Yes I was imagining it may be the cool water factor, and I saw some threads on pickerel.
Because they get absolutely huge, are sensitive, require cool water, aren't very active, eat an obscene amount of food, and are near impossible to get to eat pellet food. Have you seen some of the things these fish eat when they are fully grown? They eat full grown ducks, massive carp and suckers, large bass, and crazy amounts of bluegill. I kept a pickerel in a 3,000 gallon pond and he grew up to 28 inches. I gave him bluegill I caught, on one occasion I caught 30 bluegill and stocked them in that pond and within a week they were all gone.
