line tight, the chances are that he will 
retrieve an empty hook, often not even 
a hook. 
This question of leaping is often dis¬ 
puted by men who are opponents of 
pickerel fishing. It is true that not 
all pickerel leap. Further, it is true 
that a great many bass and trout do 
not leap. In the case of any species 
of leaping game fish, an individual of 
which does not leap when hooked, this 
may be due to the temperament (if a 
variation in habit may be termed tem¬ 
perament when applied to fish) of the 
fish, or to the fact that the angler plays 
him hard and forces him to stay under. 
It is almost always possible to 
prevent a fish’s breaking by a 
movement of the rod sideways, 
when the fish is seen to be near¬ 
ing the surface. Pickerel hooked 
on a spoon when trolling and 
pulled in rapidly, hand over hand, 
will seldom break; but those 
hooked on a fly rod and light lure 
will usually break once or twice 
at least, if they be of any size 
at all. 
The pickerel is not a sulker— 
in this quality, he shares honors 
with the black bass. A large 
trout or salmon will often lie on 
the bottom of a deep pool and 
stay there until the efforts of the 
angler force him to move or pull 
the hook from his mouth. The 
pickerel, however, is the personi¬ 
fication of extreme action until 
he is in the boat. 
Besides the cane pole method of 
taking pickerel with live bait, 
there is a form of angling (often 
used in rural sections) called 
“skittering” in which the pole is 
also employed. The lure is about 
the same length as the pole as in 
still fishing, but instead of the 
bait hook, a spoon or spinner is 
attached to the end of the line. 
This is often used in conjunction 
with a strip of pork rind or 
pickerel belly. The angler stands 
in the bow of the boat or wades 
cautiously along the shore and flops 
the spoon among the lily pads and 
weeds, pulling it through the water in 
short jerks. As pickerel usually lie 
close to shore, this is often an effective 
method, especially early in the morning 
or late in the afternoon. In this con¬ 
nection, it may be well to mention the 
fact that pickerel-never feed at night, 
and rarely after the sun goes down. 
“Skittering,” however, is not to be 
compared to taking the fish on a light 
rod, from a standpoint of sport. 
The man who enjoys fishing with live 
bait, will find a light bait-rod and free- 
running multiple reel best suited to his 
needs when fishing for pickerel. A 
steel rod may be used with excellent 
results, as it possesses plenty of flexi¬ 
bility. Perhaps the best bait-rod ob¬ 
tainable, however, is the Henshall rod, 
of split bamboo, weighing around 
seven ounces, eight feet three inches 
in length. The line should be a fine 
silk one, though cotton or linen will 
do. If the fish run at all large (two, 
three and four pounds) hooks having 
snells of gimp, piano-wire or phosphoi 
bronze become a necessity, as the sharp 
teeth of the larger fish often sever the 
snell on gut hooks. No two anglers 
But while many pickerel are taken 
each season by means of live bait, it 
is a question if more are not taken by 
means of artificial lures. The pickerel 
loves action and anything with move¬ 
ment attracts him, particularly if it 
has color or glitters. This trait is * 
responsible for the popularity of troll-1) 
ing as a means of taking this fish. 
The simplest trolling equipment is a 
spoon and hand line. But as this 
method serves merely to get the fish 
and is practically sportless, the rod 
is by far the better proposition. It 
will agree on hook sizes, but in general may' be either bait-rod or bait-casting 
a good bass hook is a good pickerel rod 
Ticker el 
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oll/J/'U 
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MusfeUunge 
The ordinary fluted or kidney 
spoon is generally used. It has 
the feathered treble hook attach¬ 
ment and is apparently as effec¬ 
tive today as it was in Civil War 
times. A type of spoon known 
as the “wobbler” or “Flop” has| 
a long elliptical blade with treble 
hook attached directly to the end 
by means of a split ring. They 
are made in brass, copper and 
pearl and are very effective. The 
blade wobbles in the water in¬ 
stead of revolving, and this ir¬ 
regular motion sends off flashes 
which a fish can see a long way 
off. 
The bait-caster can find fun 
aplenty on a good pickerel lake 
or river. Pickerel will take most 
plugs as readily as a bass will. 
Green under-water minnows and 
plugs of the semi-surface wob¬ 
bling kind seem particularly ef¬ 
fective, though almost any bass 
plug is a pickerel plug. If the 
angler would derive the maxi¬ 
mum in sport from bait casting 
for pickerel, he should use a 
very light rod five and a half 
six feet long and small 
or 
Pictyrel: Chwn-m&rl\Mtfs-scaFj c,hw<l( 
MArl(intfs pkinw*-scajy o\\u\ 
MusHc-' l 1 AnffG Spotted- dar^f-smootl) c Wj 
hook. In fact, most bass tackle is 
good pickerel tackle also. Some good 
sizes of hooks for use in live-bait fish¬ 
ing for pickerel are Cincinnati Bass 
Nos. 17, 18 and 19; Sproat No. 1/0-2/0- 
3/0 and Sneck and Carlisle of the 
same sizes. The frog seems to be the 
favorite pickerel bait in most parts 
of the country, though it is seldom that 
a pickerel will not take a live minnow, 
especially a shiny one. Small shiners 
and red sides are best. Salt-water 
killies make good bait, and the killies 
in particular will live longer than most 
fresh-water minnows. The pickerel 
does not scorn the lowly worm, either, 
the larger night crawlers being best. 
weighted spinners with a strip 
of pork rind. As pickerel rarely 
weigh over five pounds and most 
of the fish taken weigh from ai 
pound and a half to three pounds, 
a fine braided silk line testing 
ten or twelve pounds is plenty 
heavy enough. The reel should be a 
small, light, easy-running quadruple, 
holding eighty to one hundred yards of 
line. 
A most pleasurable method of taking 
pickerel is by means of strip casting. 
A fairly heavy fly rod is used with 
single-action reel and about fifty yards 
of fine enameled line. Size H is about 
right. The best lure is probably a 
spoon of the Skinner’s casting-spoon. 
type with a single hook. Pork-rind, 
minnows are also effective. A strip of 
perch or pickerel belly makes a fine' 
bait to use in connection with the! 
spoon. The line is stripped from the 
reel and coiled on the seat of the boat. 
Page 358 
