Tennessee Pickerel
Jim Pope
Dateline: 1/11/99
About 10 years ago while wading Green River in lower Middle Tennessee, this fisherman had a great experience. Fishing for smallmouth and green perch (a.k.a. – black perch, rock bass, red eye, goggle eye), this fisherman was in hog heaven. The 2-in. soft plastic crawfish rigged Texas style with a #1 wire hook and a 1/16-oz. slipsinker on a spinning rig spooled with 4-lb. test line was ample tackle for the fish being sought.
Several fish had already been fooled by the synthetic imitation of the natural prey in the cool running water of the creek. How much better could life be at such a time? After slowly and quietly approaching a narrow hole of medium running water, the little rubber crawfish found its mark just behind the fork of a tree that had been washed down the creek. No sooner had it disappeared from sight, the 4-lb. line gave that visible jump.
Sweeping back with the rod made a connection with a small green perch about 5-inches long. Not wanting to disturb the water with a fighting fish, a few quick turns of the reel put the little perch on a plane across the surface.While standing knee deep in the water, the strike was a frightening thing. With no more than six or eight feet of line between the rod tip and the little green perch, the surface exploded.
Luckily, the rod was in the 10:00 position. As if by instinct, the rod was dropped and the bail flipped open. Thinking that a nice smallmouth had jumped on the little perch, I gave it plenty of time to take it in. The fish swam back to the tree, and sat down under one of the big limbs that was only inches above the bottom. The waiting minute seemed like an hour.
Finally, after drawing the line tight, a long sweep of the rod only angered the perch-eating critter on the terminal end of the line. The fish immediately shot out of the water and shook its long body like a wet dishrag. Even though the fish wasn’t that big, its mouth looked like it could handle a full- grown bullfrog. There were not three or four jumps; there must have been fifteen.
The pickerel was a formidable opponent. After the fight finally ended, this fisherman held in his hand a beautiful snake-like predator with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The pickerel was about 20 inches long, but I doubt if it weighed over two pounds. This was certainly a fish to remember.
