Tips on Ice Fishing for Pickeral in Connecticut

Ice fishing for pickerel is a fun way to spend a winter's day in Connecticut, no matter what anglers who are after the more prestigious species might tell you. Even those that thumb their noses at the pickerel would have to admit that without these predators hitting their tip-ups while they are ice fishing, things could be boring while waiting for bass, trout, or pike. Ice fishing in Connecticut for pickerel is very easy once you have the equipment, as it is often next to impossible not to catch them. Here are some tips for ice fishing for pickerel in Connecticut.

Here in eastern Connecticut where I live, pickerel inhabit almost every lake and pond. In the winter, they are on the prowl under the ice, and being predators they are looking to make a meal of other fish. When I set my tilts, or tip-ups as they are also known, I hook a medium shiner just in back of his dorsal fin and then let out enough line on the spool so that the bait is suspended perhaps a foot at the most under the ice. Many ice fishing enthusiasts will tell you to drop enough line so that the shiner is just above the weed beds on the bottom, but I have always had good luck with the shiner right below the ice, and it keeps the bait from getting tangled up in the weeds. In that way I also avoid having to plumb the depths to gauge how deep the water I am ice fishing is.

Pickeral will hit any size shiner at any time of the day. I have caught pickerel in the morning, afternoon, and at dusk while ice fishing, so if you are a late sleeper don't worry that you have missed all the action. I will drill holes in the ice with my auger and concentrate on covering a good sized area, then move my tip-ups to where the action is as the day unfolds. If the pickerel are biting all over the pond, then you won't have to move many tilts, but if they seem to be in a specific area, then take the time to saturate that spot with tip-ups, placing one every 15 yards or so.

I have caught pickerel with a full grown pumpkinseed in its gullet, with only the tail showing, that then still hit my shiner despite having just swallowed that fish. Pickeral are pigs! They will eat when the opportunity presents itself can it seems and I have even caught one recently with another smaller juvenile pickeral in its throat, so cannibalism is not above them. When a pickerel hits and trips a tip-up, the flag will go off. Some will take off if they are hooked right away, especially the larger ones. Others will lay low in the weeds, with the line appearing to be not moving, making one think that the fish is not on. Then when you set the hook they will try to take off. The point here is don't be fooled by the fact that when you arrive at a flag up, the reel is not screeching. A pickerel is more than likely on there.

If you get cleaned out by a pickerel, meaning when you arrive the shiner is gone, don't worry. He or she will be back. It might take a while or it can occur as soon as another shiner goes down the hole, but they virtually always return for more. A trophy pickerel in Connecticut must be 27 inches in length or weigh 5 pounds, with the state record here being an 8 pound 9 ounce monster caught in 2005. But no matter what the size of a pickerel, they all have very sharp teeth. The teeth of the pickerel are numerous and designed to not let go of whatever they grab onto. That includes shiners as well as fingers, so be careful when dislodging the hook. Pickeral always swallow a shiner head first, but they very rarely swallow a hook. Be sure to include a long hook removing tool among your tackle, to avoid bleeding all over the ice.

Every pickeral I catch goes right back down the hole, including the various lunkers that I have iced that were well over 20 inches long. Pickeral are very bony, but that doesn't stop some people from eating them, however, I am not one of those. I am more than happy with the constant action they usually provide me when I venture out ice fishing, appreciative that they were there when the bass and pike are not cooperating.