Pike and Pickerel

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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Went fishing the other day and mangaed to pull in an 18 inch fish, which I thought was a norther pike. When I came home I looked at some picture on line and can't seem to tell the difference between pike and pickerel (they both appear to be in the same family)...or maybe they went to the same ehhhh school...(sorry) any advice on telling the 2 apart?
 
To the best of my knowledge, they are not the same fish. They are in the same family as Northern Pike but do not get as large and have slightly different markings. There are two main species of pickerel, the American and Grass. As an interesting side note, walleye are for some reason sometimes referred to as pickerel. I've worked as an angling guide for more than 6 years now and that one still irks me :rolleyes: Also, I am not a fish biologist. I just looked at Wikipedia. However I have a friend who IS a fisheries biologist and he confirmed everything :)
The more important question is how did that sucker taste rolled in breadcrumbs then deep fried?:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pickerel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pike
 
The problem with fish is that people give different names to the same fish.However though related the two are different . The northern pike [esox lucius ] is larger and has yellow bean like spots on the sides. Chain pickerel [ esox niger ] has a chain like pattern on the sides and is smaller. They'll both put up a fight and taste fine !!
 
I stand corrected, and thank you for the correction, BenchmadeBoy! I guess I was fed incorrect information all my life and never knew any different. My apologies for posting incorrect information, RescueRiley. -Matt-
 
Pickerel are smaller than pike and are different fish. Both have pretty impressive teeth. :D

I have caught both and they both fight pretty good. In CT I believe a Pike has to be 26 inches to be legal. They grow to pretty good size.

KR
 
A few years ago I pulled out what i thought at the time was 24 inch pike. It turnded out to be a pickerel and weighing in at just over 5lbs. this thing was a fighter. :eek:
 
RedEdge77 said:
A few years ago I pulled out what i thought at the time was 24 inch pike. It turnded out to be a pickerel and weighing in at just over 5lbs. this thing was a fighter. :eek:
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A 2ft pickerel would be quite a fish. All the advice so far has been spot on. More triva: In some areas walleyes are called pickerel, as mentioned above. Others call them walleye pike. Walleyes actually belong to the Perch family so go figure. We also can't forget the muskellunge or the hybrid "tiger muskie". A large northern can be mistaken for a small muskie and especially a tiger muskie.
 
Eyegor said:
A 2ft pickerel would be quite a fish. All the advice so far has been spot on. More triva: In some areas walleyes are called pickerel, as mentioned above. Others call them walleye pike. Walleyes actually belong to the Perch family so go figure. We also can't forget the muskellunge or the hybrid "tiger muskie". A large northern can be mistaken for a small muskie and especially a tiger muskie.
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Yea i was very surprised because the lake that I pulled it out of is rather small with a great variety of fish. I found out it was a pickerel at the taxidermist. :D
 
Canadian's tend to refer to walleye as pickerel, or the french word dore (I adore my dore), especially in northern Ontario & Quebec. Twenty years ago if you said the word walleye, nobody would know what you were talking about. Today, the walleye terminology is becoming more common at least among anglers I suspect because of marketing of lures, fishing shows, cable tv, internet ect. When I was growing up in Northern Ontario people used local spoons, minnows and night crawlers for the most part and the fishing show was a local show of two radio announcers who went to local lakes, shot the sh.t, and never caught fish. Whatever name you call it by, it is likely easier to remember than Stizostedion vitreum. Even though I first learned of walleye by association with name pickerel, I tend to use walleye more often now.

As for the confusion with chain pickerel by canucks, well that is because chain pickerel do not extend much north beyond the Great Lakes so by and large we are not familiar with catching these fish in the smaller inland lakes.
 
grease-man said:
I stand corrected, and thank you for the correction, BenchmadeBoy! I guess I was fed incorrect information all my life and never knew any different. My apologies for posting incorrect information, RescueRiley. -Matt-
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No worries at all bro! :thumbup: Just saw the post and added my .02
 
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