "pick"y with regards to hook size, line color, etc.

I think a better question would be...how do you NOT catch pickerel :p

Haha! I've certainly questioned myself of why would I go after these slimy toothy sticks but, I dunno haha sometimes it's fun to go for something that's an oddball and isn't sought after all too much.

[mattthehairy]

My lazy rig for toothy things is a tip up with dacron/braid, a long wire leader, a snap and a treble hook. Even with a big shiner it's not a natural presentation; but in weedy stained water it doesn't really seem to matter. I have some short wire leaders too (maybe 3 inches) that I use on my jig rod if I'm fishing a pond that I know is loaded with em. You really only need enough length to clear the roof of their mouth.

[mattthehairy]

Caught this episode of TGO the other day that is relevant to your interest: http://www.tgofishing.com/portfolio/episode-27-breakin-the-chains-vermont/ They go tip up fishing for Pickerel in VT.

[ToadMaster]

Caught this episode of TGO the other day that is relevant to your interest: http://www.tgofishing.com/portfolio/episode-27-breakin-the-chains-vermont/ They go tip up fishing for Pickerel in VT.

Thanks for the nice find, I can't imagine having 15 lines per person that's just nuts!

That was a pretty cool video to watch, and it just kinda goes along with what I said before. I mean, pickerel probably won't be on my top priority list but, every now and then when I wanna catch something different I'll go for pickerel.

[Adkrs]

Hey. They make good fish patties and they're fun and easy to catch. Most people just won't take the time to debone or grind them

[Spider1]

pickerel like any type of transiton zones. Grass to mud flats or the shallow side of drop offs are my favorites. They like to hide in the grassy stuff and rocket out to grab prey as it moves along the edges.

Pickerel are great eating fish, one of my favorites. Once I learned how to remove the y bones I couldn't get enough. I will keep any legal pickerel I catch. I could never understand why guys don't like them and kill them for no reason. Wasteful. Even if you don't want to remove the y bones, just grind them up for patties. Gooood patties

I don't trap fish much, most of my catches are jigging. And yes, they will steal jigs. I have some light 4" steel leaders that I use when I want to target pickerel. They don't even notice it. Use anything with flash and a lot of movement. You'll pick up some bass with this set up too and crappies sometimes.

[RIVERRAT2]

pickerel like any type of transiton zones. Grass to mud flats or the shallow side of drop offs are my favorites. They like to hide in the grassy stuff and rocket out to grab prey as it moves along the edges.

Pickerel are great eating fish, one of my favorites. Once I learned how to remove the y bones I couldn't get enough. I will keep any legal pickerel I catch. I could never understand why guys don't like them and kill them for no reason. Wasteful. Even if you don't want to remove the y bones, just grind them up for patties. Gooood patties

I don't trap fish much, most of my catches are jigging. And yes, they will steal jigs. I have some light 4" steel leaders that I use when I want to target pickerel. They don't even notice it. Use anything with flash and a lot of movement. You'll pick up some bass with this set up too and crappies sometimes.

2X that-try silver/gold pimples with a 2in plastic minnie,works good
RAT

[Adkrs]

If anybody in cny wants to catch some good pickerel and chase flags all day, pm me. I'll give you a location and steer you the right way. It's a great way to introduce new folks to the sport.



Didn't catch any under 20" this day

[deadsmelthead]

Tons of good suggestions, Ill add one more, Having caught a bazzilion of the little buggers in my lifetime ive noticed that they relate to shoreline more so than depth of water, by that i mean they seem to stay in a certain zone from shore sometimes directly on top of shore sometimes 10,20 yards  etc etc.. They have no issue prowling around in very shallow water 5' or less i think its a defense against large pike that have them on their menu, keeping that in mind, if Pike are present where you are going after them dont be surprised if you feel something heavy on the other end now and then  ..

Also, just an FYI your 24"+ fish can provide a couple decent fillets, and they are pretty damn tasty...

[Bozeiceman]

I am a pickerel guy. So many people here use light leaders for chain pickerel. I have had forty seasons on the ice and have lost a few big ones to mono and floro. I even had one bite through 20 lb floro. So I now use 30 floro with ( so far ) no bite through or break off. Many people will tell you they like small baits. I think that is true, but I use biggest baits I can find ( or jig up) worst that can happen is you get a lot of flags as small picks mess with you bait. A 24" pick will chow a big bait peel off a lot of line and you will know it is not some skinny dart messing with your bait. First ice and last ice seem best to me. Fish in places that are known to produce big fish.