Tweet
John Rentch and I worked a Severn tributary today looking for pickerels. After all, fall has finally arrived and the water is cool enough for their liking. We anticipated a productive outing.
But they were quite fussy and distinctly anti-social today. In 2.5 hours of fishing we caught no pickerels. I never even saw one follow my lure. We got a few stripers and John got a white perch but that was it.
The first thing we noticed was low water. These photos show what happens on a low tide and a strong outgoing wind:
P1020250.jpg P1020252.jpg P1020253.jpg
A good thing to do when the water is this low is to catalog in your memory what you see in and around structure that is typically under water. In higher water, pickerels would love some of the spots pictured above.
But that brings me to another point. Logic would indicate that low water would concentrate the fish. They have to go somewhere since they cannot crawl along the exposed banks where they normally swim. So you would think, the picks would be in the centers of coves. I tried that tactic and boated 3 stripers on a small jig spinner like the one pictured below. Also, I lost what I believe was a legal sized one after about a minute's tussle with the fish pulling drag and me retrieving lost line several times.
P1020260.jpg
Anyway, my low water logic rarely works for pickerels. I never do well with them in conditions like we faced today. When I saw the long pilings covered with barnacles under piers and exposed banks, I was disappointed. I knew it would be a rough day.
But, it's always good to be on the water with your fishing buddies even when the fish are not cooperative.
P1020259.jpg P1020266.jpg
Better luck, I hope, next time.
But they were quite fussy and distinctly anti-social today. In 2.5 hours of fishing we caught no pickerels. I never even saw one follow my lure. We got a few stripers and John got a white perch but that was it.
The first thing we noticed was low water. These photos show what happens on a low tide and a strong outgoing wind:
P1020250.jpg P1020252.jpg P1020253.jpg
A good thing to do when the water is this low is to catalog in your memory what you see in and around structure that is typically under water. In higher water, pickerels would love some of the spots pictured above.
But that brings me to another point. Logic would indicate that low water would concentrate the fish. They have to go somewhere since they cannot crawl along the exposed banks where they normally swim. So you would think, the picks would be in the centers of coves. I tried that tactic and boated 3 stripers on a small jig spinner like the one pictured below. Also, I lost what I believe was a legal sized one after about a minute's tussle with the fish pulling drag and me retrieving lost line several times.
P1020260.jpg
Anyway, my low water logic rarely works for pickerels. I never do well with them in conditions like we faced today. When I saw the long pilings covered with barnacles under piers and exposed banks, I was disappointed. I knew it would be a rough day.
But, it's always good to be on the water with your fishing buddies even when the fish are not cooperative.
P1020259.jpg P1020266.jpg
Better luck, I hope, next time.
Comment