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.
