Fishing Disagreement

[Ness]

Husband and I have been arguing over a fish I lost
yesterday and I thought I'd ask this board for it's input. I played this fish for several minutes before it managed to spit out the hook on
me and I did manage to get it close to the boat but we never really got a good look at it. I said
afterwards, " I just lost a nice bass." He says
there's no way I can know for sure that it was a bass and not a pickerel. The lake is a big bass
and pickerel lake. I say you can tell the difference from the way they fight... He says there isn't that big of a difference so that you
can tell.... Well???? The fish in question felt
like it was shaking it's head violently from side to side when it was running.
Oh and the reason I lost it... He told me to keep
it away from the boat until I tired it out more.
So I lightened up on it a little and he was gone... !@$#@!

[4-given]

If you were my wife, I'd say you lost a nice bass.

[Greg P.]

Ness,
I can usually determine the type of fish I have hooked based on how it fights. Northerns tend to run, bass to shake and swim sideways, walleyes fight with a pulsing swim. Smaller fish are harder to distinguish. The vast majority of the time, when I am fighting a fish for a few minutes, I can tell what type of fish it is before I see it.

I'm on your side, and too bad about loosing the nice bass.

Greg P.

[Hans]

Sounds like a bass to me.

Hans

--
"There is nothing; absolutely nothing; half so much worth doing,
as simply messing about in boats." :-)

[night_eyes]

I guess i dont know what a pickerel fights like...but i know personally i can tell the difference between a walleye/bass/and northern. So i would say your personal incline to it being a big bass would be the best bet to what it was. Its too bad your hubby told ya to try and tire it out more. Im all in favor of taking your time and all..but there are times when ya try to hard to be careful and it costs ya. Get em next time...hopefully a bigger one yet!

[Eh?]

Pickerel is Canadian for walleye.

[night_eyes]

Oops..my bad...

[Juls_WI]

Here in wisconsin, Pickeral are part of the Northern Pike family. Spots are just a bit different and they don't tend to get as big as Northerns.

Yes Ness, you can tell the difference most of the time, but as another said, it is hard to distinguish smaller fish.

We can usually tell a sheepshead from an eye on Bago, by the way it fights.

Sounds like you had a bass. Northerns will tend to just pull and run without shaking. They usually stop and do the "get this darn thing out of my mouth" head shake before they take off on another run.

Never, never give a fish slack line...it will win the game 90% of the time. Tell Dave to fight his own fish from now on. You just show him how it's done woman! Go gettum! :-)

Juls

[Mike]

...is classic bass behaviour when hooked, IMHO.

Pickerel (walleye) is more of a vertical fight - not so much in a horizontal plane...

[cisco]

Not universal Canadian -- in Quebec, they are called "dore" by some. Our friend the walleye is called jack-salmon, pike-perch, walleyed pike, and many other things in different parts of No. America -- but, that's not so important as the present dilemma.

It sounds like a bass to me.

[mkebenn]

I might mistake a largemouth for a BIG pickeral,
but I'd know a smallmouth in a heartbeat, much more zip. Sorry 'bout yhe fish, 'least she's still there. Mike in E.A.

[walleye mike]

1. Since my wife is my primary fishing sponsor, I would agree with her/you....
2. Sounds like a bass to me anyway

Walleye Mike

[Sheila]

Interesting Ness - concensus leaning towards Bass. But I read your post again and you said it was running and shaking. Too bad it didn't jump, that'd have solved the mystery!

Couple comments: I caught a lot of Pickeral Pike in the New York lakes. They count as weighers in the local walleye tournies too. They're not walleye (as the canadian walleye nickname mentioned in replies above) - they are real pickeral, kindof like a cross-breed between walleye & pike. I thought their mouths were more like Northerns, but they aren't as big - more like walleye size. Ness - help me out. They have like a red dot on them somewhere on the head? Caught 'em 2 seasons ago and already I forget!

Anyway, there's a picture of them in the NY Fishing Regulations book, which I've lost too.

