First pickerel on a fly

[Fly_Line]

I say it's real hard to tell from the photo supplied.
Bill, could you go back and get a couple more from different angles?

[Bill in VA]

I'll see if the little fellow will cooperate. I am going back this weekend - he may not have much of an appetite for another crappie candy, but I will check.

[Sagittarius62]

A Pickeral for two reasons.
1. Dark vertical bar under the eye.
2. scales on the lower part of the gill plate(Northerns are scaleless in that area).
Cool fish no matter what species it was. Hope you can catch a few more. Watch out for those chompers!

[mcmutt]

Nice fish. I use Spiderwire Stealth for a bite tippet on them. Biggest yet is 24 1/2" on the fly.Got it right out from under the nose of a bait chucker as well!! Lost one about 8lbs 2 yrs ago. Couldn't even curse,just held my mouth open in disbelief!! Keep the pics coming.

[flyfishfairwx]

Haa used to catch them in New brunswick, Can..

lots of fun and the teeth are real sharp, have two scars on my left thumb, both cuts went to the bone.. one is from a pickerel and the other is from trying to sharpen a carving knife with a tea cup and haven drank too many JD and Water, before thanks giving dinner...

[Andrew Mann]

Hey Guys,

I saw an article on these fish in a magazine a few years back. I, too, thought it was a pike. The article identified it as a "chain pickerel". Do a google search for "chain pickerel" and you'll see that it is a pickerel.

Cheers,
Andrew