Upcoming Pickerel Hunt on Vets Day: Noob angler seeking advice

[TimHVids]

I’ve always caught my pickerel right up on the shore or just off it . Always holding structure . Or somewhere without structure distance .


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Yea those are the areas I was targeting. But as you said, you didn’t see any bait, so I just don’t think they were hanging around the creek I was fishing.

[TimHVids]

You didn't mention the size of your jerkbait.

...But the good news about Weems and other Severn creeks is that you can usually find a sheltered area even on the windiest days.

Bridge pilings -- They hold white perch and small stripers in warmer water. I have never caught a pickerel near them. Perch especially like the shade of the pilings and bridge decks in the summer.

You do not need a fish finder for Weems or any Severn creek. None are deep. Fish the structure you see (and have already mentioned) or troll the edges and creek centers. Topwater in the very backs of the creeks and at the mouths of various coves may bring a striper strike in the fall.

Thanks Mark,

I was using a very light Jerkbait, I cant remember the weight but it had a max diving depth of 3 ft.

Yes the one cove I spent most of the time on was pretty calm even though the main stretch was windy. But this is the area that had tons of leaves sitting 6 inches below the surface of the water. Couldn't really work the jerkbait much.

Yea again, I have no idea what Im doing lol. I have seen people on youtube catch perch and crappie around bridge pilings so I just targeted those thinking they would be a location that at least had fish near it. At that point I wasnt thinking about the pickerel anymore, I was hoping to catch a few strippers but I dont think that was a good technique.. I was just throwing a hail mary at this point...

well I wanted the fish finder to see if there was ANYTHING even in the vacinity. It would be good to have if I were on a trolling trip to see if the area had stripers moving around.

[BassMoore]

I have noticed alot more red fish around the bay the last 2 years, and recently a 105 lb Tropical Opah was caught in OC.. which is WAYYYY north for that kind of fish

leading me to think maybe the salinity is getting at an all time high, and these pickerel have moved out of the creeks to find better water

[BigRick]

BigRick,

You've mentioned the third tidal tributary with an apparent pickerel population decline, the other two being the Magothy and the Severn.

I'm curious during your good years if you had ever caught picks in Church Creek? I've accessed that creek in past years by the kayak launch at Homeport Farm Park. The creek looked like great pickerel water but I had never caught one there.

Thanks,

I have not caught any picks in Church Creek, (although I dont fish it often) but I dont see any reason they would not be in there. I fish mainly in Glebe Bay and its backwaters which is less than a mile away so they should be there!

[J.A. Veil]

I have not caught any picks in Church Creek, (although I dont fish it often) but I dont see any reason they would not be in there. I fish mainly in Glebe Bay and its backwaters which is less than a mile away so they should be there!

I agree that the Church Creek habitat looks great for pickerel -- but I have never caught one there. The Capital newspaper ran an article during the past year suggesting that from historical practices, Church Creek was the most contaminated creek on the South River. They did not go into much detail on how and why the creek was contaminated.

[mike o]

Good day at loch Raven today. 6 N. pike and 5 pickerel. 2 of the pike were bigbig pike 1.jpgnice pike.jpgbig 35.jpgpic.jpg

[Mark]

I have not caught any picks in Church Creek, (although I dont fish it often) but I dont see any reason they would not be in there. I fish mainly in Glebe Bay and its backwaters which is less than a mile away so they should be there!

Thank you Rick. Unfortunately, there are lots of tidal areas where picks should be of late but they're not.