Crane Creek Grass Pickerel

[fisher19]

I caught one last saturday in the park area. It hit my jig as it was falling and just took off with it. It put up a pretty good fight, fun to catch. I didn't even know they were in there until i caught one.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I have done a little looking and picked up some info:

Grass pickerel, like all members of this family, are carnivorous and voracious feeders. Small fishes make up the bulk of the diet, but aquatic insects and their larva are also eaten in significant quantities. The species prefers weedy areas, where it hunts by ambush, darting out from concealment to seize its prey.

The grass pickerel spawns in the early spring in very shallow waters. Eggs are usually broadcast over submergent vegetation and are unattended. There is some evidence in part of its natural range of an additional spawning period in late fall or early winter -- but not in Iowa. Here the fish reaches a length of about 3 or 4 inches the first year but seldom exceeds 13 inches when fully grown.

The info above stating that there may be an additional spawn, was only stated by this paticular site. Another site stated the temp range for spawning.

Of the sites I looked at, none stated anything about a diet of roe.