Gar & Pickerel winter feeding

Yes the pickerel will feed during winter, and the gar will still feed as well but the metabolism of both fish will go down. I'd suggest feeding them every few weeks. If they don't eat don't worry about it they can go a long time without eating

Absolutely feed them in the winter.

Pickerel actively feed under ice. I wish you the best of luck over wintering the spotted or Florida gar.

I have had absolutely ZERO success with roughly 20 attempts to raise these gar in my Westminster, MD. spring fed farm pond. Please note that this pond has never completely frozen over near the two above ground spring feeds since I moved here in 1979.

Yes, ZERO out of 20 some odd different attempts (ALL utilizing slow acclimation to colder temperatures and gut fed prior to release into the pond!)

I have read here that it is possible to get Spotted/ Florida to survive in mid Atlantic winters, but it is considerably more difficult than many might lead you to believe.

I have had 100% success with a 4 for 4 wintering of Longnose Gar in the same pond with one now three winters under it's belt and now 30+"!

If I were you, I would use a de-icer in the pond. These things aren't like aquarium heaters, and only keep the water surface liquid and the water temperature around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This is enough to keep the Spotted healthy over winter, however the Gars metabolism will (very good in your situation) slow at a much quicker rate than your chain pickerel will, allowing the Pickerel to thrive while the amour plated gar scales will protect them from the more active cold water Pickerels.

It would be highly advisable to "fatten" your gars in Fall before the over wintering much like Bear do to hibernate though winter.