Conference wahoo::fishing

    That is a problem....and I'm sorry to say that there is no lure
    that a bass will take that a pickeral won't...and to make matters
    worse, they both hang out in the same water for most of the year.
    
    sorry about that, but then you have the pleasure of catching fish.
    One thing that you might try, now that I think about it, is a Jig
    en' Pig.........but I have seen pickeral and pike hit them too....
    
    Tight lines, Ranger Ron
    

Pickerel and LM bass do seem to hit the same types of lures and bait.
However, I have very rarely hooked up with a pick when using rubber worms
rigged Texas/weedless style.  Pickerel will go for a worm, but seem to take
the worm in the middle; when attempting to set the hook, the worm is pulled out
of the pick's mouth.  Unforunately, the worms sometimes get ripped in half.
LM bass, however take a lure/bait head first, usually taking the whole bait
into their mouth.  So try out a worm and let us now if you hook up with any
pickerel. 

    
    I have to concur that what catches bass catches pickeral ... but
    to cut the difficulty of unhooking them, stick with single hook
    lures and avoid the trebles.  
    
    Adding to .1 & .2 ... any lure with a trailer would seem to cut
    down on pick hook-ups - try a spinnerbait with a pork frog trailer
    or a weedless spoon with pork.
    
    -SSS-

    
    I think the best way to avoid catching pickerel is to fish at 
    night.  Apparently pickerel (and Pike too I believe) only feed
    during the daytime.  So, Get out those nightlights, the zara
    spooks, and large spinnerbaits and go hunt those lunkers in
    peace and quiet !!!
    
    Gus
    

    I don't want to throw any cold water on that idea Gus, but I have
    caught or seen caught alot of picks and pikes at night......TBDW
    caught a 7# pike two years ago on a plastic worm at 2:30 in the
    morning......it was our all night tourament. 
    So, I don't necessaryily agree that night time and worms will keep
    anyone from catching these fish....not that that is a bad thing.
    After all, they do put up a good fight and boating a "large" pike
    at night can be VERY interesting, if not outright dangerous....;^)
    
    Tight lines, Ranger Ron

    Are you guys really talking about pickerel, also known as walleye,
    dore, pickerel-pike, etc????
    
    I would much rather catch them than bass and spend most of my time
    trying to catch them. What size are the ones you are bothered with?
    
    I generally fish Northern Quebec and the best fishing for pickerel
    is at dusk and just after dark. They are primarily a night time
    feeder, too much sun is hard on their eyes. I have also caught them
    on everything a bass will take including worms, jigs, etc. About
    the only thing they don't go for are surface plugs.
    
    Roger

    It seems to me that a Pick or a Pike is much more aggresive then a
    Bass. Ive noticed that they like to hit the faster moving bait then a
    slow moving, such as a worm or jig n pig. They also dont spook easy.
    Ive had them hit my jig while it was hanging over the side of the boat
    under less then a foot of water. Infact alot of the hits are just
    before I get the bait to the boat...............cocky suckers!!!!
    
    
                                       Bill   (wheres my bat)

    Are Walleye the same fish or the same species?? 
    The picks I catch are usually better then 16 inches. It varies...
    I did pull in a 4 lber last week. About 27 inches.
    Your right, these fish give a incredible battle. But Im a Basser, and
    as I said in my last reply, I feal a Bass has no chance of getting the
    bait first. There are may times I would hook a pick and cut him loose
    4 feet from the boat. Not worth the hastle!!!!!(only with worms though)
    
                                             Bill 
    
                                            

    I believe the fish that is being discussed here is the Eastern Chain
    Pickeral - close relative to the Northern Pike.  
                                              
    A Walleye or Walleyed-Pike if you prefer, is a different fish.
                                              
    And yeap, I agree that they'll hit most anything that you fish for
    bass with. 
    
    donmac

    	I think some one had the right idea earlier. Sometimes it's not 
    what you fish but how you fish it. Pickeral do seem to like ALOT of 
    action (read - lots of movement). Although bass also like some movement,
    they seem to spook with to much movement (the same thing that attracts
    pickeral). I've noticed when worm fishing the majority of the bass
    I get are just when the worm hits the water or while it's falling.
    So now I usually just cast, let the worm sink, let it sit about
    10-15 seconds, twitch it once or twice, wait another 10 seconds
    or so, and if I don't get any hits then I just reel it right in.
	
