PICKEREL SOUNDOFF

[4Z ICE]

Recently I had caught up with a manager of a local PFBC fish hatchery,asked him two questions about NEW PICKEREL REGS.IN STATE OF PA
  #1 Why increase the size to 18 " but keep season open all year long?
       answer was What Harrisberg says goes some biologist has a plan somewhere.
 #2  Why are you the fish hatchery guy actually spending fishing licence $ on raising these fish for stocking?
        answer was Some people really like to fish for PICKEREL.

        So before this great site shuts down for the season I would like to know your thoughts on these 2 PICKEREL topics.
       My 2 cents is that I personally do not care for this fish BASS man and panfisher myself.Why raise a predatory fish that competes against the Bass and devours all bait and panfish insight.Trout , Walleye , Perch, no problem in raising these fish for stocking .  What do you think ?

[ahester14]

Recently I had caught up with a manager of a local PFBC fish hatchery,asked him two questions about NEW PICKEREL REGS.IN STATE OF PA
  #1 Why increase the size to 18 " but keep season open all year long?
       answer was What Harrisberg says goes some biologist has a plan somewhere.
 #2  Why are you the fish hatchery guy actually spending fishing licence $ on raising these fish for stocking?
        answer was Some people really like to fish for PICKEREL.

        So before this great site shuts down for the season I would like to know your thoughts on these 2 PICKEREL topics.
       My 2 cents is that I personally do not care for this fish BASS man and panfisher myself.Why raise a predatory fish that competes against the Bass and devours all bait and panfish insight.Trout , Walleye , Perch, no problem in raising these fish for stocking .  What do you think ?

[ahester14]

Recently I had caught up with a manager of a local PFBC fish hatchery,asked him two questions about NEW PICKEREL REGS.IN STATE OF PA
  #1 Why increase the size to 18 " but keep season open all year long?
       answer was What Harrisberg says goes some biologist has a plan somewhere.
 #2  Why are you the fish hatchery guy actually spending fishing licence $ on raising these fish for stocking?
        answer was Some people really like to fish for PICKEREL.

        So before this great site shuts down for the season I would like to know your thoughts on these 2 PICKEREL topics.
       My 2 cents is that I personally do not care for this fish BASS man and panfisher myself.Why raise a predatory fish that competes against the Bass and devours all bait and panfish insight.Trout , Walleye , Perch, no problem in raising these fish for stocking .  What do you think ?

[C.C.]

I wish they would skip the pickeral and go with pike Bass JMO
      Jim

[dkfry]

Why not pickeral? PA stocks Musky in every nook they can find. Pike and Pickeral would be better to stock IMO than Musky. Trout are stocked too many places. Walleye and crappies are stocked in lakes as well as shiners and others. Look on the PFBC site for what is stocked in different lakes across PA.

[saphireblue99]

Pickerel fry and juveniles are a major source of bass food in many of the shallow weedy pocono lakes  such as SHOHOLA, and without the dorsal spines alot easier on the digestive system. Also how many of you have had one of those hot summer days where you can't buy a bite from a bass, you get a topwater explosion from a pickerel, tell me it doesn't get your adrenalin going. And last but not least, how many of you have taken kids ice fishing??? How interesting would it be for them without those toothy critters stealing your minnows and poppin flags all day.

[Ronbo]

Pickerel fry and juveniles are a major source of bass food in many of the shallow weedy pocono lakes  such as SHOHOLA, and without the dorsal spines alot easier on the digestive system. Also how many of you have had one of those hot summer days where you can't buy a bite from a bass, you get a topwater explosion from a pickerel, tell me it doesn't get your adrenalin going. And last but not least, how many of you have taken kids ice fishing??? How interesting would it be for them without those toothy critters stealing your minnows and poppin flags all day.

they are a major source of food for me too

[Ronbo]

I hate catching Pickerel, although I don't keep anything I catch - everything goes back.  Reason for me is Pickerel have a nasty habit of cutting and nicking the flurocarbon leader I use.  Sucks having to constantly cut nicked leaders and re-tie hooks.  I fish with tip-ups and during the course of a day almost every single time I get a bite it will be a Pickerel.

we been using steel leaders ...... invisaleader from southbend

[PCB]

The biggest problem with pickerel most people have is that most lakes that hold pickerel in PA have stunted populations... the one thing that is great about pickerel fishing is when there is a chance for a giant pickerel... the only way that will ever happen is if more fish are kept... there is no reason to stock pickerel other than as fingerlings


Heres a 6 1/4 pounder



A 6 1/2 pounder...
and i have pic of a 7lb, 3 oz pickerel pulled through the ice, all from this year, and all from PA

[PCB]

One more thing... the fish commission thinks the only way to get bigger fish is to increase size limits... which is not effective (look at stocked trout, etc.)

