Chain Pickerel Fishing in Connecticut: The Overlooked Predator
Chain pickerel are Connecticut's most widespread and least appreciated gamefish. Present in virtually every significant lake, pond, and slow-moving river in the state, they're aggressive, attack lures decisively, fight with sharp headshakes, and will bite year-round including through the ice in February when bass are dormant. Their main reputation problem is teeth — they bite through leaders — and thin, bony flesh that makes them difficult to eat. Neither problem is insurmountable, and for any angler who wants active fishing on CT water almost any time of year, pickerel are always available.
Where Pickerel Live in CT
Chain pickerel are ambush predators almost exclusively associated with weed cover. They lie motionless in or at the edge of aquatic vegetation — lily pads, hydrilla, milfoil, emergent cattails — and explode on prey that passes within striking distance. If you can see a weedline on a CT lake or pond, pickerel are there. They prefer water under 15 feet; most are caught in 2–8 feet of water near dense vegetation. Unlike northern pike, which prefer cold northern waters, pickerel are found statewide and thrive in the warmer, shallower ponds of southern CT.
Pickerel Tackle and the Teeth Problem
Pickerel teeth cut through 20 lb fluorocarbon quickly. Your options: **Wire leader:** Same as pike — 12–18" of 20 lb single-strand wire prevents bite-offs entirely. Slightly reduces lure action. **Heavy fluorocarbon:** 30–40 lb fluorocarbon leader with a short tag end resists bite-offs much better than lighter material. You'll still lose lures occasionally to large pickerel, but less frequently. **Fast release:** Many pickerel anglers use 20 lb fluorocarbon and simply accept occasional bite-offs on a hard strike — pickerel often hook themselves deeply and the fluorocarbon outlasts the initial headshake. For casual fishing, this works fine. **Rod and reel:** A medium spinning setup with 15–20 lb braid is entirely adequate for pickerel — they fight hard for their size but CT pickerel rarely exceed 24 inches.
Best Pickerel Lures
**Inline spinners:** The most reliable pickerel lure — a Mepps Aglia #3 or #4 in silver or gold, cast to the weed edge and retrieved parallel to the vegetation. The flash and vibration is irresistible. **Spoons:** A small Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon slithers over lily pads without snagging — retrieve slowly through pad fields for exciting visual strikes. **Soft plastic swimbaits:** A 4" paddletail on a lead head, worked slowly along the weed edge, produces big pickerel that won't commit to faster presentations. **Topwater:** Pickerel slash topwater lures in the morning near weed edges. A small walking bait or prop bait worked slowly along a lily pad edge in low light produces some of the most visually exciting strikes in freshwater fishing. **Live bait:** A 3"–4" shiner below a float at the edge of a weedline needs no further introduction. Pickerel can rarely resist a live minnow presented at their level.
Pickerel Through the Ice
Chain pickerel are one of the most reliable ice fishing targets in Connecticut. They remain active throughout winter, don't require the temperature caveats that bass do, and respond enthusiastically to live shiners on tip-ups over weed flats. Set tip-ups with 4"–6" shiners at 4–8 feet of depth over submerged weed beds — use a quick-strike rig (two trebles) to hook fish more reliably on the bite. A flag from a pickerel tip-up moves decisively and fast; these fish don't pick up the bait tentatively. Set the hook when the spool is spinning and line is running.
Eating Pickerel: The Rib Cage Problem
Pickerel have a row of forked 'Y' bones running along the fillet, similar to northern pike. The solution is the same: score-frying or 'scoring' the fillets (making a series of deep cuts across the fillet every quarter inch before frying) cuts through the small bones and makes them unnoticeable when eating. Properly scored and deep-fried pickerel is genuinely excellent — white, mild, flaky — and a classic Connecticut dish that older anglers still prepare. The effort is modest; the result rewards it.
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