Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose chain pickerel

I've been trying to locate a few chain pickerel for stocking for years without success. An outfit in PA advertised them, but when I called them several times , they didn't seem interested in helping. Does anyone know where I could get some that would be adapted to NW Ohio climate. I would be willing to drive several hundred miles to get them.

Fishbird. Interesting idea to stock pickerel. Are you doing this to control other species? Take a look at this site and read page 393 to 404.
http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/becker.html
Is the chain pickerel the same as grass pickerel? If so it would appear that this would be a great fish to control panfish populations in a pond exept when I read how this has worked using its cousin the northern pike. I would also think any type of pickerel or pike in a pond would be a pain when fishing for anything else since their teeth would be constantly biting off hooks unless you always used a wire leader. I don't think I'd want to deal with this in my pond. If you really want pickerel you might try some hatcheries in Wisconsin or Minnesota. I know a lot of them sell Northern Pike but not sure about pickerel.

No, Chain pickeral (Esox niger) are not the same as Grass Pickeral (Esox americanus vermiculatus).

Seems to me you may have to find a place that has wild fish to get any. They are really common in the northeast and are quite hardy. I believe PA has quite a few. How about a vacation farther east and bring some home in an areated cooler? Not sure about the legalities though. I know living in Massachusetts they were thick in mill ponds and weedy waters and easy to catch. In some waters they are so common they were a nuisance.

BZ,

A chain pickeral is similar to a grass pickeral but larger. They max out around 4 lbs. They are enjoyable to catch, tasty but boney. They have a reputation for overpopulating in small waters but I have never witnessed this. They do spawn much earlier than bass and BG.

Good Luck finding some Fishbird.

My main reason for wanting some is to add diversity to my pond. I remember catching them as a kid in a Southern Ohio pond and loving them as a sport fish.( a smaller version of pike) I could use another predator though. Right now, smallmouth are top dog and they do a pretty good job, but tend to be fond of the crayfish. My panfish numbers(crappie, redear, perch) are getting a little high I think, so the pickeral could possibly help there. I know they like lots of weeds and I've got those.

fishbird, you may try to call John Sproch of Keystone Aquaculure. He's in Harrisburg PA. I can't say for sure if he has chain pickerel or not, but if not, he should be able to point you in the right direction.

ph. 717-350-4431 is his cell and is the best way to reach him.

If you don't mind answering a few questions about your smallies, I'd appreciate it.
1) Are they spawning in your pond?
2) What kind of growth do you get?
3) How big are the largest, and how old are they?

Thanks.

Sunil, I'm an experimenting type of guy, so when they told me that smallies would never work in a pond, the first thing i did was to locate some smallies. I've had very good results even competing with LM. I like them because they fight better and taste better.
Yes i've had them spawn successfully. Not every yr. but quite often.(Pond is about 10 yrs. now). Once i knew they could spawn, I started harvesting some of them. Caught one recently about 4lbs. Lots of "pounders" for the table. I have a pretty good prey base of crayfish and will stock some fatheads every other year or so. They seem to be more aggressive then LM and dominate.

oh yeah, sunil, thanks for the pickerel lead- i follow up on it and see if he can help

Fish bird what kind of pond do you have? In West Virginia I have seen a lot of quarries and gravel pits that have small mouths as top predator but very few earth ponds. I imagine if you have small mouth, chain pickerel would have no problem adapting. They both exist in some creeks I like to fish. On the Ohio DNR web site they have a list of fish farms in the state. None of them list pickerel because the state doesn’t recommend them for stocking. That’s not to say that none of those farms sell pickerel.

john boat,
I have about a 3/4 acre earth pond 16' deep with a rip-rap shoreline. Lilies, water celery, and a few other plants. Sunken trees, rock piles, etc.
I have looked for yrs. in Ohio and other states with no luck. As a result, I have purchased about every species i could get my hands on, with mixed results.
Nothing against ODNR, but my experience has been that they have a mind set for LM, BG and channels and not much else.
The only supplier that I've seen advertise them was Zetts. And when I called them(several times), they didn't seem interested in helping me, so I gave up on them. I know chain pickerel are common in the Middle Atlantic region, so I keep thinking someone in those states might have them.
Again, my experience with pickerel was in S. Ohio pond that had a seemingly balanced population of LM, BG, catfish and pickerel. Oh, I also know they have some nice ones in Santee Cooper of all places. But I don't think a southern strain would survive in OH.

