PatrickGG Posted September 1, 2007 Report Posted September 1, 2007 Was supposed to go to Ontario Place with the Wifey and kids but canceled the cool weather was not appropriate for the kids to play in the water park so i was free to kill some time today and off i went, I got to my spot around 11:30 and did non stop casting for almost 4 hours till i finally got a bump and my line slacked and i set the hook i thought i nearly lost it when it took me to the weeds and some lumber at the bottom but i prevailed after i shored the fish the damn thing wouldn't settle down flipping on rocks bouncing and flopping i tried to gill the fish and had no luck so i used my lip locks i got a quick pic and revived and released:
jediangler Posted September 1, 2007 Report Posted September 1, 2007 Nice fish Patrick, you might think I'm crazy but I think that might be a chain pickerel. Maybe some of our southern OFC'ers with more experience with these fish can confirm or deny my claim. If you look at the markings, they are not bean shaped like northern pike's are. The spots are larger and the dark areas between them resemble a chain. If I'm right, that's a very good sized pickerel. And before anyone gets excited with me calling it a pickerel, I mean the one in the pike family, not a walleye. Do you have any other pics of that fish?
tbayboy Posted September 1, 2007 Report Posted September 1, 2007 She is pretty colourful isn't she. I saw that you'd called Patrick and now I know why - you did better than I did today . Nice fish, see ya Sunday.
PatrickGG Posted September 2, 2007 Author Report Posted September 2, 2007 Thanks for the replies guys and Jedi i dont have anymore pics i was alone and just wanted to get her back in the water as fast as i can.
ehg Posted September 2, 2007 Report Posted September 2, 2007 Nice fish Patrick, you might think I'm crazy but I think that might be a chain pickerel. Maybe some of our southern OFC'ers with more experience with these fish can confirm or deny my claim. If you look at the markings, they are not bean shaped like northern pike's are. The spots are larger and the dark areas between them resemble a chain. If I'm right, that's a very good sized pickerel. And before anyone gets excited with me calling it a pickerel, I mean the one in the pike family, not a walleye. Do you have any other pics of that fish? Patrick, no doubt what you caught is a chain pickerel as Jediangler mentioned. It's the smallest of the 'esox' family. -Esox Niger The world record is 9lbs. 6oz. and 29.5 inches caught in Georgia in 1961. The Canadian record is 5lbs 8oz (rounded off) caught in Nova Scotia. More than likely that would have been a Canadian record fish. Your a big dude so you make the fish look small. Caught in Lake Ontario nonetheless. Superb and rare catch, ehg
Guest Johnny Bass Posted September 2, 2007 Report Posted September 2, 2007 Nice Pike. It does seem to have a different design... Maybe it is a chain pickeral otherwise known as grass pike.
snag Posted September 2, 2007 Report Posted September 2, 2007 Wow! That's amazing. Congrats on the record fish! P.s. looks like you've lost some weight??
snag Posted September 2, 2007 Report Posted September 2, 2007 Are you able to reduce the glare on the original picture? I'm sure that if you did the patterns on the chain pickerel will be even clearer. Congrats again!
Mike Pike Posted September 2, 2007 Report Posted September 2, 2007 Ya, it really looks like a Chain Pickeral to me too, Patrick. Good eye, Jedi. The markings really give it away, especially after blowing the picture up. I dunno if you've got a record for sure, but that's the biggest chain pickeral I've seen caught. Congratulations Patrick.
PatrickGG Posted September 2, 2007 Author Report Posted September 2, 2007 (edited) Just by handling the fish i figured it weighs Between 7 to 8 pounds and if this is a record chain pike i am really kicking my self for not taking more pictures. Edited September 2, 2007 by PatrickG
ehg Posted September 3, 2007 Report Posted September 3, 2007 Just out of curiousity i did searches for chain pickerel in Ontario and came up with nothing. This species apparently only exists east of the Appalachains or southeast of Eastern Townships in Quebec. Sorta makes this fish being caught in T.O an anomoly or extremely rare event. Did run across one essay saying this species could move northward from the States due to global warming... But anyways it's a real fluky catch. ehg
ehg Posted September 4, 2007 Report Posted September 4, 2007 Just a bump of a very unique catch. Chain pickerel aren't supposed to be in Ontario. Could be a cross with a pike, but it has chain pickerel pattern.
Toronto_Angler Posted September 4, 2007 Report Posted September 4, 2007 Pretty cool, I'm heading out to my shore spots this weekend, I'll let you know if I catch any chain pickeral.
PatrickGG Posted September 4, 2007 Author Report Posted September 4, 2007 Just out of curiousity i did searches for chain pickerel in Ontario and came up with nothing.This species apparently only exists east of the Appalachains or southeast of Eastern Townships in Quebec. Sorta makes this fish being caught in T.O an anomoly or extremely rare event. Did run across one essay saying this species could move northward from the States due to global warming... But anyways it's a real fluky catch. ehg Thats weird i been doing some searching on my hard drive last summer i caught a smaller pike "Pike, river pike, grass pike, jack, jackfish, eastern pickerel, chainsides, mud pickerel lots of names eh!"on the Island and had similar patterns and was more of a gold and brown color, I am baffled i did some on-line research and came up with a nice drawing: also found a article which posts it was introduced to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie: North America: Nova Scotia, Canada (introduced) to southern Florida, USA; Gulf coast west to Sabine Lake drainage in Louisiana, USA; Mississippi River basin north to Kentucky and Missouri, USA. Introduced to Lakes Ontario and Erie drainages and elsewhere: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=2712 So i think the chance of getting the odd Chain pike is pretty low but if caught the angler mite think it's just a small pike "like myself" and released and forgotten.
jediangler Posted September 5, 2007 Report Posted September 5, 2007 A buddy of mine caught one in the Grand river at the Elora conservation area 15 years ago. My brother Joonmoon caught a redfin pickeral in a pond off the grand around the same time. They are around, but very few I'm afraid.
ccmtcanada Posted September 5, 2007 Report Posted September 5, 2007 Hey Patrick. Great report and really cool species! I'm not sure though that that fish was 8 pounds....this pike came in at 8 lbs 3 oz (rapala digital scale). It definitely looks like a Canadian record none-the-less!!! Great job!
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