pickerel

[williamf...@gmail.com]

I have read here in this forum and a couple other online articles about pickerel in the tidal creeks of the bay.  So after getting skunked on Stripers at Thomas Point Saturday I put kayak in at  Jonas Green Park on Severn and went up to closest creek.    And it worked!  Got a hand full of 15 - 18 inchers by blow downs on the bank.  Caught them on a clouser on 7 wt in the last hour of light.  I did confirm that they can bite through 2x tippet.

I also learned that Thomas Point does not require permit after Nov 1.  A week ago the spin fishing buy next to me got a 25" at the end of the outgoing tide.  Definitely will try the Point next year.

Bill

[Lane Thurgood]

Well done Bill.  I'm a pickerel fan in the cold weather months.  I generally use a 20-lb saltwater mono bite tippet to prevent biteoffs.  (Then check after every fish.)

Bravo.

[williamf...@gmail.com]

Lane

Thanks for that tip.  That's what I will do next time .   I'm definitely sold as good cold weather fishing!  Do you, or anyone else, know if they can be caught in tidal potomac creeks?

Bill

[Lane Thurgood]

They can definitely be caught in Piscataway Creek. That dumps into the Potomac at Ft Washington. 

[Jamie Gold]

I've had a lot of fun chasing them this fall in one of the tributaries of the Bay.  We've found them in shallow water over weed beds and around downed wood.  Most effective tactic for me has been using a 7wt rod with an intermediate line and a Murdich minnow.  With this set up I can get the fly below the surface, but keep it above the weeds.  For tippet I like the Rio Wire Bite - 20lbs.  A bit heavy for these fish, but the fly still moves well and I don't have to check my tippet.

Here's a 23" pickerel I caught Nov 29.  He had what looked like old scars on his side, like something tried to grab or bite him when he was younger.

[williamf...@gmail.com]

That’s a good looking fish. Congrats! Have you found that tides , times of day or other conditions make a difference? I’ve caught fish on incoming tides late in the afternoon. I’m looking forward to a few more trips this winter.

Bill

[Jamie Gold]

Hi Bill:

I'm no expert, but two things I've read about and observed seem to be true regarding conditions:

1. They like a moving tide.  Slack tides seem to shut off the bite.

2. They don't like wind that ripples the surface.  That seemed to shut them off as well.  In coves where we had caught fish, if the wind was moving the water they wouldn't bite.  So we'd move to coves out of the wind and we'd catch fish there.

Tight lines and let us know how you do if you get out again,

Jamie