Where to catch more pikerels?

[apekzhrk]

My girlfriend and I have been going to Weems Creek the past few weeks and had a lot of fun catching perches and occasional pickerels. We are hooked with fishing the pickerels. Was wondering if there were other locations similar to Weems Creek with a little more pickerel action (so far we've caught 1 pickerel per trip). We are both beginners so we prefer calm waters like the creek. Are other parts of the Severn river just as good for producing pickerel?

[J.A. Veil]

Just about any of the creeks and coves along the Severn and Magothy rivers will have pickerel, but the pickerel are not evenly distributed along the shoreline. It takes some trial and error to find out which segments are likely to be most productive. Last winter, I made a Powerpoint presentation on catching pickerel in tidal waters. It does not point you to exact spots, but gives you suggestions on the types of habitats that are likely to hold pickerel. I am willing to share that presentation with anyone who is interested. If you want a copy, send me a pmail with your email address. I have not found a way to attach files to pmails, so the email address is needed.

This time of year, the pickerel bite is starting to pick up. You will still find white perch in the same areas. Over the next few weeks, the perch will migrate to deeper waters, and by early December you will catch almost only pickerel in the shallow creek areas. The pickerel in tidal waters are more or less at the edge of their tolerance range, so I strongly encourage using catch and release methods that minimize stress to the fish. Those are described in the presentation too.