# Help me identify this little guy.



## Powerman1000 (Jul 19, 2010)

Hello everyone,

Not been able to fish much over the last month and a half but I made it out last weekend and pulled this little guy out of the 'Nut. I could not find a match for him on any of my identification charts. Any clue what this little guy is other than "a fish"?

Thanks in advance,

Thomas


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Thats a Redfin Pickerel, or more often called a Grass Pike. nice catch, only live in colder clean swampy streams, top out at about 12" and love spinners!!
I was wanting to put some in my pond but they wouldnt last very long. They are cool aquarium fish but will eat you out of house and home devouring several dozen minnows/feeder GF per week. 

Salmonid


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## SeaRayder (Jan 6, 2009)

It's always good to learn. I'd guessed a baby muskie...


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## sploosh56 (Dec 31, 2008)

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/spe...deIndex/grasspickerel/tabid/6643/Default.aspx

The tear drop shaped mark under the eye is the easiest way to distinguish between a pike and a grass pickerel


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## Powerman1000 (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for the quick response. I checked the ODNR and sure enoughthats what it was. I'm always amazed with the diversity of life I see when I'm out and about fishing. Thanks for the ID!

Thomas


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

My first thought was a Pickerel but, I did not realize that their max size was so small. Always enjoy a good OGF education.

Pretty little fish by the way!


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

I think grass pickeral are more common in that area as opposed to redfin. Not an expert, though. Salmonid, do their ranges overlap?


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

Supercool catch! I haven't heard of that or anything pike, pickeral, or muskie related being caught in the Nut...until now.


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## Jigging Jim (Apr 3, 2010)

Chain Pickeral.... pretty little thing, isn't it?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

mushi, I just checked my Troutman book and you are correct, at this time is commonly called the Grass Pickerel but this species for about 20 years ( 1950-1960's) was referred to as the Redfin Pickerel which s where I got that from but there actually is 2 variations now and the now Redfin Pickerel is not found in Ohio, same species though , just two different strains. These are cool fish and always loved catching them from swampy oxbows growing up,( 80's) I havent caught one in many years though and even spent a lot of time trying to get one on a fly rod about 10 years ago in my best places but there were none to be had in any of those places anymore. 

Salmonid


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

You beat me to it, salmonid. As you've offered, this is a grass pickerel (note the "teardrop" mark). The redfin subspecies is not considered to occur in Ohio. The ranges of the grass and redfin pickerels do converge to the south along gulf states where the subspecies do intergrade. Grass pickerel are really, really common throughout Ohio, but aren't often seen by anglers because they tend to stay pretty small.

Chain pickerel are not native to Ohio. They received some sporadic stocking around the state (especially into Long Lake near Akron) until 1982 (the year after the second edition of Trautman's text). They never reproduced well here. If there are any chain pickerel left in Ohio, there likely aren't many. ...And this guy isn't one.


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## Fisher4Life12 (Aug 12, 2010)

Grass Pickerel.....


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

**** bait thats what i call them


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

Eugene said:


> You beat me to it, salmonid. As you've offered, this is a grass pickerel (note the "teardrop" mark). The redfin subspecies is not considered to occur in Ohio. The ranges of the grass and redfin pickerels do converge to the south along gulf states where the subspecies do intergrade. Grass pickerel are really, really common throughout Ohio, but aren't often seen by anglers because they tend to stay pretty small.
> 
> Chain pickerel are not native to Ohio. They received some sporadic stocking around the state (especially into Long Lake near Akron) until 1982 (the year after the second edition of Trautman's text). They never reproduced well here. If there are any chain pickerel left in Ohio, there likely aren't many. ...And this guy isn't one.


oh young grasshopper there are alot of chain pickerel in ohio.... you just have to look real hard.... lake cable is full of them i grew up there ...


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

Groovy. Is Cable accessible by the public?


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

firstflight111 said:


> **** bait thats what i call them


Why? They're native and cool.