Biology tells us the only way to get the maximum size is through proper management and habitat... for ANY fish species

[JiggerMan]

PCB,
all though what you say is true about fish size management.... the second pickerel does not look 6.5 pounds.  first one maybe..... 

I got some big ones through the ice that were that big but i did guess them at any better than  5 pounds or so. 

OH and about the pickerel size limit being increased.  I think that it is the worse thing that the PFBC could do if they (or the public) want quality fish.  Almost all the lakes that i fish all have very large numbers of sub-legal pickerel.  I would go as far as to say that most lakes in PA are over run with the little hammer handles.  You have to weed through about 20 of them every trip to get a good sized pickerel to eat.  you can not get anything from a pickerel less than 21 inches.  Personaly I dont keep them unless they are 22 or better.  all the new regs are going to do is stunt the populations and keep them sub legal and therefore we will have thousands of little eating machines that are going compete for food with other more popular gamefish.

just my to cents,

JiggerMan   

[Lottie]

On Feb 1 Caught a 26" pickerel with a 9" gill in its stomach that had not started to digest yet. Looked like a snake that had just eatten a rabbit  stomach was buldging.  That same day I caught about 15 hammerheads.
that is way too many for that section of the lake.  Not counting what everyone else was catching. 

if we keep adding pickerel to the lakes they will eat all the panfish just to survive.  Spend my licence $$ for better fish.  It can also knock the balance of the lake out of wack. Then they will have to start to stock the fish that the Pickerel are eating.    "the only good Pickerel is a DEAD Pickerel"      

[icewagon]

If you are catching all small pickerel then your bait is too small ! If you want to catch big pickerel don't use any bait smaller then 5", your better off with 7,8, 9 inch shiners and golden shiners . Early in the season large chubs work well, but as the season progresses shiners seem to work better. Also that same large bait will catch big bass . As far as eating these pickerel they are far better than any trout you will eat they don't get strong when they  get big like bass or walleye. Like Jiggerman said keep the large ones for eating because of the y bones . I fillet them and pan fry  then I just pick out the y bones. I tried that pike method to get the y bone out but I think it wastes too much of the fish. Warren

[PCB]

PCB,
all though what you say is true about fish size management.... the second pickerel does not look 6.5 pounds.  first one maybe..... 

I got some big ones through the ice that were that big but i did guess them at any better than  5 pounds or so. 

OH and about the pickerel size limit being increased.  I think that it is the worse thing that the PFBC could do if they (or the public) want quality fish.  Almost all the lakes that i fish all have very large numbers of sub-legal pickerel.  I would go as far as to say that most lakes in PA are over run with the little hammer handles.  You have to weed through about 20 of them every trip to get a good sized pickerel to eat.  you can not get anything from a pickerel less than 21 inches.  Personaly I dont keep them unless they are 22 or better.  all the new regs are going to do is stunt the populations and keep them sub legal and therefore we will have thousands of little eating machines that are going compete for food with other more popular gamefish.

just my to cents,

JiggerMan   

both of those pickerel were weighed using the same digital scale, and the second one was a 1/2" longer and had a 7" gill in her gut... but your right about the size limit... as far as pickerel go, it would be better of to set limits for them similar to panfish/catfish... throughout the state there really arent nearly as many people that keep them as other types of fish

if the state is stocking pickerel larger than fingerlings... next thing ya know it will be like the rest of the state where youll see palomino pickerel all over the place 

[WANNAKETCHUM]

