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IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: Nanook_ette on Dec 25, 2003, 05:59 PM

Title: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Nanook_ette on Dec 25, 2003, 05:59 PM
Im a bit confused here on this site... There are a lot of pictures of Pike also known as Jackfish or Northern Pike being called Pickerel??

A pickerel is the same as a walleye...
and a Northern Pike is the same as a Jackfish.....

How come Jackfish's are being called Pickerels on here?
 ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bob_D on Dec 25, 2003, 06:21 PM
No....A walleye is a walleye.(Stizostedion vitreum)
(http://fishingvermont.net/images/OSimages2003/02-02-03-Bob1.JPG)

A pike is also called a "jack fish". (Esox lucius )
(http://fishingvermont.net/images/VTimages2003/champ-pike3-01062003.JPG)

A pickerel is a pickerel. (Esox niger )
(http://fishingvermont.net/images/VTimages2003/champ-pick1-03-07-2003.JPG)
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Nanook_ette on Dec 25, 2003, 07:40 PM


Okee dokee.... round here that Pickerel you got there is not a pickerel...  Maybe it has to do with location?? I will upload some pics A.S.A.P
But that Walleye... thats a pickerel... lol....
Im real confused now.. but here a Pickerel and a Walleye are the same thing......
That Jack looks exactly like your Pickerel.. ???

What is the difference between these fish then?


Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bob_D on Dec 26, 2003, 05:55 AM
The difference is they are different species.  ;) They both belong to the same Genus, 'Esox'(like lake trout and brook trout both belong to the same genus, 'Salvelinus'), but they are a little different. Pickerel don't grow as large as pike, just like pike don't grow as large as Musky. Chain Pickerel (the picture I posted), have a dark, almost balck chain like pattern with a goldish/greenish background. Northern pike have a grayish background with white spots.
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: dogfish on Dec 26, 2003, 06:03 AM
Up in Canada it is a Pickerel (less Quebec where it is a Dore) in the States we call them walleye or walleye pike (this lends itself to some locals calling them pike, whitch becomes confusing with Northern Pike).
It is all in the local Geography.  Another example is the fish we call Bullhead here in NY.  I lived in Vt for 5 years and they called them Bull Pout.  Working on a fisheries project one summer in NH, they called them Horn Pout?
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Sluggo on Dec 26, 2003, 01:10 PM
HaHaHaHa,  This fight is visited every time someone pulls a fish through the hole at our shack.  This is always my argument: A walleye is a walleye is a walleye.  A pickerel (chain pickerel) does not exist in our region.  I usually say that a pickerel is the same shape as a pike but has the yellow colour of a walleye. (precisly as pictured by Esox)

This is challenged every single time.  One guy insists that since some people have incorrectly called walleye pickerel for many many years he can call a walleye a pickerel.  My response.......... Call it a pickerel if you want......... but you're still wrong!!!

P.S.  At the shack this is all in fun.  If you can't have a fun argument with good friends over a few pints then what's the point!
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: fishercat on Dec 26, 2003, 05:20 PM
What is great is when you have all 3 kinds of fish in one area. Some one will have the correct I.D.  Esox you the man nice pics ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bob_D on Dec 26, 2003, 08:23 PM
I do know this....On Lake Champlain there is no size limit on Chain Pickerel and a 18" minimum on walleye. If I have a 17" walleye in the bucket and the boys in green stop to see me, I can call it whatever I want, but I'm going to get a ticket. ;)

Call it what you want...just get out there and go fishing.  ;D
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Preacher_man on Dec 27, 2003, 08:43 PM
 Hey Esox,
          What kind of digital camera do you have? THose are probably the clearest pictures of seen yet. I want to get me a nice digital that will take clear pictures like yours.
                            Preacherman
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bob_D on Dec 27, 2003, 09:15 PM
Preacher_man,
Those pics are actually down graded to save size. The full quality pics are much better. Those pics were taken with a HP Photosmart 318. To be honest, I did not like that camera very well. I went through 4 of them in the warrenty period. It did not have any optical zoom and had very slow memory (had to wait 10-15 seconds between pictures). That and HP's service was not good at all. To the point I won't ever buy another one of their products. I lost that camera this summer...it's on the bottom of Long Island Sound. Since then I replaced it with a Minolta DImage 414, and I'm MUCH happier with that unit. More features, better quality in every way possible.

