Name that Esox?

[fishingbuddies]

Hey Guys... what do you think this species is? Chain? Grass? Redfin?
He kept missing a 3inch white keitech swimbait. He finally nailed it. Really cool looking stripes on him. Whatever it is..it was a blast catching. My son was excited.

[JDTuna]

Redfin pickerel. Nice one!

[icebadger]

if you were fishing in southern jersey i would have to agree with jd tuna on it being a red fin slime dart and a good size one as they do not get as big as regular slime darts they are hard to come by so this is a neat catch indeed. the smiles in the second photo say it all cool post. the markings on that fish are neat as well.

[fishingbuddies]

Thx guys. Was fishing up here in north Jersey. Rockaway area. Which made me wonder cause i know they are found in southern NJ waters.

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by fishingbuddies

Thx guys. Was fishing up here in north Jersey. Rockaway area. Which made me wonder cause i know they are found in southern NJ waters.

I've caught them pretty far north. it's def a kind of pickerel, telltale is the black line coming down off the eye.

[JDTuna]

Originally Posted by fishingbuddies

Thx guys. Was fishing up here in north Jersey. Rockaway area. Which made me wonder cause i know they are found in southern NJ waters.

Redfin pickerel are found everywhere in NJ. They actually range from Florida to Massachusetts.

[tautog]

Big redfin. My one and only was caught about 40 years ago.

[RichS]

Caught in a stream? They like slow moving rivers. Your son looks like he's laughing at your catch. tough crowd. lol

[Drossi]

Originally Posted by fishingbuddies

Thx guys. Was fishing up here in north Jersey. Rockaway area. Which made me wonder cause i know they are found in southern NJ waters.

There used to be a ton of them in the pond by Dover HS. Fun on an ultralight. We used to get them on spinners right after the ice was gone cause the damn pond got weed choked by late May.