Each fall most of our deciduous trees drop their leaves. Trees located adjacent to tidal creeks and ponds drop some of their leaves onto the water surface. Those millions of leaves create casting and retrieving hazards when fishing during the leaf-fall period.
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For some reason, the trees have held their leaves much longer than usual this fall. Most of the trees in my yard still have many leaves on them (meaning more leaf cleanup in December this year). During the past week or so, I am seeing more leaves floating on the tidal waters where I plan to cast for pickerel.
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This morning, I launched at 8:30 and fished for two hours. I worked my way along more than a mile of shoreline in a tidal creek. The water level this morning was quite low, meaning that many of my near-shoreline pickerel spots had minimal water depth, and the possibility of snagging submerged branches was higher. In addition to the low water, many of the areas had substantial numbers of floating leaves near the shore (the precise zones where I usually catch the pickerel). That makes casting and retrieving a lure challenging.
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I threw a 3/16-oz jighead and 3” paddletail. I had no bites for the first half hour. Then I got to a spot that initially looked unfishable because of the abundance of leaves. But I decided to try a few casts using the following approach to mitigate leaf issues.
I was pleasantly surprised to pull 3 pickerel out of the same small leaf-covered zone in 5 minutes. After exhausting that spot, I kept moving. I found two more pickerel using the same technique.
Leaf cover does add challenges to pickerel fishing for a few weeks each fall. If you follow the steps outlined above, you improve your chances of keeping a lure clean and enticing to the pickerel.
2021-04-11-003.jpg
For some reason, the trees have held their leaves much longer than usual this fall. Most of the trees in my yard still have many leaves on them (meaning more leaf cleanup in December this year). During the past week or so, I am seeing more leaves floating on the tidal waters where I plan to cast for pickerel.
2021-04-11-006.jpg
This morning, I launched at 8:30 and fished for two hours. I worked my way along more than a mile of shoreline in a tidal creek. The water level this morning was quite low, meaning that many of my near-shoreline pickerel spots had minimal water depth, and the possibility of snagging submerged branches was higher. In addition to the low water, many of the areas had substantial numbers of floating leaves near the shore (the precise zones where I usually catch the pickerel). That makes casting and retrieving a lure challenging.
2021-04-11-005.jpg
I threw a 3/16-oz jighead and 3” paddletail. I had no bites for the first half hour. Then I got to a spot that initially looked unfishable because of the abundance of leaves. But I decided to try a few casts using the following approach to mitigate leaf issues.
- Cast into the leaf field hopefully landing in a leafless spot
- Let the lure sink for a few seconds
- Retrieve the lure slowly while watching the spot where the line enters the water (I use yellow braid so I can see that spot more readily)
- Move the rod tip to guide the line entry point between leaves
- If you feel extra resistance, do a couple of hard twitches, which often knocks a leaf free. If you cannot remove the leaf that way, wind in and remove it by hand before casting again.
I was pleasantly surprised to pull 3 pickerel out of the same small leaf-covered zone in 5 minutes. After exhausting that spot, I kept moving. I found two more pickerel using the same technique.
Leaf cover does add challenges to pickerel fishing for a few weeks each fall. If you follow the steps outlined above, you improve your chances of keeping a lure clean and enticing to the pickerel.
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