Common Name:
Grass Pickerel
Other Common Names:
pike, pickerel, grass pike, little pike
Scientific name:Esox
americanus
Family: Esocidae
(pikes)
Related Species:
Chain Pickerel, Redfin Pickerel, Northern Pike, Muskellunge
Range: North America in the Mississippi River system basin, Atlantic Coastal Rivers, and Appalachians |
Sizes:
up to 5lbs, common 10"-14" (1lb-2lbs)
Habitat: Slow moving or still waters in rivers and lakes, especially with aquatic vegitation and shallow structure. 60-77 degree F temperature preference.
Spawning Habits: Like other pikes and pickerels it spawns in early spring (just after ice-out in some areas) over 1-4foot deep water with vegitation covered bottoms. Males and females swim together in large groups and the fertilized eggs are simply dropped and abandoned on the bottom. In optimum areas, this fish and other pickerels can spawn additionally in the summer/fall. Commonly hybridizes with other pickerels.
Feeding Habits:
While very small pickerels are omnivourous, anything over 8" is a viscous
minnow eater. They like to hide under logs and in vegitation or under
lillypads in shallow water, then dart out and pounce on any fish they can
catch and swallow. They will also stalk schools of minnows in packs
of 1-6 fish during early morning and evening in deeper areas near
the shallow areas they usually inhabit. In time of hot weather, they also
school and head for deeper water structure, feeding as they move.
Notes:
A smaller pickerel than the redfin or chain pickerel but just as much fun.
Like other pickerels, they are a fun light tackle fish that is very adaptable
and can keep tabs on overpopulating sunfish, without becoming a menace
to larger gamefish. They are a little bony but very edible.
My favorite trick is to wade into shallow bays off of larger lakes, and
cast 3" plugs, spinners, spoons, poppers, or especially twitch baits very
close to logs and downed trees in 1 foot of water, then quickly twitch
the lure. The strike is explosive and quick, and the same structure
will produce several smaller fish or a few larger ones. Very large
pickerel are easy to confuse with Northern Pike or Muskellunge, and share
many of the same habits. P.S. to limit bite offs, leader your lures
with 4" of 20lb mono!