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Seldom reaching 13 inches in length, the redfin pickerel is one of the smallest pikes. The redfin pickerel closely resembles the chain pickerel, but is smaller and chunkier. It is olive green to dark brown in color with 15 to 36 dark, wavy vertical bars on its sides and a dark eyebar beneath its eyes. The dorsal fin is darkly pigmented orange to red, and reddish-orange lower fins hence its suitable name "redfin." The redfin pickerel occurs in weedy areas of sluggish streams and lakes and ponds. Because redfin pickerel are small and similar to chain pickerel, people generally do not recognize these fish when harvested. Range - They are widely distributed in Florida but diminishes in numbers south of Lake Okeechobee. Redfin pickerels may be the dominant predator fish in small creeks. Quality - White, flaky, sweet-tasting meat, but quite bony. World Record - 1.50 pounds, caught in Bluff Lake, South Carolina, in 1984.
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Red Fin Pickerel
(Esox americanus) Little pickerel, mud
pickerel, grass pickerel, banded pickerel, redfinned pike.
