Eastern shore neds

[J.A. Veil]

Sadly, the yellow perch (neds) are nearly gone from my home waters in the Severn. I was getting an urge to catch some neds. I took advantage of the beautiful afternoon to drive to an Eastern Shore stream known for its perch runs. I have fished that area twice before and never had a bite. I decided to give it at least one more shot.

I paddled about 3/4 mile upstream from the launch -- farther than I have gone before. I'm glad I went the extra distance, because I began catching neds right away. I was casting a minnow on a 1/8-oz jighead and retrieving it slowly. Over the next hour, I caught 15 neds. Most were at least 9" long and fat (pre-spawn females). My largest was about 12" and very plump. Their coloration is beautiful this time of year.

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In the midst of the neds, I caught a pickerel too. After proving they would bite on minnows, I threw out a 3" gold glitter paddletail on a 1/8-oz jighead. It took a few casts, but I caught one on the lure. Later in the trip, I put a bobber on the line with the paddletail, tossed the line out, and set the rod in a rodholder. A few minutes later I caught yet another ned on the deadsticked rod.

After catching the 15 perch in that area, I began drifting back to the launch, casting a minnow the entire way. I had no bites outside of that first 100-yard stretch.

[Mark]

Good show, John.

100 yards of creek -- Right place at the right time.

[EMSer]

Sometimes it pays to go the extra mile!

[Hemingway]

I went yesterday, and had a similiar experience. They were schooled up tight on the edges of the stream's channel, and really not covering a very large area. I did keep a few to eat...a beautiful fish that was pretty darn tasty. Nice job buddy!

[Fishinfool]

I really miss the days of my youth when the Severn Run would turn black with yellow perch. It's very much a sore spot with me as the Severn headwaters have not had a reliable spawn since probably the late 70's. Some say it's because of natural causes such as overgrown oak trees shedding their leaves and choking out all the oxygen where the fish had to pass thru on their way upstream. Others blame simple overdevelopment; either way, it's just not right.

On the positive side, I hear the Magothy is producing some nice size yellows, particularly in mid-river creeks and up towards it's headwaters. Apparently, in recent years the perch have been able to get far enough upstream to lay their eggs and do their thing, which has been a surprise to the guy at DNR (Uloff?), the supposed yellow perch expert who has flatly written off the Severn. Not a good way to endear oneself to the local fishing community.

[Darryl330]

Neds? I've never heard that term. I've had a lot of success the past couple of weeks just from the Hillsboro dock.

In coming tide. 1/8th ounce lead-head with a skirt/tube plastic. Black - chartreuse. My thinking was if the liked minnows, they would hit this and the did.