Weed Wolverines! by John N. Felsher These toothy terrors provide outstanding sport on light tackle. Barely rippling the surface, the white spinner bait pushed a bulge of water, creating a v-shaped wake with its chrome blades as it sputtered over submerged grass. Instantly, the bait disappeared in a cloud of froth and fury as a large predator annihilated the temptation. “What a strike!” the angler said. “We’re going to win the tournament for sure with this fish. All we need is one big kicker bass and this one is fighting like a sea monster. I see green in the water. It must be over 25 inches long. Nuts! It’s another jack, not even a bass.” Often called jackfish, southern pike, eastern pickerel, duckbill, and other names, including a few unfit to print, chain pickerel offer extremely exciting sport. But they don’t receive much enthusiasm from most Southern anglers. Although pickerel hit extremely hard, fight with speed and ferocity, few anglers intentionally target them. Most Alabama anglers consider them just another nuisance to avoid when trying to catch bass or other species, and only catch them reluctantly by accident. “Chain pickerel are native to Alabama, but not many people target them,” advises Chris Greene, the Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries in Montgomery. “Chain pickerel are found throughout the state. They look similar to northern pike, but a chain pickerel gets its name from the chain-like markings on its side.” Sometimes erroneously called pike, chain pickerel resemble long and mean green torpedoes, like most members of the Esocidae fish family, but don’t grow as large. A northern pike can grow to about 60 pounds while a muskellunge can exceed 72 inches long and top 70 pounds. In contrast, chain pickerel rarely exceed 30 inches in length and no more than three pounds in weight. Caught near Homerville, Ga., the world record chain pickerel weighed 9.38 pounds. The Alabama state record weighed six pounds, six ounces and came from Dyas Creek, a tributary of the Perdido River in Baldwin County. Chain pickerel range from southern Canada to Florida and west to the Mississippi River valley. In Alabama, they occur statewide and thrive in most major river systems and reservoirs. They prefer large sluggish streams, rivers, reservoirs, oxbows, backwaters and swamps with minimal current and silt-laden or muddy bottoms where weeds readily grow. To read more please select the link below gdomag/stories.php?story=14/08/22/7970173
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:47:05 +0000
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