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## Powerman1000 (Jul 19, 2010)

I have a question and I'm not sure what the answer is and I figure this is the best place to ask. What is the legality of taking fish from local streams etc and keeping them in a home aquarium? I've seen it mentioned in various threads as well as this one and had always been under the impression that it was illeagal. I have a 300 gallon reef tank at home and a 50 gallon freshwater tank currently with an empty 80 gallon sitting in the garage. It'd be nice to have a tank of indigenous fish to display but I'm worried about the legality.

Thoughts?


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## fshnfreak (Feb 24, 2007)

hear no evil speak no evil is my motto. i mean i wouldnt go bragging to a dnr officer about your home aquarium filled with indigenous species but on the other hand whats so different between that and taking them home and eating them? when i lived in bucyrus i had 2 gills and two small perch that i brought home from the res. surprisingly the perch faired much better than the gills. my biggest obsticle was getting a wild caught fish to readily eat prepared fish foods.


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

It's no problem so long as they're taken by legal means. Wild-caught game fish will count against your limit, so it's probably best to focus on non-regulated species (like mudminnows, orangespotted sunfish, etc.). Also, be certain you are not taking endangered species, which is illegal. Also also, never release any pets back to the wild. Even if the fish species is native, you don't want to risk inadvertently carrying disease back to a fish's home waters.


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

If you're still watching, Mr. 1000, here are a couple native-fish-in-aquaria discussions from my day job:
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/discuss/index.php/topic,267.msg
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/discuss/index.php/topic,1035


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## Powerman1000 (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for the link Eugene! Well, as soon as I can find the space it looks like I'm going to start a native species tank! Wish I would have known all this to begin with as the Grass Pickerel would have made a cool addition. Was a cool looking fish for sure. 

Thanks!


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

My first thought was Pickerel as well, only because I remember my Dad talking about catching them out of streams every once in awhile back in the day.


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

Grass pickerel are awesome pets, but they have a voracious appetite and are pretty fussy about having live feeder fish. They are also notorious jumpers, so be certain your tank is well covered or you'll find them trying to commit suicide by baking themselves on your carpet. Don't worry; you'll get more. Especially if you drag a bait seine through the appropriate habitat.


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## BigDub007 (Apr 1, 2010)

There are some of those in a pon in hillard they love drop shots with gulp minies .... I have also caught a few in the liking river as well..... I thought it was a pike untill I reasearched it a little bit .... Great catch by the way !!


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## SpecialNick (Dec 8, 2008)

not trying to complicate things but.... haha I heard a rumor the grass pickerel had a name change. or they had combined it with redfin or something along those lines.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

BigDub007 said:


> There are some of those in a pon in hillard they love drop shots with gulp minies .... I have also caught a few in the liking river as well..... I thought it was a pike untill I reasearched it a little bit .... Great catch by the way !!


Yup - used to catch them and see them quite a bit at the Hilliard muni park ponds. Cool looking little fish.


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## Eugene (Jun 23, 2004)

SpecialNick said:


> not trying to complicate things but.... haha I heard a rumor the grass pickerel had a name change. or they had combined it with redfin or something along those lines.


The names have been occasionally juggled around. A while back, in some places, they could all be commonly referred to as redfin. An even longer while back, they were considered completely distinct species. The current arrangement of separating the two entities into two subspecies has been pretty stable for a while: grass pickerel (_Esox americanus vermiculatus_) here (Great Lakes/Mississippi watersheds and south to the gulf slope) and redfin pickerel (_Esox americanus americanus_) to our east (Atlantic drainage and south to the gulf slope). If there is a movement afoot to re-lump them as a single species, I haven't heard of it yet. If you're really burning with curiosity, note:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/grasspickerel/tabid/6643/Default.aspx
http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=2710
http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=2709
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pickerel


Also, see if you can dig up a copy of:

Trautman, M.B. 1981. Fishes of Ohio, rev.ed. The Ohio State University Press, Columbus.


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