Awesome fly rod fish and reading the water

[Jessed]

I fish a lot in the pine barrens in New Jersey. I spend most of my time in the summer at my cousins. He lives with a small river in his backyard a channel on the left side and a creek on the right that leads to a pound that is fed from a water fall by the lake that's on the other side of the road. So there lots of fishing going on. I started fishing for chain pickerel about 4 years ago and am very good at finding them. I've spent so much time fishing them that I'm very good at locating big fish. I think it's ashame there treated as trash fish. Lots of people don't like there because they mostly catch quarter pound fish but if you really spend effort in learning them you can catch them well into 7-8 pounds and are a blast on a 4-8 wt. the fun thing is there is little to none information about chain pickerel besides basic and obviously fish locations and conditions.


Love big chains on the fly!



http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo39/jessedavis47/25DDB2CD-AC21-4826-9A18-A142E93D9BE5_zpsrsckicwp.png

That fish felt like it was 20 pounds on the 4wt

 

[Dave_W]

Trash fish? I've never heard anyone call pickerel trash fish. In MD they have a big following of anglers who target them in the tidal rivers. Here in central PA, they are less numerous and usually regarded as incidental catches.

Agree, they're great fun on the fly. A weedy pond or creek arm filled with hungry chains is a great place for an FFer. . .and often missed by FFers who drive right over these spots heading out for trout, stripers, or other more glamorous fish.

 

[Jessed]

I was fishing and saw some guys on a bass boat fishing for largemouth and the one guy caught i pickerel and I hear him say " traaaashhhhhhh"

 

[Fly-Swatter]

I know a lot of bass guys who hate pickerel. Mostly, I think, they get angry at the teeth trashing their lures and cutting their lines.

I like to catch pickerel on fly or spin gear. They fight well when they get over 20".

 

[jifigz]

I've heard pickerel referred to as trash fish. I've seen people throw them on the bank to rot. I think that they are awesome.

 

[Dave_W]

Do you see many in the Juniata in your neck of the woods?

I caught one down near Newport some years ago, but have always regarded them as scarce in the river.

 

[SteveG]

I've never heard of them regarded as trash, but I don't run with many warm water guys.

They were one of my favorites to target where we used to camp when I was a child. I don't know of any good places to target them where I live now though (Cumberland Valley). The lake I used to fish for them has been terribly managed by the state over the years, and keeps getting worse.