We've all seen or heard, or read about fish that try to swallow other fish that are too big and it kills them both as they get stuck together.  Bed fishing today, we came across a floating grass Pickerel and when we got closer we realized this was another one of those cases but when we got even closer, I could see the tail of the Bluegill moving!!  So we drove over and investigated...

VIDEO

I don't know if it's my computer, but the link isn't working. Is there anywhere else I can see it?

Strange that it killed the pickeral so quick but not the bluegill - eh,  good for him  

B/G was all scaled up,...prob turned into an instant Bass meal,lol.  Last thing we thought we'd see is that tail moving when we pulled up.

interesting, i wonder why it killed the pickerel.

thats a chain pickerel by the way.

LOL, I love pickerel.   They have to be the most optimistic fish God ever made.

interesting, i wonder why it killed the pickerel.

It killed it because it was too big to swallow but tried anyway.

thats a chain pickerel by the way.

are you seriously,....honestly, going to correct me on species in a lake I've fished and help manage fr over 20 yrs? C'mon son :-/ :-?

It's a Barred Grass Pickerel, get your boy scouts book out :  Either way, Barred, chain, and grass Pickerel,...all pretty much the same fish and like Micros implied, a blast to catch.

I've seen that a couple of times with small pike but never pulled out a live 'gill.

Sure it wasn't a small Musky Russ?  ;D ;D

interesting, i wonder why it killed the pickerel.

thats a chain pickerel by the way.

Dorsal and anal fin spines probably prevented proper gill movement.  As the pickerel struggled, lactic acid builds up in the pic's muscle, so much so, that it actually dies of suffocation.

BTW, that is a Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus), not a Chain Pickerel (Esox niger).

That bluegill looks like a Mattlures now, LOL.

I don't know if it's my computer, but the link isn't working. Is there anywhere else I can see it?

Right click the link and download the video to your hard drive.

LOL, I love pickerel. They have to be the most optimistic fish God ever made.

Little pickerel go after large fish and baits. Big ones go after everything.

Three inch *** Trick Worm, watermelon/chartreuse laminate, on a weedless 1/8 ounce Wacky-Jig Head

"Overzealous"

Must you use such big words?