Chain pickerel are great fun. They're little pike, and as such like flashy colorful flies. Look for pike flies on line and you'll have the right Idea. A fritz flie, (a woolybugger tied with crystal chenille, no hackle and a bright marabou tail should work well) The more flash, the better. An orange body with a yellow tail, or red and yellow or chartreuse and yellow, well, you get the idea. Another good one is a colorful clouser minnow, and it will get the fly down to where the fish hang out.
A fly that makes noise works too. Depends how cool it is as to whether the snakey rascals are on the surface or not. Pickerel are very toothy. You need a hefty tippet. I've never used wire, and had no problem, but a light tippet can be popped pretty quick. Handling them is a problem. They bite. Their gill plates are very sharp, and can cut you. The slime getting in that cut can cause considerable infections, and even allergic reactions. Grab 'em by the tail and under the belly. In Maryland, nothing under 15 inches is legal. They're good eating, but have some strange Y shaped bones. They fight good, and will leap a couple of times, but they give up pretty quick too. They hang out on the edges of weed beds, with the back half of their body in the weeds, waiting for prey to come by to ambush. Fish along the edge. Cast parallel to the edge, let the fly sink, and strip it back along the edge. You'll find the depth. --- Steve, In Maryland ____________________________________________________________ Get advanced SPAM filtering on Webmail or POP Mail ... Get Lycos Mail! http://login.mail.lycos.com/r/referral?aid=27005