I checked with the WV DNR but they were not in the business of stocking pickerel. I stopped by Zetts they have Pike but no Pickerel. Pickerel do reside in Deep Creek Lake in Western MD. I’m not sure if it’s legal but you could do a collecting trip and pick up some adults over a weekend if you had a way of transporting them. They are very conmen in the northeast may be one of the NE state hatcheries could put you on to some fish.

thanks john boat, i'll keep looking, i'll try the northeast

fishbird, here's a few random thoughts for you. In my experience, it is much easier to manage high diversity with non-breeding species of fish. We have about 20 species of catchable fish in our lake (4 acres). The only successful reproduction is by bluegill. Our lake is predator heavy and young fish of any species have a very small chance of survival.

LMB and SMB will live and thrive together just fine. The SMB will often not reproduce successfully in the presence of LMB. With all of the species, except bluegill, I add fish every year. If chain pickeral were native here, I would have them. Northern pike are just too big for our lake. Grass pickeral are native but even an adult fish would be a snack for a bass.

Something like this might work for you.

Norm, I agree with you about managing nonbreeding fish, a little easier to keep a handle on things. As far my bass, it varies year to year as to which one is more successful with spawning-which is fine.
Regarding the Chain Pickerel, someone suggested I contact John Sprock of Keystone Aquatics- I did and he responsed. Sounds like he'll do his best to keep an eye out for the pickerel. I think it will be an intersting experiment if it can happen. I'll have to get some pretty big ones though to keep from becoming bass snacks.

Fishbird, I can't give any advice as far as chain pickerel, in fact I'm looking for some. I just fished a small, state owned impoundment with chain pickerel. Every couple of minutes you could here one tear into a bluegill/minnow/something. However, I couldn't catch one. Couldn't even get them to bite. I threw flukes, topwater baits, spinnerbaits, and even caught some small minnows around the shallows and tried them. Not even a hit. They were EXTREMELY spooky. Every fish within 10 ft of where the bait landed tore through the water. Water clarity was probably 5+ feet. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also as a side note, I did notice one thing about this place that may be of some importance. The 8 acre pond was stocked with BG, RE, LMB, and chains. I saw lots and lots of YOY bass and bluegill but only 1 YOY pickerel. Either they didn't have a good spawning year or they typically don't get good recruitment in ponds.

Tritonvt, Wish I could give you some advice on how to catch them. Other than a couple of nice ones caught on minnows at Santee-Cooper a few yrs. ago, I haven't caught any since I was a kid. I caught those on bass lures while fishing a state owned 3-4 acre pond.
I do have a theory as to why they might be so spooky. I'm probably all wet on this but I have given it some thought. I belive that fish, particulary late in the season, get conditioned to certain stimuli(baits, smells,sounds etc.) I believe this is especially true in small, heavily fished areas where there is catch and release. If a fish is caught and released, basic animal psychology says they will try to avoid similar situations. I notice this in my pond with the channel cats. They've been caught enough to know the smell of steel(hooks) and other "baits". As a result, they are hard to catch.
With pickerel, they are visual and sound hunters. They could associate fishing "sights" and "sounds" with a previous unpleasant experience.
Again, my theory could be totally wrong. In the great North, I've seen pickerel's cousin, the pike, take bait after bait.(sometimes the same fish) Of course that has been early in the season when they are extra aggressive.
Also, the large amonut of young YOY bass, sunfish might explain their refusal to attack.

TritonVT, you've been away for a while. Glad you're back.

I don't really have any experience fishing for chain pickerel, but I wonder if you live-lined a smaller fish like a bluegill or perch, if you might have some luck.

I don't have any experience live-lining either, but it's something I've been meaning to try.

I've had plenty of luck catching Chain Pickeral in the fall on white spinners. I would make sure you really want them before you put them in. They are toothy preditors that eat anything. I put three 16"-18" CP in my 5 acre pond to help with the overpopulated bass, and within 2 years we pulled out 2 of them at 26". I left 1 in for the hell of it, but didn't want them spawning. They compete pretty well with LMB, but might outcompete Smallies.

HEY GUYS, ARE THERE ANY HATCHERIES OUT THERE THAT RAISE CHAIN PICKERAL IN THE NORTHEAST? I'D LIKE TO KNOW!