went out for some bass fishing today and didnt end up catching any at all. just as we were about to leave i caught two pickerel on a t-rigged junebug yum dinger. this was my first pickerel. 16" long.

when i was holding it the thing freaked out and one of its teeth got my thumb. it immediatley started bleeding and within a minute my entire hand was covered in blood. PICKEREL HURT!!!!!

i did end up catching another one later on and that one didnt get a chance to bite me. my second one was a little bigger, 18".

they sure do put up some kinda fight tho! that first one jumped like 3 feet into the air!!!!

Ouch! That must've hurt!  

Live and learn.

It only takes one time to find out what not to do.

Be careful.

Live and learn.

It only takes one time to find out what not to do.

Be careful.

so true. :-/

anyway, how do you handle pickerel? i tried just grabbing it like around the girth of it, but theyre the slimiest fish ive ever held and they are so fiesty that they just slip right free. so i tried putting my fingers under the gill plate and my thumb on the side of the jaw, but they when it freaked out my thumb slipped inside of its mouth and i got a boo-boo

so how do you safely and securely hold a pickerel?

OUCH! Look what happend to me a couple of weeks ago :-X.

On board surgery. ;D ;D

aahhhhh that sucks! the day before i got bit by a pickerel, i was changing hooks on a rat-l-trap and the front hook wasnt going on so i pushed harder and it slipped free and my left thumb (opposite from the pickerel bite) went straight into the bottom trebel!!! it went thru the top corner of my thumb and out the other side!!! luckily the barb didnt go all the way thru!

Congrats on the pickerel. I love catching pickerel. I have also been cut by those teeth before myself and would be willing to do it again anyday. Those fish are fun to catch.  

i always grabbed pike/muskie by the "shoulders" right behind the head but where you will still be holding a "solid" part....i caught a 36 1/2 inch muskie and was still able to "shoulder" it...so smaller pickeral should be no problem

Cliff