Pike - Chain Pickerel Hybrid

[BSmaster]

Well, I believe you learn something new everyday.  I never heard of Pike and pickerel getting together but after catching a rather large chain Thursday, I decided to look at the picture again.  After looking at images on the internet, I am certain it is a chain.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  This thing was thick.  I am guessing at 25 inches it went about 5.5 - 6 lbs but it could have been more.  I need to invest in a boga.  The stringer was used to keep it under control so I could get a picture of it.  It swam away without an unnecessary injury to me or the fish.  What I wanted to show is this hybrid fish that I had never heard of.  There are a lot more people on this site with more knowledge on this matter than me.  Does this hybrid thing occur everywhere or is it select locations?

 

The next pic is off from the Vermont page showing the three possible pike - pickerel situations.  Top to bottom is Pickerel, Pike-Pickerel Hybrid, and Pike.  I believe this is from Lake Champlain.

 

Educate me,

Joe

 

 

[fisherman21]

Yours is full chain for sure and a nice one at that

[Frogger]

Agree, nice chain. Hybrids I think have more of the spots on them with some having lines running vertical down their sides.

[old man]

Love pickerel. Always in the mood. If only they grew bigger.

[panfisher]

Yea, I've mentioned these before here. Really run into them a lot in Seneca lake. Love to do some in-depth dissection and taxonomic breakdown of some of the obvious pike- pickerel hybrids there. We've picked them up plenty... "all pike", all pickerel, and obvious combos. Always when jigging grub tails for smallies near shore. They are all in the same areas but I'll bet they may be scattered all through that lake. (And there r muskies there too...)

[panfisher]

That pic looks like a pure pickerel to me. I think I discern a black bar under the eye. Some of the pike/pickerel crossbreeds caught in Seneca will have various combos of pike "bean spots" with pickerel eyebar. Or pickerel chain marks with no bar. Or even wierder, a fish with no eye bar and spots not as small or "spotlike" as on normal pike; light spots almost made chain marks but were more like just bigger spots than on other standard pike. BTW, the largest pickerel I've ever caught was at the south end of Canandaigua lake. Picking up decent largemouths in 12 fow before the dropoff into 100 ft plus. Caught using unpainted 1/4oz jighead threaded with plain natural earthworm colored Creme worm bouncing and dragging on the bottom among standing weeds. It was noticable because this thing fought for about what seemed like10 minutes; I was definitely challenged and knew I had something special on, whooping and yowling and standing in boat attracting attention from other boats in the area. It was 32" and weighed in at just over 4lbs. I thought it would weigh more. No thin fish but a nice thick even lenghtwise girth. A very healthy fish. And what a fight. I'd say better than a four pound Largemouth!

[BP Swing]

Looks like a pure Pickerel to me too. Nice one though. Panfisher if you got a 32" pickerel it would weigh 7-9 lbs unless that was a typo, BTW Most 5-6 lb pickerel are 26-28" or so and they are excellent fighters and very under rated by many. I like them alot on light tackle.

[panfisher]

BP Swing..... No that was no typo.... Like I said I too thought it would have weighed more. It was 32" and weighed with a Zebco scale. Not rusty or beat either. A beautiful fish, especially being a pickerel. I caught a 9lb. northern in the Larry, a longer and heavier fish but of similar proportion. Not snakey and slender, nor fat and stuffed with food. Just nice thick even fish all the way around. And I will say that pickerel do seem to take to the air more readily than pike, much like some musky (as I have seen on tv and videos; only caught 1 musky, all of 9 inches!). That big pickerel did not go airborne though, probably because it was bottom orientated and in 12 fow....Perhaps some pike aficianados who have caught them in shallow waters in spring spawning mode may get more "airtime" from them.