    	Some lures, like crankbaits, you can't help but get pickeral but 
    you can fish spinner baits and a pig/jig with the same method
    mentioned above.
    
    	A couple of other tips that might help. Stay away from firetail
    worms (ones with flourescent colored tails). If your not already
    using them, try a flat tailed worm (like a Manns).
    
    	Anyway you look at it, your still going to catch some pickeral
    but this may help to increase your chance of catching bass while
    decreasing your chance of getting a pickeral.

    	Hope this helps.............RAYJ

    
    
    From my experience, pickeral like bright colors but will hit almost
    anything that moves. Try using darker colors and you may eliminate
    some of the hassle.
    
    
    mark                                  

    
    
       I sometimes make special trips to catch certain types of fish, pickerel
    being one of them.
       In my many trips I have found that pickerel will take anything of any
    color that moves in the water, on the water, and sometimes I have even had
    them take a lure dangling 10"-12" over the water.
       They will take it if it moves slow, fast, up, down or any other way. It
    can be sunny, hazy, dark, moonlit, raining, early or late, and they still
    keep coming. 
       I guess what I am sayiny is that as long as there are pickerel
    there, you are going to catch them. The only thing that I can suggest
    is to use a stainless wire leader on your lures. It doesn't stop the
    pickerel from hitting, but it sure helps save the lures! I have found
    that if you use a small enough wire, it does not interfere with
    catching bass. I use a .009"-.011" wire. (bought at Cabela's). You only
    need about 3"-5" of it on your lure.
       If you cannot find any wire let me know and I'll see if I can't get
    some to you. Also, I am always looking for new pickerel water. Is it
    possible to get info on this lake that you fish?
       I hope that I have been of some help.
    
                          Good luck and happy fishing.
    
                                         Al Davis
    
                                       

    	You can find wire that size at any store that sells guitar strings.
    I don't know how your going to tie it though.
    
    	RAYJ

    re: how to tie it
    
     Haywire twist.
    
    The Doctah

    re: .13
    
       Guitar strings will not do as they will rust. It must be stainless
    steel. The stainless wire can be bought at various salt water tackle
    shops, lure supply houses, and some hardware stores. 
       There are many ways to tie the wire to the lure and the mono line,
    the haywire twist being one of them. Most tackle shops have books on
    all fishing knots for wire, mono, dacron, etc.......
       I'm gone to California next week so....
     
                          Good luck and Happy fishing
    
                                    Al Davis
    
    

This might be a somewhat controversial idea, but I've been giving it 
some thought lately, and I'd like some input from some of you guys.

Anyhow, after a few years of bass fishing, I have noticed that there 
are quite a lot of those pesky critters known as pickerels out 
there, and that anywhere you find bass, there's a good chance of 
encountering these guys too.

The question is this: I wonder if it might be a good idea to, well,
let's say, *not* release some of the pickerel that we catch, in the
interest of enhancing the habitat in favor of bass. It seems pretty plain 
that the two species compete within the same habitat, and it's quite 
possible that an abundance of one suppresses the other, although I have
only seen places with too many pickerel and none with too many bass (I
know... no such thing as too many bass!) 

I'm beginning to think that every time I release a pickerel, I'm turning
loose a bass killer, since being predators, they *do* eat bass, as well 
as compete with bass for other food, like crawdads. Besides, there seems
to be *no* shortage of pickerels...

What do you think?

Ed
    

    I've read articals in the past that have suggested removing them and
    using them for fertilizer.  Because they are much more aggressive and
    less prone to winterkill (they absorb oxygen thru their skin) they can
    easily take over small bodies of water.  However, killing them for the
    sake of hoping to improve the bass fishing is quite controversial
    indeed.  They *are* good eating. Good size pickeral can be filleted the
    same way pike are, removing the y-bone.  Folks who are good at it make
    it look real easy.  I've tried it on small pickeral and have totally
    butchered the fish.  Every year I tell myself that I'm going to keep
    the pickeral I catch and try and learn how to clean them properly, but
    I just never get around to it.  Maybe this year...  
    
    If folks released the bass in small ponds and kept the pickeral, the
    bass would obviously benefit - but unfortunately the opposite is
    usually the case.  
    