[Ness]

Hi, Sheila. The pickerel we've been catching in
Oxbow are chain pickerel. They don't have a red
spot on them but they are the largest of the pickerel family. The other kinds are called redfin and grass pickerels, these varieties rarely
grow over 12 inches long. The largest I've ever
heard of was nine lbs. They break up the monotony
of a slow fishing day but sometimes they just plain get in the way of catching bass :-)

[Ness]

Juls, I have to admit that it was my fault as
much as his. I know better than to do that.
Better to lose it at the boat, at least I might
have gotten a look at it ;-)

[AquaMan]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-20-00 AT 10:32AM (CST)[p]Pickerel, from the genu Esox, is the smallest of that family which includes Northerns, and Muskie.

Walleye are part of the Pike family. However, lower Canada refers to Walleyes as Pickerel.

I am leaning towards the Bass, too, Ness.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[crash]

To be the odd man out I think it was a pickeral. Most Bass that I've hooked go airborne around the boat. Big pickerals do those long thumping runs (almost like a laker) up it comes, down it goes,up it comes, down it goes. Could of rolled and twisted the hook out, witch they do just like their bigger cousins. A pickeral over 5lbs gives ya a heck of a fight.

[Lawrence Ecklor]

Ness I can recommend a good Marriage counselor-LOL- my guess would be that it was a fish and if you were fishing the (MUDDY MISSISSIPPI) now the kind of fish wouldn't matter to ya!!! Seriously
after a FEW years of fishing I still only guess right about half the time,as to whats on the other end of the line and occassionally a nonfish species even suprises me.(stick,zebra mussels), but the ones that got away are always easy for me they were huge and whatever kind I'm supposed to be fishing for at the time???? Hope you were fishing for bass, Lawrence

[Airwave(OH)]

I think it was a big ole carp...:)

[SUPERTROLLER]

Funny you should say that. I was thinking it was a smaller foul hooked carp or a catfish. If nobody saw it I think the "King of the Castle" is always right! Let her win one arguement and you're on the slippery slope to oblivion. SUPERTROLLER --last bastion of manhood and polically incorrect thinkers of the world.

[Ness]

There are NO CARP in that lake. :-) Oh, but I
almost forgot... there are muskies.

[walleye wisdom]

A big cross breed of a bass, muskie, pickerel, walleye, northern and carp.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Ness, it could've been a muskie! I was trying to bait you into an arguement here to show the point that nobody should win an arguement just because of their gender. Everyone should want to win because they were right and not just be pandered to so they'll feel good and drop the discussion. To your credit you didn't tear into me for my overt sexist remarks. Darn, I was a little disappointed. Next time just get the dang thing in the boat and save us all here the hassle of picking the winner. LOL. Good Luck this summer.

[T-Mac]

Ness.... when you lose one...remember.....it can be anything you want it to be...and as big as you want it to be.
Furthermore...anyone whoever claims they lost a "little one" just isn't cut out to be a good story teller.

[Weyes1]

Hey Aquaman,
Actually Walleye are members of the perch family.
Sorry to have to correct you, but that's the way it is.
Weyes1

[Eyez]

Zactly, like I was telling T-Mac the other night, I hooked and lost before I saw it, none other than the loch ness monster (no pun intended Ness :) ).... If knowing it was a bass motivates you to fish harder next time, then it was a bass... that's my theory anyway.


Eyez

[Eyeman]

Ness
Whenever someone loses a nice fish without getting to see it, it was a carp, sheephead or some other roughfish. Then you don't feel so bad!

[AquaMan]

You are correct, I mistyped....

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Ness]

Then it must have been a pickerel because there
aren't sheephead or carp in that lake. But I never lose pickerel because I really don't care to
catch them. Naw, can't convince myself, guys, it
was a bass.... pickerel just don't fight like that. Half the time it's hard to tell them from
a healthy bunch of weeds :-)

[ErieAngler]

Most likely a redfin pickerel. We have them in some of the rivers in Ohio. Spring of the year they get a brilliant red color on their fins (true to their name). They are a member of the esox family as described above. Chain pickerel are another specie from southern waters in the same family.