NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

July 29, 1998

CONTACT: Lt. Stan Kirkland (850) 265-3676

CHAIN PICKEREL EASY TO CATCH IN RIVERS AND CREEKS

Freshwater anglers are likely to keep largemouth bass and bluegill at the top of the list of favorite species but for a different trip they may want to give chain pickerel a try.

Fisheries biologists say chain pickerel, which are also called jack, jack fish, duck-billed pike and green pike, are found in virtually every waterway throughout Florida, with the exception of the Myakka and Peace rivers in the southwestern part of the state, and throughout most of the eastern United States and into Canada.

Chain pickerel of two-to-three pounds are common but they do get larger. The Florida record is a 5.75-pound fish from Wrights Creek, a small creek that feeds into the Choctawhatchee River. The world record for the toothy, torpedo-shaped species is a 9.38-pound fish caught in Georgia in 1961.

Most anglers who catch chain pickerel usually are casting lures or live shiners for largemouth bass. One angler who can catch chain pickerel with predictable regularity is John Shouppe of Cottondale. Shouppe throws crawfish-colored five-inch Rapala-type lures in panhandle rivers and creeks. Shouppe says the best time to fish for chain pickerel, and other freshwater fish, is around the full moon.

"You need to fish three or four days before the full moon until three or four days after," he said. "But, if they’re not in the mood to hit, you’re wasting your time. They’re not gonna hit anything."

Shouppe loves to fish the narrow Chipola River near Marianna, where he puts out a 7-foot log chain as a drag, and that allows him to fish both banks as he slowly drifts down the river in his 14-foot boat. There are literally dozens of creeks elsewhere in the panhandle where he says similar tactics will work.

Wherever you fish for chain pickerel, Shouppe says, "You have to retrieve your lure real slow with a steady retrieve." In clearer water such as the Chipola, Shouppe says he often sees the fish follow his lure before striking.

"Sometimes, it’s hard not to yank it away from them because you know they’re fixin’ to hit it," he said.

Chain pickerel are good to eat but full of tiny bones. Most people who eat them fillet and ‘gash’ or make cuts through the meat down to the skin every 1/4-inch or so. Salted, peppered, dropped in batter and fried, the tiny dissected bones practically disappear.