    And if a small body of water appears to be suffering from pickeral
    domination, it'd be a shame to kill them off and take the chance of 
    decreasing the fishing in general.  When I'm playing around in a small 
    body of water in waders or the canoe, catching a pickeral or two sure 
    beats getting skunked.
    
    donmac - who only dislikes pickeral during tournaments

    Well Don, I don't exactly *hate* them, it's just that I've been
    wondering if I might improve the bassing in my little corner of Paugus
    Bay if I kept every pickerel I caught. They are fun to catch sometimes.
    
    BTW: A friend of mine was fishing a bass tournament and caught a HUGE 
    pickerel that any other time would have thrilled him to pieces..!
    
    Hey, if anyone out there knows a way to fillet a pickerel that leaves
    the bones out, please tell us!!! They're good eating, no argument
    there...
    
    Ed

A friend of mine puts back TWICE as many pickeral as he catches!  he slices 
them in two before he tosses 'em back!

On a more serious side, I agree that pickeral can and do eat bass and are a 
dangerous predator.  As much as I dislike these critters, there could be a 
downside to eliminating them.  They eat not only bass, but sunfish, perch, 
frogs and just about any other type of aquatic life, all competing for the 
same or similar food sources.

By removing them from the environment could jeopordize the equilibrium where 
these other fish, including bass, become over-adundant.  If you have too 
many fish in a given area, they all become stunted because they're all 
competing for a limited food supply.  Pickeral are Mother Nature's way of 
keeping things in balance.

Too many times in the past, man has tried to intervene by introducing
species that are foreign to the habitat in hopes of controlling some type of
pest.  Usually, we end up losing as the introduced species takes over and 
becomes a menace itself.

The moral is...DON'T SCREW AROUND WITH MOTHER NATURE!

-HSJ-(who still hates but tolerates skinny fish)

    Why are bass more desirable then pickeral?
    
    Jeff

    Well, ahh, well, BECAUSE, that's why!
    
    
    Actually it's probably a combination of things. I'm guessing that
    tradition plays a role in that attitude, from the days when every good
    fisherman took his catch home and *ate* it. Pickerel would be good
    eating except that they are full of tiny bones and most people
    (including me) don't know how to fillet them to avoid those lil' 
    throat ticklers. If you were one of those people hoping for a bass and
    caught a pickerel, you'd be justifiably disappointed.
    
    They are often quite aggressive and will hit every known bass
    bait, so if you are out for bass, and pickerels are around, you may
    find yourself reeling in too many of them instead. If you're using live
    bait it can get expensive! Also they are quite abundant, so they
    usually outnumber bass when you do find them (I think - if someone
    else knows better, correct me). So unless you get a whopper pick, they
    start to seem like pests. And they're so slimy - yech!
    
    Oddly enough, "pickerel" is the diminutive form of "pike" which means
    basically that they are "little pike," and pike are big time game fish,
    though most bass fishermen just stick with bass. (Wayne is our most
    famous exception..) 
    
    To be fair, though, if they were that much of a threat to bass fishing,
    we would be reading about it in the fishing mags...
    
    Ed

    	HEY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "I'm your most famous exception. . . ."  I
    think I resemble that remark.  Besides, who else do you know that
    fishes for Bass with 12 inches of 30# test braided steel tippet
    material??????   :-)  Don't know about the Pickerel, but PIKE, I
    LIKE!!!  Even LITTLE Pike can make for an interesting day when they
    chase your plastic worm over about 2 feet of shore because you THOUGHT
    there would be nothing in 2 inches of water.  GETS YOUR ATTENTION!!!
    Besides, if it swims, has gills, and can pull on the end of my line,
    I'll fish for it!!!! (TROUT EXCLUDED!!!  I rank them at your level for
    Picks.) :-)

    
    Here I go again. I think I'm lost in translation.
    
    Is pickeral the same as pickerel, walleye, walleyed pike, dore, mooneye or
    is it a small pike, grass pike, jackfish?
    
    Does it have two dorsal fins, one high on the back and one lower
    down near the tail?
    
    Because I spend most of my time chasing pickerel/walleye. They are
    mostly in the 2-6lb range with good ones to 12lbs. They are easy
    to filet, even though they have some side bones, but are really
    good steamed whole. 
    
    My favourite stream is good pickerel and bass spawning and fishing
    area. The main predator is pike, although pickerel certainly do
    go for the bass.
    
    Roger