I agree/disagree with most of the info I've read in the previous posts. I know there are some waters the are overrun with Pickerel and there are also some where they tend to be nowheres near as numerous with most caught being  18" and up....that may not sound like much but when you're having a day with a lot of pickerel action, usually just prior to season closing, and the smallest ones you get are 18" and up, it's a good time in my book. I recently fished with a good friend of mine who's also the W.C.O. for the region I live in, and he pretty much felt the same as the rest of us that raising the length limit wasn't necessarily the answer. We discussed the possibilities of a "slot" limit.....where maybe the majority of the limit could be any fish under 16" with one fish over 16" or maybe designate some waters as 4 pickerel any size....He said he was going to look into the reason for the length increase as he felt it was unjustifiable as we do..... WK

[PCB]

I recently fished with a good friend of mine who's also the W.C.O. for the region I live in, and he pretty much felt the same as the rest of us that raising the length limit wasn't necessarily the answer. We discussed the possibilities of a "slot" limit.....where maybe the majority of the limit could be any fish under 16" with one fish over 16" or maybe designate some waters as 4 pickerel any size....

slot limits are the best way to manage any fishery to obtain the largest and healthiest populations, but it wouldnt do much of anything to a stunted lake... those populations would have to be straightened out first, in other words put back into balance... but i agree completely

[boatnik13]

Trying to read the original post !  Anyhow the Pickerel is not a eating machine thats going to eat all the small fish and "BASS". Infact its not true about any of the PIKE family. Now here in the S.C. part of the State > pickerel are not over crowded. I've looked at the stomach content of Muskies here and didn't see BASS,DUCKS,KITTENS,FROGS,and all them rumors. we found only baitfish (-6") and bugs and crawfish.  As the above board said > Pickerel are better tasting then trout. Over populated is bad of any type of fish. As too why waste $ on raising pickerel ? Well why waste my$ on "trout". Taking hundreds of trout and dumping them in a creek bend near a road for two weeks till the first day of trout is NOT doing anything but sell fishermen on a licenses as they see the fish holding fast till the big day. You call that fishing?  If the fish can't reproduce and its not a Hybrid then why over stock it in a waterway that it will not exist 6 months from now or can't hold that # in that time frame. I support all gamefish right down to FALLFISH. I like a fish that fights and what fish will not at the end of a line.

[crappie/slayer]

i think pa shouldn't stock any more pickerel in the lakes around here because there is already tons of them in the lakes competing with the other fish like bass over food.over the summer we had gotten a lot of rain and had major flooding the pond that i fished is a riverfead pond and we must of had a dam or something break up above because all of a sudden we have all these littel pickerel eating machines about 10 to 12"that summer  every trip we went out for bass we would have 3 or 4 pickerel caught and we must of went through $50 through baits that summer because the darn pickerel kept biting the bait because the pond was filled with pickerel and the bass were competing just to survive then we stated catching bass that had odd deformities on them and they were'nt getting anything to eat because the pickerel eat all of the food.so i say no don't stock any more pickerel

[4Z ICE]

Trying to read the original post ! Is it just me that can't read? or is the words spelled wrong or something. Anyhow the Pickerel is not a eating machine thats going to eat all the small fish and "BASS". Infact its not true about any of the PIKE family. Now here in the S.C. part of the State > pickerel are not over crowded. I've looked at the stomach content of Muskies here and didn't see BASS,DUCKS,KITTENS,FROGS,and all them rumors. we found only baitfish (-6") and bugs and crawfish.  As the above board said > Pickerel are better tasting then trout. Over populated is bad of any type of fish. As too why waste $ on raising pickerel ? Well why waste my$ on "trout". Taking hundreds of trout and dumping them in a creek bend near a road for two weeks till the first day of trout is NOT doing anything but sell fishermen on a licenses as they see the fish holding fast till the big day. You call that fishing?  If the fish can't reproduce and its not a Hybrid then why over stock it in a waterway that it will not exist 6 months from now or can't hold that # in that time frame. I support all gamefish right down to FALLFISH. I like a fish that fights and what fish will not at the end of a line.