What kind of money are you looking to spend?
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Preacher_man on Dec 28, 2003, 12:40 PM
 I heard you can get a pretty nice digital for around 200,so I guess if I could get one for that I'd be happy.
                              Preacherman
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Fat Boy on Dec 28, 2003, 07:51 PM
To confuse things even more, some of the grocery stores around here sell yellow pike...walleye!  Blue pike = an bluish colored walleye (still found in Canada but supposedly fished out to extinction in the great lakes).

And...there are other species of pickerel, the grass and red fin pickerel...not sure exactly of the red fin name, I have to research and get back to you on that).  I don't have the genus/species of them handy.

Esox, good work on your clarifications!
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Mr.Seaguar on Dec 28, 2003, 08:07 PM
The grass pickeral and the redfin are both real small I think. I have only seen on pickerel and that was a grass pickerel in AL. Funny thing was, I had asked my dad ten minutes earlier if he had ever caught a pickerel. He said no. Strange how things work sometimes.
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bob_D on Dec 28, 2003, 08:34 PM
Fat Bot...Thank you.

Preacher_Man,
I got my Minolta S414 about 6-8 months ago and the lowest price was about $325. I just did a search on mysimon.com and found you can get it for about $260 including shipping. If you go that route you need to get AA NiMH (I recommend 2 sets 8 batteries total), a charger, and a bigger memory card. The camera comes with a 16meg card, but that is about useless. I have a 256meg in mine and that is all I have needed so far. A large JGP pic on this camera is a little over 1 meg, and the TIFF pictures are about 10-12 meg each. If you have a Costco around, they have great deals on rechargable batteries and memory cards.

I did a lot of research at the time I got mine and all reports said it was about the best bang for the buck out there. I've been very happy with it so far.

Here is the mysimon link... http://mysimon.search.com.com/search?pgtpid=4012&editionid=4&tag=ksrch.srform&qt=Minolta+s414&cn=5 (http://mysimon.search.com.com/search?pgtpid=4012&editionid=4&tag=ksrch.srform&qt=Minolta+s414&cn=5)
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: alpinehigh on Dec 28, 2003, 08:40 PM
Nanookette:
Im originally from northern ontario which is close to you and we called walleye =pickeral too. And if someone called a walleye, "a walleye" then we would say "what are you? an american". But the rest of canada (and the states)knows a walleye is a walleye and a pickeral is a kind of pike.
So when someone pulls a walleye out of the hole and yells "look at this pickeral" you can laugh to yourself that they just dont know fish.

Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: grumpymoe on Dec 29, 2003, 08:47 AM
as a kid raised in nw ontario, we referred to walleye as pickerel-(walleye to us was an american thing)-its hard to break the habit of calling them pickerel. pike regardless of species is pike  :'(
Title: Re:Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: FishDaddy09 on Dec 29, 2003, 12:04 PM
It's always interesting to hear the different names people from different parts of the country call fish.  Here in southern Mich, NE. IND.   we call them walleye or walleyed Pike. ( to some people anything with teeth is a "pike".)Northern pike are pike or just "northern".  We don't have chain pickeral, but we do have grass pike( they only get about 12" long).  Down south bluegill are "brim", rockbass are "goggleyed perch". The list goes on and the confusion continues.
Title: Re: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: big nor on Jan 27, 2009, 08:13 AM
A pickerel is not the same as a walleye and i dont know what a jackfish is unless your talking about jackperch where do u get your info ive fished pike my whole life on lake ontario and im not getting what your saying?
Title: Re: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: tundraboy on Jan 27, 2009, 09:07 AM
In Maine a pickerel is a pickerel and a pike is a pike. We have no walleye so I guess it less confusing.
Title: Re: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: eyesfishing on Jan 28, 2009, 09:54 AM
A pickerel is not the same as a walleye and i dont know what a jackfish is unless your talking about jackperch where do u get your info ive fished pike my whole life on lake ontario and im not getting what your saying?

Why the hell did you revive a 5 year old thread? Just to add your "$0.02"?
Title: Re: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: Bellybuster on Jan 28, 2009, 11:10 AM
ha, too funny...I gotta bump this one
Title: Re: Northern Pike = Jackfish & Pickerel = Walleye
Post by: edmonds on Jan 28, 2009, 11:28 AM
Bob D has it right.

In some parts of its range, the walleye is also known as the colored pike, yellow pike or pickerel (esp. in English-speaking Canada), although the fish is related neither to the pikes nor to the pickerels (which are actually a species of pike called the chain pickerel), both of which are members of the family Esocidae.

taken from wikipedia