Day 1 of the Esox Hatrick: Scored A Pickerel - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

catfishonthelake · #1 08-04-2011, 06:25 PM

I've never been known for my patience, so I started a day early. Plus, I figured it would make musky fishing on Saturday the finale, and if I did strike out with the pike tomorrow, at least I'd have one in the bag. That being said, I've never had so much trouble catching a pickerel in my life. Since there are not many ponds that have pickerel by my house and since I didn't want to drive too far, I went down to DeVoe and Helmetta pond in Jamesburg/Spotswood as they're supposed to have a ton of pickerel. I even picked up shiners at Molder's to make sure all went well. It didn't at first, as both lakes are COMPLETELY covered in grass. I tried tossing the shiners, senkos and even a Yum Money Hound wherever I could, but I only scored a small crappie near a dock in Helmetta. I was about to cut bait, but decided to try a tiny pond next to a factory that looked like it was fed by the outflow of Helmetta. After 10 minutes or so, I got him. It wasn't big, but it doesn't matter. I'll post the pick of the slightly-larger-than-axhandle size slime dart when I get home. One down, two to go.

catfishonthelake · #2 08-04-2011, 09:17 PM

AJFISH13 · #3 08-04-2011, 09:29 PM

1 down, 2 to go. Nice job.

catfishonthelake · #4 08-04-2011, 09:37 PM

Thanks man. Looks like you've been doing pretty well yourself.

AJFISH13 · #5 08-04-2011, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catfishonthelake

Thanks man. Looks like you've been doing pretty well yourself.

Thanks. Good luck on the other 2, I haven't caught a pike or musky yet . Closest I came was this June when either a tiger musky or a record class pickeral made a monster explosion on a topwater. Lake has been stocked with tiger muskies for a while(Lake Shenandoah) but haven't heard any being pulled out of there. Only thing I could compare it to was a cow striper smashing a bunker on the surface

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Moz · #6 08-04-2011, 10:42 PM

Best of luck with the challenge, awesome idea.

Is a pickerel with red eyes a red-fin pickerel? I caught one over the weekend but shook it off the hook at the shoreline without having a really good look at it. Esox are a mystery to me.