#22/179:
Grass Pickerel
Esox americanus
Captured 10/20/20, Looking Glass River, MI near DeWitt, MI. Method: Electrofishing. Watershed: Lake Michigan (Grand R. watershed)
Notes: Grass Pickerel are so cool. They're small (usually less than 12"), but build just like their bigger cousins, the Northern Pike and Muskellunge. Grass Pickerel retain their prison tear tattoo (called a suborbital bar) throughout their life, whereas pike and muskies don't. Grass Pickerel also have a more brindled color pattern, and from the top have a cool racing stripe (see pic below). I would discuss the merits of including the subspecies name here (E. americanus vermiculatus) to separate this specimen from the Redfin Pickerel (E. americanus americanus), but I don't really care that much--unless I catch a true Redfin.
Notes: Grass Pickerel are so cool. They're small (usually less than 12"), but build just like their bigger cousins, the Northern Pike and Muskellunge. Grass Pickerel retain their prison tear tattoo (called a suborbital bar) throughout their life, whereas pike and muskies don't. Grass Pickerel also have a more brindled color pattern, and from the top have a cool racing stripe (see pic below). I would discuss the merits of including the subspecies name here (E. americanus vermiculatus) to separate this specimen from the Redfin Pickerel (E. americanus americanus), but I don't really care that much--unless I catch a true Redfin.
