Rainy day thread...Pike + Pickerel = Gorgeous Hybrid

[Skunk City]

Saw this on World Fishing Network's website. Never heard of this but it's definetly got me thinking about one swimming in NJ's waters...

http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/n...pe-235475.aspx




From the link...
"It was supposed to be a show about chain pickerel on Lake Champlain, highlighting the different techniques and hottest lures for this often neglected sportfish.

But it turned into something more when two hybrids were caught during filming.

A cross between a northern pike and a chain pickerel, these hybrids take on the best genes of both species, with the unmistakeable spots of a pike, mixed in with the chain-like pattern of the pickerel. The result is a rather beautiful fish that packs a wallop.


Bob Gauthier holds a hybrid (left) and chain pickerel up together. Bob caught the fish in practice a day before shooting.
Northern pike get more attention due to their greater range and larger size, but chain pickerel hold their own as a sportfish. You'd be hard pressed to find a better catch when fly fishing, as pickerel will attack your streamers with rage. They can be caught a number of different ways, and since they are big feeders all year round, can be fished for through the ice as well.

Chain pickerel thrive in swamps, marshes, ditches, ponds, oxbows, sloughs and backwaters throughout much of Eastern United States and Canada. While hybrids may be hard to find, if you do land one, be prepared: they have tremendous power and are very energetic fighters."