A Most Charismatic Little Fish

I've spent the last two afternoons targeting one of my favorite micro species to fish for, redfin pickerel. They are a bit of an oddball, living in extremely shallow, often muddy and weedy parts of streams. When water levels are up it can be very hard to find them because they tuck back into little nooks and crannies that a fly can't really be cast to.

When the water is low, however, they might come out to play. When the habitat is right for them they are usually very common there, yet they can be somewhat frustratingly hard to catch. The don't seem to adhere to a pattern, and it's rarely ever non-stop action fishing for these little guys. 

Interestingly, skating wetflies and dries is the best approach to tempting a redfin pickerel. Like their larger brethren, when the do decide to eat the fly it is an aggressive strike. 

You'll see a lot more pickerel than you catch when looking for redfins in low water, but that's fun too. They dart around looking for a hiding spot, going from completely still to moving very quickly to completely still again. It's almost like they teleport. Others play the "you can't see me if I don't move" game. That makes photographing them in the water easier than it is with some other fish.

Redfin pickerel are a unique, charismatic little fish, and they deserve more attention.