BIG Chain Pickerel in Nova Scotia

[@wildernesswanderer]

Pickerel is an invasive species in Nova Scotia. Preference of many is to not release them back into the wild. Even Keji National Park has a no release rule. Thank you for sharing.

[@colinbrown9044]

I kill all of them. Third lake has biggest Pickerel and Northern End of Grand lake

[@joewhite9769]

@@colinbrown9044 I understand why people kill them but I don't because I don't believe an animal should suffer just because of where it was placed by the hands of humans

[@connorrehberg7224]

I catch and kill

[@connorrehberg7224]

@@colinbrown9044 same here

[@colinbrown9044]

fun fish, and taste good in the spring.

[@CanadianSledDog]

When I catch pike up north it's not uncommon for them to faint after a hard fight or if the water is warm. They'll stop moving their gills and float upside down and they will suffocate or get smashed on shore but they're not dead yet. I revive them by getting the canoe moving extremely slow and holding them in the water upright facing forward. You have to move the water over their gills for them in a forward direction. I never touch the gill plates if I want to release - just the chest and tail. It took about half an hour to revive a big tanker of a pike once but at the end she swam back down to the depths to keep doing her job as a high quality breeder... But yeah chain pickerel are invasive, better to just eat em lol.

[@JohnJohnson-pn7bo]

How do you get in there with a boat? Where is the boat launch? I've been trying to scope it out

[@bob10tn]

Great video guys ! What did you use for setup ?

[@Howwerelivingfishing]

Super late reply, but If you or anyone else wants to see I made a video on how I fish for them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGKpgqtoq62ijZY

[@ravistruck6359]

The big fish died cause when it thrashed and your hand was under the gill plate you caused a stress up, the fishes gill flags would not open up properly, use grippers or make sure they do not thrash as much, good video

[@shan06100]

Pickerel can lay up to 8000 eggs ,killing it does what once they've been established in a lake lol you won't kill them all guaranteed,nice fish bud

[@peterparsons7141]

I thought the ministry of natural resources were asking people to “not release these fish” ? What are you guys doing ?

[@mattwebbfishing2370]

Its totally preference, no point killing them all when they are already established, we wouldn't have any impact on population. Might aswell keep the big ones in the lake as they are fun to catch. Don't get me wrong though, I go out and have days where I keep a lot of fish to fill the freezer.

[@colinbrown9044]

@@mattwebbfishing2370 I agree I slit the throats of all but the biggest

[@ffast2909]

why do you release them? they kill everything

[@matteagle8206]

Pickerel is an insanely fun fish to go for,caught quite a few over the years,bit you're right they will decimate a lake, between bass and pickerel they'll clean out a lake for sure, personally I like to eat pickerel, nice flesh for fishcakes and I found a recipie for pickled pickerel I want to try this year

[@ffast2909]

@@matteagle8206 They are really fun to catch, but the fuckers kill everything

[@ffast2909]

@@matteagle8206 I guess it doesent really matter if you release them anyway. They allready took over most lakes