Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Chain Pickerel

Greetings all!

After, what seems like an eternity, my pond construction is nearing completion.... and I have a question.

I enjoy fishing for chain pickerel (esox niger), and I am wondering about how they might fit in to a bass/bluegill/minnow 1 AC pond. Any thoughts on management and impact?

Thanks,

Brian

we are usually trying to rid of them. However they seem to do much better in ponds with fairy heavy vegetation. They for sure compete with bass but they are fun to catch. Not much info on a fish that most percieve as not a sportfish. I say if you like them add just a few to see how thye do, before stocking too many.

Pot Luck, Where are you located? You might want to experriment with yellow perch and chain pickerel. I have no exprience with them it is just an idea. YP and larger soft rayed fishes are better suited as a forage fish for the pikes than sunfishes. Bass could also be a good forage fish for pickerel, however bass are also a predator and raising them as forage for a predator is ineffecient.

Bill,

I'm on Maryland's Eastern Shore, - where we have indigenous Yellow Perch.

Are you thinking YP & pickerel alone... or tossed into the mix with BG and LMB. I want LMB and BG. Could all four be reasonably managed together in a 1AC pond?

Brian

Brian
Once you add BG to the combination I think it will almost require adding LMB to control the BG. A combination of BG, LMB and CP could work. In this case I think the CP would eat as many bass as BG so to maintain a quality fishery, you would have to keep an eye on the LMB recruitment so the CP were not eliminating most of the small bass while the BG became too abundant.

At my grandpa's pond in CT my dad stocked chain pickeral as a kid. he said they got really big and he would catch them with BG, but whenever i go back to CT i dont catch any but i do catch some big bass anywhere from 3-5lbs which is big in CT. So i would think chain pickeral would work they did way back when for my dad

How big do Chain Pickerel get? I was thinking only a few pounds, but it sounds like I was thinking of the wrong Esox.

You are correct not to big. Max reported weight 7.5 lbs.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=2712

when my dad said big he meant only a couple pounds but he said they were long and aggresive. a lot diffrent then the native little brookies

Chain pike can reach 9-10 pounds (record size)

They will eat anything they can swallow at least if you fish for them.

I'd rather stock them than LMB for a top predator.