Walleye vs Pickerel

[KawarthaAngler]

I've always wondered where the name Pickerel came from so I Googled it.  I came across a couple of websites that illustrate they are two different fish and the fish we see in many photos from southern Ontario (the great lakes, Kawarthas, etc) are not Pickerel because Pickerel is a different species.

https://northernwilds.com/pickerel-vs-walleye-setting-the-record-straight/

I was wondering why Walleye is also called Pickerel.  Another search brought me to a site that simple said many decades ago Walleye were misidentified as Pickerel and as parents passed the name of the fish as Pickerel onto their children, and then they grew up and passed the name along to their children ..... the misnaming stuck.

Anyone have insight or wisdom on this?

Edited May 15, 2019 by KawarthaAngler

[Jds63]

good article .... Walleye it is  .....

[Gerry]

Yep, the term is and should be 'Walleye'.

[TJQ]

Pickeral. (as I like to spell it)  First mentioned by that name and "dore" by John Franklin in 1819 - 

 

[lew]

I don't even fish anymore but they'll always be pickerel to me.

[TJQ]

6 minutes ago, lew said:

I don't even fish anymore but they'll always be pickerel to me.

Ya.. you tell em Lew!!!

[dave524]

Some 30's biology think tank came up with the Walleye name realizing that the common name was misleading, a few years back some similar group decided Rainbow Trout were really a Pacific Salmon too, think they changed the genus for a few years and then had second thoughts.

https://ontariowalleyefishing.com/ontario-walleye-biology-fishing-resource/

 

edit: I just looked at the length and weight chart in the link, pretty optimistic weights for length ? 

Edited May 15, 2019 by dave524

[Terry]

Well to start with  are you talking about chain pickerel or yellow pickerel 

yellow pickerel  is what settlers in Ontario called them way back when most shortened it to pickerel/pickeral 

american settlers called them walleye

american also. Screwed up English words like Harbour and neighbour but we didn’t hold it against them

when the US and Canadian give wanted to do joint work on pickerel/walleye studies the Canadian gov agreed to officially call them  walleye

many people north of the gta  still prefer to call them pickerel and all intelligent people know what they mean when they say pickerel in Ontario. Some like to try to show people they are smart by correcting them but who cares 

[Whopper]

I call em dinner ?

[OhioFisherman]

Pikeperch?

[lew]

I started fishing Hay Bay (Bay of Quinte) way back around 1955 with my family and we used to camp at Pickerel Park and to this day it's still called PICKEREL Park and I doubt if they have any intentions of changing it to Walleye Park LOL

[misfish]

1 hour ago, Terry said:

Well to start with  are you talking about chain pickerel or yellow pickerel 

 

Ya ya ya

 

A white fish is still a white fish. Did you catch any ? LOL

[Canuck]

Its not the dead of winter, so why is this coming up for discussion now?  

I grew up most of my years in Northern Ontario. They are Pickerel  or Dore up there.  When i go to Metro or Foodland, they seem to call them Yellow Pickerel too.  Americans call squirrels food, so I am not taking any guidance from our American friends. 

[OhioFisherman]

5 minutes ago, Canuck said:

Its not the dead of winter, so why is this coming up for discussion now?  

I grew up most of my years in Northern Ontario. They are Pickerel  or Dore up there.  When i go to Metro or Foodland, they seem to call them Yellow Pickerel too.  Americans call squirrels food, so I am not taking any guidance from our American friends. 

LOL, don't forget groundhogs! the other white meat!

[Headhunter]

It's a Pickereye!

HH

[jimmer]

It's weird because I grew up calling them pickerel and now always seem to use walleye. They're still the same fish I caught as a kid and they taste the same.

[colin519]

31 minutes ago, jimmer said:

It's weird because I grew up calling them pickerel and now always seem to use walleye. They're still the same fish I caught as a kid and they taste the same.

 

I'm the same, I say walleye most of the time, but I think 'oh there's a little picky hanging out by this tree' as I'm taking a cast for one. I grew up saying pickerel and now I say walleye to avoid people in America getting to correct me about something

Edited May 15, 2019 by colin519
clarity

[T-Bone]

When I first went to Pigeon Lake in 1975 we referred to them as 'pickerel'. Through time (and living in Cleveland where in Lake Erie they have always been 'walleye') I simply converted to calling them walleye. But, in the interest of accuracy, I wouldn't call a Dog a Cat, or a Blue Jay a Robin, or an Elephant a Rhino. 

Who really cares...take a rest on the davenport and consider the convenience of your motorcar until this subject comes around again. 

 

[Terry]

well a yellow pickerel only refers to one type of fish so we are on the same page

do you call it gas or  petro you put in your car . Petroleum of course gas is what you release from your butt and petro is what you put in your car

boot or trunk

Sofa couch or chesterfield 

yup we want to call a spade a spade 

[T-Bone]

Do you live in Canada or the UK? Hard to tell sometimes when in Canada...one may think they're in the UK with all the adoptions. 

UK = Boot, US/Canda = Trunk

UK = Petrol, US/Canada = Gasoline

The thing that throws me most is calling electric service 'hydro'. Have never been able to get used to that. Like I said, who really cares...as long as there is some recognition of what someone is talking aboot... ?

[Terry]

no petroleum is the name, north america called it gas because its easier

America called them  walleye  ontario called them yellow pickerel

and yes, most of our electricity  was hydro electric (from damed water), so it was shortened to hydro

many in the states just call it power company

and crayfish have been distorted to crawfish and crawdads

but as long as i know what they are talking about I dont care what term they use

Edited May 15, 2019 by Terry

[AKRISONER]

caught a few pickerel down on lake marion in south carolina this year

[Terry]

I think they are chain pickerel 

[aplumma]

Console or tiller?

Art

[misfish]

6 minutes ago, aplumma said:

Console or tiller?

Art

My vote is tiller for me bye Roy.