# Delaware Pickerel ROCK!



## Captain Ahab (Oct 1, 2008)

Fished a small lake in Delaware yesterday with Tom H. (a new Tin Boater but an old friend).

We caught crappie, mongo blue gills, Lm bass, Yellow perch and oh yeah, 
*
LOTS OF BIG PICKEREL* 

We each caught about 20 pickerel, maybe 6 bass a person and a few yellow perch and bluegills.

I caught a small bass on a jerk bait that clearly had been in the mouth of a monster pickerel - teeth marks and a still open wound.












Hot bait for me was the JD Frog. threw it in the thickest weeds and it buzzed along the top in a very fishy way.

in open water it swims either as a buzz type frog or let it sink and the legs have a very realist "kick" - looks just like real frog about to get eaten by a giant fish.


Both Tom and myself lost monster pickerel at the boat - we did not have a net and they each threw the hook as we were trying to land them and avoid the teeth. The one Tom lost was HUGE at least 5-7 lb range


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## BassAddict (Oct 1, 2008)

Nice catching guys!!! And as usual great fish faces Esquired!!


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## Jim (Oct 1, 2008)

Nice job guys! =D>


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## dedawg1149 (Oct 1, 2008)

nice catch =D>


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## SlimeTime (Oct 1, 2008)

Looks like a great day! :beer: 

ST


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## BensalemAngler (Oct 1, 2008)

Awesome, great job


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## Zum (Oct 1, 2008)

Looks like a prime pickeral location.
Nice catching.


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## Loggerhead Mike (Oct 1, 2008)

looks like an awsome lake to fish. nobody out there but yall?


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## Captain Ahab (Oct 1, 2008)

Loggerhead Mike said:


> looks like an awsome lake to fish. nobody out there but yall?



Nope - it is really small - maybe like 4-6 acres or so. We had to sneak a canoe in to get access


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## slim357 (Oct 1, 2008)

Nice fish, thats a monster yellow perch. Them frogs are killer I cant wait till i get my hands on some more.


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## shamoo (Oct 1, 2008)

Nice fish fellas, different species and decent size, sounds like a successful, day. =D>


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## BLK fisher (Oct 1, 2008)

Alot of different catches. Great job guys.


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## G3_Guy (Oct 1, 2008)

You guys tore it up! Great Job! =D>


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## FishinsMyLife (Oct 1, 2008)

Nice catchin, both of ya'll. Pickerel are always fun


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## Waterwings (Oct 1, 2008)

Great catchin' fellas! 8)


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## hengstthomas (Oct 2, 2008)

It was great to finally meet you Capt Ahab  I am glad I was there for your 1st Delaware Fresh Water Adventure 
We both missed a nice monster Pickerel .. gonna have to take a net next time


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## bassn8ed (Oct 2, 2008)

I am in no way trying to be rude, but down south it pisses us off to catch what y'all call "pickeral". Sometimes a fish pulling your line is better than not.We killl them every chance we get.


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## dedawg1149 (Oct 2, 2008)

bassn8ed said:


> I am in no way trying to be rude, but down south it pisses us off to catch what y'all call "pickeral". Sometimes a fish pulling your line is better than not.We kill them every chance we get.


i was born and raised in the south and let me say everybody in the south don't hate them or just kill them just some off the people in the south but i imagine it is that way in the north,east ,west.my granddad loved to eat them


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## hengstthomas (Oct 2, 2008)

bassn8ed said:


> I am in no way trying to be rude, but down south it pisses us off to catch what y'all call "pickeral". Sometimes a fish pulling your line is better than not.We killl them every chance we get.


Just curious but Why do you kill them ?


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## Captain Ahab (Oct 3, 2008)

Some people here also kill them claiming that they eat teh bass - which is bullcrap!

It is in fact the other way around - bass thrive on a diet of pickerel fry. They are nice and soft, slender and go down a lot easier then sunfish. Find a lake with lots of pickerel and you will find some monsters LM bass


I wish there were not so many half-assed biologists thinking that God put them here to help "balance" nature. When God made all these fish it was for a reason, they co-exist perfectly, so there is no need to kill one species to help another.


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## Popeye (Oct 3, 2008)

Captain Ahab said:


> I wish there were not so many half-assed biologists thinking that God put them here to help "balance" nature. When God made all these fish it was for a reason, they co-exist perfectly, so there is no need to kill one species to help another.



I concur, with the noted exception of foreign exotics not naturally introduced.


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## dedawg1149 (Oct 3, 2008)

i agree some of the biggest bass i have caught came from waters were the chain pickerel live and thrive


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## Zum (Oct 3, 2008)

Ya... it's pretty bad though when "real" biologists introduce pickeral and smallmouth into trout/altantic salmon waters.
I really don't know what they were thinking(don't think they did)but I love catching both of those species now.
I have had a smallmouth on my line and a big pickeral hit it many times.I've also had it done in reverse....I think they love leaving with each other.


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## Salmon_Slayer_2008_Lund (Oct 3, 2008)

Captain Ahab said:


> It is in fact the other way around - bass thrive on a diet of pickerel fry. They are nice and soft, slender and go down a lot easier then sunfish. Find a lake with lots of pickerel and you will find some monsters LM bass




The pond where I used to fish had LM Bass and Northern Pike in it with some perch there. I noticed there have been some big bass there, I mean they would be just cruising around and I would put everything infront and just wouldn't hit. I believe the bass do feed on the fry of the Pike as Captain Ahab said that their much easier to ingest and digest due to being long and slender. I will add pics once I find them.



Captain Ahab said:


> Some people here also kill them claiming that they eat teh bass - which is bullcrap!



Same thing happend in my pond where I go. People killing the Pike. I normally call the ministry of natural resources along with a pic for proof.



Captain Ahab said:


> I wish there were not so many half-assed biologists thinking that God put them here to help "balance" nature. When God made all these fish it was for a reason, they co-exist perfectly, so there is no need to kill one species to help another.



Ya, just like when they put Salmon into Lake Simcoe. The Salmon would clean that Lake out.


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## FishinsMyLife (Oct 5, 2008)

The pickerel took over one pond I fish, but that could be a stocking problem from the last time it was drained. 

My friend put 2 pickerel in his pond a few years ago, and they multiplied. You will catch an even number of pickerel and bass out of there. He has caught at least 2 or 3 bass over 9 pounds out of there in the last year :shock:


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## mr.fish (Oct 5, 2008)

Those are some quality pickeral Dave. Looks like an awesome place to fish. I only wished there were some local lakes or ponds around this area that produced pickeral like that.


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