Chain Pickerel on the fly

my only exp with a pickrel was when i was fishin back whre the raystown branch of the juniata river meets shawnee creek right off the turnpike i didn know what the hell it was lol
 
They turn active in the cold?
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My very first fish on a fly back in 1963 was pickerel that I caught by casting onto the ice in a half frozen pond and pulling it into the open. The pickerel hit as soon as it touched water. They're definitely active in colder weather.

A Mickey Finn is a great fly for pickerel; I've caught hundreds of them on it.
 
I'll second the use of a popper to target these fish. I fish in a few lakes in the northern poconos for largemouth but when we get near reed and grass beds, sometimes we'll switch to red and white poppers with weed guards. Great to see the ripple of the grass and then the water from 10+ ft away as they charge the fly! The rush and strike are the best but the fight is pretty wimpy until they get really big. Have fun.
 
I catch them in Wayne County of a private lake. I use heavy leaders and big white buggers. They slam them. I will say though that if you are fishing from a boat........

expect them to hit the fly right before you make another cast. They will follow it right up to the boat and slam it out of no where! Scares the crap out of me everytime and i love it :)
And i got great nerves. Its hard to make me jump but these fish do it.

I have caught them in the swattie and its tribs. One i caught was in a brookie stream. Them poor brookies :-( I kept that pickerl.
 
I've noticed the past few years that I havent been catching many pickeral.Anyone else notice this ?
 
Beltzville Lake is filthy with em. I fish spin and baitcasting there and you can catch a pickerel on pretty much anything you throw in that lake. Gotta agree with sal about them eatin it right when ur ready to make another cast. Last year my 3 year old nephew had one bite off his crappie jig right next to the boat. He was really confused as to what just happened
 
I managed one today on scott's run lake by wading the shallows and chucking a tiny olive bugger. Quick strips seemed to do the trick.

I have yet to go pickerel fishing and not catch at least one yellow perch. It's happened dozens of times. I am guessing they prefer similar waterways?
 
Are they native to Pa? Do they naturally reproduce here if not?
 
osprey wrote:
Are they native to Pa? Do they naturally reproduce here if not?
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Yes, chain pickerel are native to PA and the northeast. Generally, their numbers have traditionally been higher in regions east of the Appalachian range. They're particularly dense in the Coastal Plain from MD up to ME and thrive in ponds and brackish water. There is a theory that they evolved in these areas so as to be out of competition with larger esocids like pike and muskies (muskies are native to the Mississippi drainage and traditionally were not found in central and eastern PA).
 
caught 15 chaineys on clousers up in the Poconos today! lots of fun. also caught a few Perch, Bluegills and a single (but very nice) Largemouth that was probably 2.5-3 lbs.

it was my first time flyfishing on a lake. pretty fun day!
 
mystillwater,

Welcome to the dark side my brother. :pint:
 
Anyone ever hit up Deep Creek Lake for Chains?
 
Heading down to DC/Baltimore next week for business. Any suggestions on Chains on the fly with no boat?
 
In Sullivan County PA Camp Brule Lake is infested with pickerel. In fact, the Rangers ask that you please keep as many as you can.

Camp Brule is near Hillgrove, PA
 
Thanks Jigs!
 
spent the weekend back at my favorite pickerel spot... caught some more... the ones i was catching a couple weeks ago were a bit bigger and put up a much better fight this time around. caught one over 20". however, i had a little more trouble getting them released successfully. i ended up killing two out of a dozen or so caught. this almost never happens to me and kinda bums me out. i'm going to get some longer pliers for the next trip.

on a higher note, i caught MANY nice sized bluegills (in the 1lb neighborhood) and a couple good sized largemouth. its a shallow lake so i don't often target bass here but i know of a deep spot with some structure/cover so i threw a popper nearby. in the course of 20 minutes i caught a 5lb+ largemouth and a 3lb-er on a sneaky pete. the 5 pounder is the largest fish i've caught on any tackle. it was quite an experience. seeing that giant mouth crash the surface and devour the popper. and the fight was intense. he didn't want to come with me. he actually drug my kayak around quite a bit. i finally got him in an he was obscenely large. i didn't have anything to weight him but i think he was conservatively 5lbs. he about swallowed my popper and i got my whole hand in his mouth to dislodge the fly. and released him safely. i hooked a huge one last year on a rubber worm and broke him off in my hands. i'm wondering if he's the same bass a year larger.
 
When I was kid we would catch chains on Jacks creek in Mifflin co. Useing mickey finns,black nose dace and muddler,s that was a lot fun but hard on the flys, A lot of the stae park lakes have chains in them.
 
I was banging them all day Saturday while avoiding my family at Minsi Lake in Carbon County.

I just stood on a rock and tossed a brown/ginger bugger and drew it back over the weeds. Not the most exciting fish to bring in, but the way they'd slam that fly was a treat. They'd nail the fly on every cast when the sun went behind the clouds.
 
Alright so you're in Dutchess county NY, I'm in Fulton County.

I have a tried and true pattern I always use for Pickerel, Pike, and Smallies and they seem to love it.

Henderson Perch

1. You wrap with black thread.
2. Start at the back with yellow chenile.
3. About 3-4 wraps of the chenile tie in some orange bucktail on the bottom and trim it short to perch fin length.
4. Then wrap the chenile farther forward and about 2/3rds of the way to the front of the hook wrap another orange fin on bottom.
5. When you get to the eye of the hook, tie in green bucktail with holographic flash on top.
6. Bulk up the head with the black thread, dot a yellow eye on each side of the head.
7. Tie a few up, tie one on in a lake or river that has Pickerel, Pike, or Smallmouth Bass and on a fast strip you'll be sure to pick up a few good fish.

Just understand that even though Pickerel are a typically smaller version of a Pike, they still have teeth, and I would be using either Tyger wire, or very strong tippet, that you can set the hook without them getting near the tippet.

Good luck, and any questions about the fly, or others that I use up here for pickerel, pike and smallies just let me know.

By the way, if anyone has a kayak. Take it out on a lake that has either of these 3 species and let them drag you into rocks and weed beds. Its a whole different experience in fly fishing.
 
By the way, if you use this perch pattern, you avoid catching perch if you tie on a large 0/1 Saltwater hook, the perch won't even bother.

Big Flies catch big fish.
 
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