Gar, Pike, Pickerel

[Mathieu914]

Hi guys.

Can someone explain me what are the difference between a gar, a pike and a pickerel.

English isn't my native language and i'm a bit lost

 

[thomeski]

Ok so pickerel its like smaler vercion of pike they bouth from family esox
And a gar its from totaly diferent family. Google for some picks ure see diference

 

[troppond]

a lot

 

[tnaylorj]

well to make things doubly confusing... gar are sometimes called garpike... (probably because of similar appearance to pike) and we once misclassified as an esox species.

 

[Mathieu914]

Yeah, I just checked some photo and the gar looks more like a crocodile
than the pike.

But what is a needlefish? I guess it's like a pickerel but i'm not sure.

 

[fisher12889]

There are several different fish (in both salt and freshwater) that could be called "needlefish." You need to be more specific for a decent answer...

 

[wantokeeptrout]

depends where you live. Where I go fishing walleye are called pickerel by the locals but scientifically pickerel are small relatives of pike and muskie. Gar are warmer water species that live from southern canada to maxico. They're an ancient species that are relatively thinner then pike with longer snouts and tougher scales. Some unrelated species are called gar because they look similar.

 

[jpwolf]

i want a pike

 

[wantokeeptrout]

i want a pike

They can get a metre plus and grow pretty fast to about 1-2 feet before slowing down so be careful, a pickerel species is my chois, same appearance but in a smaller package.