It's Esox Time

Fall is a great time to target all members of the esox genus, may they be pike, musky, or my chosen target yesterday, chain pickerel. There's something about the cooling water temperatures that get these fish feisty.

I fished a handful of spots yesterday that I knew hold chain pickerel in good numbers. I fished white and chartreuse deceivers, and as expected they got beat up by mean toothy critters.

I've spoken quite reverently about the way pickerel tke flies an lures in the past. It's quite spectacular really. Even a small pickerel makes quite a big show out of chasing down and inhaling a fly.

A lot of anglers complain about catching pickerel, especially bass fisherman. They are toothy and slimy and hard to handle, but why would I let that skew my opinion of them when they hit, fight, and jump better than largemouth and maybe on par with smallmouth!