Pickerel

Species Description

Chain Pickerel
Elongated body, snout shaped like a duck’s bill, large mouth with many sharp teeth. Back and sides olive or yellowish brown with a chainlike pattern of dark lines. Dorsal, or back fin, placed far back on the body.

Grass Pickerel
Like other pikes, this fish has a duckbill-shaped snout, large mouth with many sharp teeth and a single dorsal fin, which is similar in shape and size to the anal fin, and both are positioned far back, near the forked tail fin. Like the chain pickerel, it has both the gill cover and the cheek fully scaled, with a row of 4 sensory pores along the undersurface of the jaw, but the snout is shorter than the chain pickerel’s, and the distance from tip of snout to center of eye is equal to or less than the distance from the center of the eye to the rear margin of the gill cover. The back and sides are olive or yellowish-brown, sometimes uniformly colored, but often barred or mottled with a darker color. A dusky vertical bar angles downward and slightly backward from the eye.

Fishing Type
Game
Topic Category
Hunting / Fishing Guide
Seasons
Regulations
Biological Information
Title
Seasons
Pickerel

Chain pickerel side view photo with black background

Season Open
  • January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024

Daily limit: 6
Possession limit: 12
Length limit: None

Fishing: Allowed Methods

Methods

Pole and Line

Trotline

Limb Line

Bank Line

Jug Line

Additional Info

Ice fishing tackle, or tip-ups, are considered a pole-and-line method.