Pickerel, << PIHK uhr uhl or PIHK ruhl, >> is the name given to three small members of the pike family. Like all pikes, pickerels have large mouths and greedy appetites. They fight stubbornly when caught on a hook. Pickerels live in fresh water. They usually eat smaller fish.
The three kinds of pickerel are the redfin pickerel, also called bulldog pickerel, which lives east of the Allegheny Mountains from Maine to Florida; the grass pickerel, or mud pickerel, which is found abundantly in the Mississippi Valley; and the chain pickerel, which lives in lakes and streams east and south of the Alleghenies, from Maine to Florida and west to Arkansas. The redfin pickerel and the grass pickerel seldom grow more than 1 foot (30 centimeters) long. The chain pickerel commonly reaches a length of about 2 feet (61 centimeters). However, it may grow to about 3 feet (91 centimeters) long. The chain pickerel weighs up to 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms). It is a popular game fish, and its flesh is good to eat.