Boat nik interesting you say your from S.C part of state when I originally threw out this topic it was a very Hot Topic in our area N.E PA.Hence the reason for this forum to get a better understanding if all lakes in PA are infested with these hammerheads or is this a regional matter.If anyone noticed there is a special reg in the book not permitting the taking of PICKEREL for an extended period of time due to Anesthesia in the fish system.These lakes mentioned just happen to be yep you guessed it N.E PA! How about South east PA, or N.W PA  is this a regional thing? Eating Machines they are here in the NE PA try to fish for Bass on tipups in three state ponds here you will need at least 4 doz. bait for the day if you make it that long.One lake in particular last year SHohola ,my friend noticed what appeared to be a Pickerel wounded. Wounded wasn't the word it had an 8 " gill stuck sideways in it's mouth both fish were still struggling to stay alive when another PICKEREL started to float on top with a Bass stuck in it's mouth. Thanks to all the posts keep them coming but a lot of good ideas especially the slot limit thing.

[boatnik13]

Then its regional !  If any lake down in S.C. PA has over stocked or population of pickerel > I'd like to know so I can fish them. Does anyone think that BASS don't eat gills? Oh ! they do.
I'm sure the N.E. has there over population but I don't see it State wide. Maybe we need more comments from this end of the State.

[Lottie]

This thread hs been interesting and didn't realize that other parts of Pa didn't have the over abundance of pickerel that we have heve here in the NE.  Maybe they should consider regionalizing some of the regs.

[sleddog50]

I fish southeast to northeast Pa. I agree with Lottie make some lakes trophy lakes for Pickerel. Other lakes leave as is.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Well...It probably won't help the 2007/08' season any but if enough people wrote or emailed the P.F.B.C. and voiced their opinions and concerns it may open some eyes...(or ears) for future seasons. We can all get on here and voice our opinion, but that's as far as it goes. You have to put the message out to a higher power so to speak....WK

[boatnik13]

Your exactly right on about the PFBC.  We are loosing ground to the N.Pike in the S.C. region of the State and no one from the PFBC will say why. I know some factors are (silting problems) on  a few lakes and there fix for this is stocking Tiger musky in place of it. As for Pickerel > Its holding but not enough in my opinion. I find that the N.PIKE and the oldest Pickerel to be about the same size in lenth.( Pike a bit chunkier) . The pike should be much longer than the Pickerel. Now we do have a large number of under size pickerel but thats because they are also found in shallow trout stocked streams. I know PFBC and DCNR can help with stunt growth problems but I don't think it will be seen taking care of over stocked
fish or the loss of certain types of originally stocked fish ie(n.Pike ,Walleye ect.) I'm only referencing to the South Central part of the STATE.

[JiggerMan]

pickerel are eating machines up here in N.E. PA.  I caught a pickerel last year in hunters lake that had two and a half 9- 11  inch trout in its belly and mouth and still had the urge to eat my five inch shiner.  This pickerel was only 23.5 inches and could eat this much. 
I also have caught the same pickerel four times in the same day in area about 50x50 yds with a 4 tip up spread in about three 3 hours.  I know it was the same one because it had my hook attached to a five inch chub stuck in its gullet ( it could not swallow it because the hook was through the chub and in the gullet with my line busted off three inches above the hook).  each time i unhooked this pickerel i could see that same hook and chub.  all my tip ups had the same size chubs.  this pickerel was only 16 inches and would of consumed four or more 5inch fish in three hours time.   
I know bass are eating machines as well because i have caught lots of them that look like they were eating well. infact i caught a 23.25 inch LM bass and it had what looked to be good sized crappie still hanging out of its mouth.  I know because i tried to pull it out and got about five inches out before the spines caught and stopped me. 

Trout are also eating machines under the ice.  I caught and cleaned a 16 inch rainbow trout this winter and counted 63 little perch fry, plus some blue gill and bass fry in its belly as well.

All fish are predators in a lake that is the way the food chain works.  They set regulations on fish to try and provide good fishing in the present and ensure good fishing for the future.  The only thing I think alot of us NEPA guys are complaining about is that the PFBC has increased the size limit on one of our regions most prolific killing machines.  In our area most of the lakes you will struggle to catch an 18 inch pickerel and will almost always catch tons of little ones that are all still under the previous size limit of 15 inches that all have fat little bellies.  all this reg is going to do is allow these little things to grow and attain a legal size and become even greater threat in competing for food with other game fish that maybe more desirable.

