While we fish for trout, salmon and bass like everyone else, when the fish aren't biting there is still a thirst for action. When Ted was a kid in northeastern Connecticut, the trout season closed by July. You could fish for bass then but they were hard to catch. You could crimp down the barb of the hook, then catch and release 20 to 40 pickerel in an afternoon of fishing. But take him after pickerel and he's likely to have a day he'll long remember.
Pickerel is a boney fish.
It takes know-how to prepare. The pickerel is considered a trash fish by many. But many others consider it good eating, a bit softer flesh than shad, and there are ways to prepare it that minimize the bone problem. One, filet it as you would normally filet any fish, and skin it. Cut chunks three to four inches long and grind them in a food processor with an egg, mayonaise, oatmeal or cracker crumbs for body, chopped onion and celery.