1. Fish Parallel Along Weed Edges
Chain pickerel prefer deep edges along weeds, vegetation, and submerged timber where they can launch ambush attacks on prey swimming by. Fishing your baits along weed edges will keep your baits in the strike zone for the longest period of time. And pickerel will see your bait coming and be afforded the chance to strike it when it passes by.
2. Match the “Hatch” (but without spines)
The right bait to use is whatever big pickerel are naturally eating. If your waterway has shiners, alewives, and bluegills, that is what most pickerel eat everyday. Frogs are always a great choice. Pickerel will prefer to eat the easiest to swallow meal as they can. A soft finned sucker is a lot easier to swallow than a spiny-finned deep-bodied crappie. Pickerel will almost always pick the easiest meal they can. Find out what bait a lake has and fish with baits that mimic the easiest to ingest option in front of you.
3. Hook Baitfish Through Back
I recommended hooking baitfish through the back instead of the lips. Pickerel, even more than most species, eat food head first. If you hook your minnow through the lips, that hook will be deeper into the pickerel’s throat that could lead to a dying pickerel after you remove the hook. If you want to release your pickerel alive, a back hooked baitfish will give better survival rates to the pickerel. Additionally, with a couple of inches of line in the pickerel’s mouth, you stand a better chance of those teeth cutting the line during the fight.
4. Fish Deeper in Summer & Winter
During summer and winter, most fishing will congregate in deeper water. In summer, pickerel will go down deeper to find cooler, more oxygen-rich water. The exact same thing occurs in winter but the deeper water is actually warmer than much shallower water. Use this knowledge to find better pickerel spots next time you’re on the water.
5. Fish Shallower in Fall & Spring
In the spring, chain pickerel will be moving up into shallower water to take advantage of early-season weeds growing in the shallow bays on the north side of lakes. Of course, shallow water is where pickerel spawn later in the spring. In fall, pickerel will work the edges of baitfish balls with bass to fatten up for winter and the shallow water helps them corral the bait. Fish shallower in spring and fall for better results.
6. Pickerel Can Be Extremely Shallow
I have caught pickerel within inches of water. If you find good sunken timber or weeds in less than a foot of water, these can still be great ambush locations for pickerel. This is especially true if any kind of current parallels such a location. I find the biggest pickerel in 5+ feet normally, but do not ignore the very shallow locations as long as the vegetation provides good ambush avenues.
Shared via Freshwater Fishing Advice- continue reading here.
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