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Chain Pickerel?????

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:45 am
by Netman
Went fishing yesterday with a buddy of mine on the St Lawrence near Mallorytown. The fishing wasn't the greatest but it was a beauty day. We
managed a few pike and a few oos bass. The highlight of the day was this nice fish. I'm pretty sure it's a chain pickerel but i'm not 100%. What do
you think..

steve

Image

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:25 am
by Pints
Kind of looks like one, here is a link to some info on the chain pickerel. I know they tend to be on the skinny side.

http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/sportfishing/ ... hain.shtml

and here is a little info on the fish:

Distribution

The chain pickerel is limited to eastern and south-central North America, south from Colchester County, Nova Scotia, east of the Allegheny-Appalachian mountains, to central Florida, west to eastern Texas, and north to Missouri and the Tennessee River system in Alabama.
Although it is normally a freshwater fish, it has been known to find its way into brackish (salt) waters in the eastern and Gulf states. In Canada it occurs only in Nova Scotia, western New Brunswick, and the Eastern townships of Quebec, south of the St. Lawrence River. It was introduced in Nova Scotia and can be found in Digby and Yarmouth counties and as far east as Hants and Colchester counties.

Physical Characteristics
The chain pickerel has the following characteristics:


a long, narrow body;

the fish gets its name from the chain-like pattern on its sides;

the adults are coloured bright green, through olive-green to nearly brown on the back and upper sides; its sides are prominently marked by yellow-green to yellow areas broken by dark, interconnecting markings resembling links of a chain;

the young are bright green through brown to almost black on the back, with a pronounced golden mid-dorsal stripe; the upper sides are bright green to almost black; the chain markings do not develop until the fish is about 6 to 8 inches in length;

the average length is 15 to 20 inches (38.1 to 50.8 cm);

its head is long, flat, and naked on top and somewhat concave between the eyes, which are high on the head and moderately large; the pupil of the eye is yellow and its mouth is large with small hook-like teeth set in the roof of its mouth and long canines at the sides;

it has a long snout which is 44 to 48 per cent of its head length;

the lower jaw is slightly longer than the snout;

it has one dorsal (back) fin; the caudal or tail fin is long and deeply forked; pelvic fins are present;

the lateral line is complete.

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:34 pm
by Chevy Champagne
looks like a pike and an eye mixed

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:56 am
by bowboy33
Definately looks like a chain pickeral.
Heres a link to a similar one caught. Looks very similair and its a chain pickeral.
http://www.kerrlake.info/catchday/2005/ ... 615052.jpg

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:04 am
by Badger Shark
I caught a chain pickeral when I was a kid and the pattern wasnt like that, it actually looked like chain links and it was a green and gold colour. To me those look like pike. But hey I guess I could be wrong.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:58 am
by Jasonb
looks like a chain pickeral to me... alot like a commonly known as a grass pike in New Brunswick... they dont get pike out there... only chain pickeral... well where i was anyways... looks identical... so my guess would be to be able to call it a chain pickeral...

JaY