How Big Are Your Local Chain Pickerel

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

4lb pickerel ain't nothing to sneeze at!