Dave 
 

[boatnik13]

Nice write up ! jiggerman . Glad someone called other fish eating machines. I for one can't get enough eating machines down here but I guess the NE has a real problem with small machines. I don't look at any of them as eating machines > more like you said "Pecking order".I do know trout are a preferd diet for the Pike family because they don't have that sharp spines panfish have.Plus the over stocking of trout in a hole that holds a few pickerel makes a easy meal.   Good to see this topic go so long with out a flare! Keep it going.

[boatnik13]

Right ! Madcap , I agree with you and diffrent States have diffrent rules. I like the ones that let you keep the middle of the deck and return the young and old. Now take Big Bass Mngt here in PA. Your left with bass 13" and less ( 15" min rule). Looks like the PBFC like numbers and numbers get $$$$$$$ from license sales. SEE all the fish ! there all little but there is alot??? Some thought eh!  Now Muskie  what 40" + or something. Now everyone throwing back 39" and less > wait to see how many die thow we thought we let them go and they lived but truth is many die from fight and shock days later. The bigger the musky the less the lake holds and just how many 40"+ muskies do you think you'll catch no matter how high they raise the min.size.

[Fishbreath]

I understand what JiggerMan is talking about and agree with him.  I get frustrated with all the small Pickerel but it just isn't small pickerel.  Seems like most fish I catch and see others catching are really small, doesn't matter what the species is, everything is small.  I don't fish the big lakes like the Pack where I know guys get good size fish, but the smaller lakes should have something decent size but they don't. 

I'm 52 yrs old, I can remember as a kid catching some nice size pickerel, bass, walleye, trout etc...  now it seems like everything I catch is small, doesn't matter the species.  It's not that the fish I caught as a kid just seemed bigger, I have old pictures and can prove what I say.  This past ice fishing season I caught a good number of pickerel, bass & walleye from 5 of the lakes I've been fishing since I was a kid (all PFBC owned lakes), I don't think one fish was legal size (I'm trying to think back - it's possible 1 bass was legal).  I know I'm not the only one catching small fish.  During slow days I'll walk around and talk to other guys, everybody seems to be catching the same size fish.  Maybe some of it stems from overfishing and guys not throwing back the bigger fish??  More guys fishing now than ever before and the fish not having a chance to get bigger??  Just throwing out some ideas.

I'm not saying that decent size fish aren't out there, just the ratio of stunted fish to legal size fish is out of wack.  I think that the PFBC needs to do better fish mgt.  Our license fees keep going up every year, fines are handed out like crazy, yet they aren't managing the fish.  Granted they do a decent job stocking trout, but how about other species?  Seems like the PFBC forgets about everything but trout.

Pocono pencil pickerel is what I call them, not much bigger then a pencil. 14 1/2" anything close to 15" is kepted by meat hunters. I use to fish tip-ups and catch pickerel in the upper teens or even in the 20"+ class   but not any longer because when I seen a flag I knew it was a 14 1/2" or smaller pickerel not anyfun for me, maybe for kids.

[WANNAKETCHUM]

I fish a small natural (private) lake of about 14-15 acres that has some REALLY nice Pickerel in it. I don't think I've ever caught a Pickerel under 18" there.....the problem is, the lake has depths from about 4' to about 35-37' with very little of it being shallow..(15' or less). There are literally THOUSANDS of dink Perch in this lake..I'm talking not much longer than your index finger...yes, you will catch a few nice Perch on occasion but only a few and thats spread out over the course of a day. And you will catch a nice Bass...not that I target them but get them on the Pickerel setups. But you can move into the deeper water and use all of your waxworms, spikes, etc. in no time flat as you catch dink Perch on every drop. The reason why???. (1) the lake is private and you must know someone that lives on the lake to gain access. (2) the majority of the water is deep and is not the Pickerel or Bass' preferred habitat. (3) the lake receives little fishing pressure because it is private and the majority of the land owners are retired, semi retired, couch potatoes that don't fish or fish so little that they don't have any impact on the population of fish in the lake and because they won't allow the public to fish it....the Perch population goes unchecked.The the real problem is management...whether it's done by the P.F.B.C. or the D.N.R. (or whatever your particular State prefers to call it) OR... by the private sector in this case, if it isn't done properly with all factors considered....That's what you get ...WK

[fishing455]

Stock everything everywhere, I just want to catch fish!