I caught this very fine fish in a minnow trap while visiting southern Illinois in October. At an average size of about a foot long, it looks like a miniature version of its relative, the Northern Pike.

The Grass Pickerel occurs primarily in the sluggish, vegetated waters of pools, lakes and wetlands. It is the most common and widely distributed pike in Missouri and Illinois.

Like other pikes, it has a duckbill-shaped snout, a large mouth with many sharp teeth, and a single dorsal fin. Its back and sides are olive or yellowish brown, and often barred or mottled with a darker color. A dusky bar angles downward and slightly backward from the eye.

This species hunts by ambush, darting out to seize prey from a place of concealment. Young Grass Pickerel eat small crustaceans, amphipods, isopods, and young aquatic insects. Larger examples eat small fish, crayfish, and dragonfly nymphs.

Its sleek, muscular, torpedo-shaped body, with fins positioned in the back for quick bursts of speed, are perfect adaptations for its lie-in-wait predatory habits and are worthy of admiration.

Third Eye Herp
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