Hey guys I'm curious about what the size of your average jack is in your area... Around here in south georiga they are on the bigger side the average one I catch out if my local lake is probably 2-3 lbs but I have caught bigger and seen people catch much bigger... I believe the record was caught not to far away in homerville and it was like 9lb something ounces...

I love targeting them but I've heard in other places chain pickerel can be small and a annoying little fish...

90% of the pickerel around here are about a pound at most...12-18". But every year we catch some big ones. 22"+

I caught this big guy in NY, no idea of the weight though.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/126328-estimate-my-bass-weight/

I caught this big guy in NY, no idea of the weight though.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/126328-estimate-my-bass-weight/

Now that is a grown jack.

I don't think I've caught any quite that big but I know they are here....

None in Kansas. 1 lake with a fishable population of pike, no muskie. 

We get big ones around here. When I just want numbers, I'll catch a bunch of 14"-26" fish. During peak times I target the bigger fish, and then I'm looking for 4-6 lb fish nearing 30". Every year I catch a handful of gators that go 7-9 lbs, but they are few and far in between. MD, DE, and NJ are great places to catch them.

 

The majority that I catch here in mass are fairly small, around 1lb and 18" or less, although it's not uncommon to hook into a bigger one.

We get big ones around here. When I just want numbers, I'll catch a bunch of 14"-26" fish. During peak times I target the bigger fish, and then I'm looking for 4-6 lb fish nearing 30". Every year I catch a handful of gators that go 7-9 lbs, but they are few and far in between. MD, DE, and NJ are great places to catch them.

 

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You should contact your local DNR, Maryland state record is only 6.5lbs. If you are catching 7-9# then you are catching state records. 7# 3oz for Delaware. 

You should contact your local DNR, Maryland state record is only 6.5lbs. If you are catching 7-9# then you are catching state records. 7# 3oz for Delaware. 

 

Nah, I don't do none of that. I once told a famous angler with a knot named after him (we used to be good fishing buddies) "There are 2 kinds of really good fishermen out there, the kind who want to be famous, and the kind who just want to catch fish". MD doesn't give up as many big fish as NJ, but the largest 2 I've caught have been from there. I'll take a picture and post it here of the next gator I catch, but it probably won't be for a while, I'm going on an African vacation courtesy of the Navy for a year. Large ones in the warm months usually mean live bait deep, and its not fast and furious.

Grew up in north NJ and have caught several over 6lbs. They are everywhere in NJ. Biggest was as a kid and caught one 8 lbs.

This is a pretty good one from a MA pond near my house. No idea the weight.

We don't have those baby fish. We have Pike. Bigger, probably not as annoying but still..,  and show up in the most nonsensical places. 

I caught this guy this afternoon in N.J.

I didn't get any measurements because it took me a while to get the treble hook out of it's mouth.

I wanted to get it back in the water before it bit my nose off.

Master Bait'r where did you catch that? I got my own secret pickeral spot.

Hey guys I'm curious about what the size of your average jack is in your area... Around here in south georiga they are on the bigger side the average one I catch out if my local lake is probably 2-3 lbs but I have caught bigger and seen people catch much bigger... I believe the record was caught not to far away in homerville and it was like 9lb something ounces...

I love targeting them but I've heard in other places chain pickerel can be small and a annoying little fish...

 

That is roughly the average at some spots I go to but depends where I go. Down in south jersey my  grandma lives right off a lake that is loaded with pickerel but 1-2lbs is probably the average there. At another place I fish they average 2lb and up and I have seen some big boys pulled out of there. I pulled one out today.

Grew up in north NJ and have caught several over 6lbs. They are everywhere in NJ. Biggest was as a kid and caught one 8 lbs.

 

Great pickerel fishing in NJ

Here in the lakes i fish in Virginia I seem to catch a slew of them in the 12-18" range.  There are a few places that i know hold even bigger ones and the largest one i caught measured 26", no idea on the weight though.

There was a 20lber caught in my lake I saw in the local paper.  Average is only 3lbs though but I don't target them but there has to be some monsters!

Here in VA a citation chain pick is 4 pounds or 24".

 

I've actually caught at least 5 over that citation mark, 

but never filed for the "award".

 

Believe the longest I caught was 26-28", several were 

well over the 4 pound mark.

There was a 20lber caught in my lake I saw in the local paper.  Average is only 3lbs though but I don't target them but there has to be some monsters!

Probably should have submitted that fish, doubled the world record that has stood for over 50 years!

Probably should have submitted that fish, doubled the world record that has stood for over 50 years!

 

He is from Canada and they call walleye pickerel.

That would make sense ^^ haha

I'd have to see a 20lb chain pickerel to believe it... That would be a monster

A pickerel/pike/muskie is the kind of fish you really need to weigh.  They are so long that, 1) You would guess they are heavier than they really are and, 2) A little difference in girth makes for a larger difference in weight than you might expect.

 

I bought a digital scale this summer and weighed a lot of bass.  I got pretty good at guestimating their weight.  I also got pretty disappointed a few times when the pickerel and pike I weighed were considerably lighter than my estimates.  I think it's much harder to make an accurate guess of their weight (at least until I weigh a whole lot more of them).

 

Anyway, the pickerel here in upstate NY are pretty healthy.  I've weighed a few that were in the 4 lb. range.  That doesn't sound like much, but that's a decent size pickerel, really.   They are good fighters and I'm never unhappy to hook one on a spinnerbait.  It's when I'm fishing crank baits or smaller lures that they make me mutter and curse....  

 

Tight lines,

Bob

 

very nice sized pickerel right there! Bet that bad boy put up a nice fight