I've never worked with chain pickerel primarily because they are rare fish in my area. A few in a 1 ac pond would reduce numbers of small fish - good maybe bad? My concern is if they would spawn and become too abundant to where numbers would have to be reduced. This I found for growth in a cool spring fed pond. 1yr 4-5", 2yr 7", 3yr 10", 4yr 12-14", yr5 17-18", 6yr 20"; life span around 9 yrs.

Raney (1942) studied chain pickerel in a New York pond and found that golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas) were found in the stomachs of 47.3% of the 234 chain pickerel examined. Common bullheads (Ameiurus nebulosus) were found in 13.8%, and common sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) were found in 13.2%. Crayfish (Cambarus) were present in 42% of the chain pickerel. (Jenkins and Burkhead, 1994; Raney, 1942; Rohde, et al., 1994; Ross, 2001; Trautman, 1981). https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Esox_niger/

https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/strategic-management-plans/pickerel.pdf
As long as a lake contains relatively shallow, weedy habitat, the pickerel is likely to do well. It’s believed that largemouths, which frequent weedy areas, are serious predators on young of the year pickerel which are largely confined to these patches of aquatic vegetation. ……there is little doubt that pickerel adversely impact a trout fishery. In that study newly stocked spring yearling brown trout were observed in the stomachs of 15 (28%) of 54 pickerel. The smallest pickerel, which had consumed a brown trout, measured 15.0 in. A single 18.0 in pickerel
had 3 brown trout in its stomach.

Chain Pickerel Average = Std Weight
https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Documents/ChainPickerelManagement.pdf

List of more common minnows/shiners in NC
Full list of all freshwater fish in NC
http://dpr.ncparks.gov/fish/checklist_pdf.php
24 Chrosomus oreas ......................... Mountain Redbelly Dace
25 Clinostomus funduloides .............. Rosyside Dace
28 Cyprinella analostana ................... Satinfin Shiner
29 Cyprinella chloristia ...................... Greenfin Shiner
30 Cyprinella galactura ...................... Whitetail Shiner
32 Cyprinella lutrensis ....................... Red Shiner Not native
33 Cyprinella nivea ............................ Whitefin Shiner
34 Cyprinella pyrrhomelas ................. Fieryblack Shiner
38 Cyprinus carpio ............................ Common Carp
43 Hybognathus regius ..................... Eastern Silvery Minnow
47 Luxilus albeolus ............................ White Shiner
48 Luxilus cerasinus .......................... Crescent Shiner
50 Luxilus coccogenis ....................... Warpaint Shiner
53 Nocomis chubs, River Chub, Bigmouth Chub, Bull Chub
57 Notemigonus crysoleucas ............ Golden Shiner
58 Notropis alborus ........................... Whitemouth Shiner
59 Notropis altipinnis ......................... Highfin Shiner
60 Notropis amoenus ........................ Comely Shiner
61 Notropis bifrenatus ....................... Bridle Shiner.
63 Notropis chiliticus ......................... Redlip Shiner
64 Notropis chlorocephalus ............... Greenhead Shiner
66 Notropis cummingsae ................... Dusky Shiner
67 Notropis hudsonius ....................... Spottail Shiner
68 Notropis leuciodus ........................ Tennessee Shiner
73 Notropis petersoni ........................ Coastal Shiner
75 Notropis procne ............................ Swallowtail Shiner
78 Notropis scepticus ........................ Sandbar Shiner
79 Notropis spectrunculus ................. Mirror Shiner
80 Notropis telescopus ...................... Telescope Shiner
86 Pimephales promelas ................... Fathead Minnow
90 Semotilus atromaculatus .............. Creek Chub





Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/10/19 08:28 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine -
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