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I had planned to take my powerboat out this morning, but found the wind to be stronger that desired. After breakfast, I decided to launch my kayak in the lower Severn and fish a sheltered location. I started out working some rip-rap near the launch and caught some of the smallest perch I have seen this summer (5" - 6"). They hit a small "safety-pin" style spinner (even with the hair all fallen off) on nearly every cast. By comparison, the lures on my other two rods were hardly touched.
At one point, I caught three different species in 5 minutes. I started with a small perch, then got a tiny (5") rock on the next cast. When I got a strong bite on the third cast, I was hoping for a pickerel. Instead it was a 10.5" perch. The pickerel came about 3 casts later. At 20", it was the largest summertime pickerel I have ever landed.
The photo shows the pickerel hanging from my boga grip tool -- my arm was not quite long enough to get the whole fish in the picture. In the process of removing the hook from the pickerel's bony jaw, the business end of the hook broke off leaving me with a "neutered" hook. Sadly I took that lure off and looked for something else in the tackle box. I had not bothered to add any other of the good spinners in my onboard small tackle box. I tried a Cicada blade bait (caught lots of algae but no fish) and a 3" Storm swim minnow (caught 2 small perch).
Then it started raining, gently at first, but soon a hard rain. Fortunately, I was near some overhanging trees and quickly paddled underneath them. I was not worried until I saw lightning and heard thunder 2-3 seconds later. I hoped that by sitting in my kayak under cover, I would not be subject to a lightning strike that hit the ground or the water surface. I must admit that I was relieved when the storm moved off a few minutes later.
Since the sky was now reasonably clear, I moved out into the open water and started casting again. Within 10 minutes, light rain started, so I stowed the rods and paddled back to the launch site. Just as I finished loading things into the van, the skies opened up again.
In summary, I had some good catches, I broke an excellent lure, and I dodged a lightning storm. That was more drama than I had planned on. I guess it serves as a good prelim for this weekend's weather events.
At one point, I caught three different species in 5 minutes. I started with a small perch, then got a tiny (5") rock on the next cast. When I got a strong bite on the third cast, I was hoping for a pickerel. Instead it was a 10.5" perch. The pickerel came about 3 casts later. At 20", it was the largest summertime pickerel I have ever landed.
The photo shows the pickerel hanging from my boga grip tool -- my arm was not quite long enough to get the whole fish in the picture. In the process of removing the hook from the pickerel's bony jaw, the business end of the hook broke off leaving me with a "neutered" hook. Sadly I took that lure off and looked for something else in the tackle box. I had not bothered to add any other of the good spinners in my onboard small tackle box. I tried a Cicada blade bait (caught lots of algae but no fish) and a 3" Storm swim minnow (caught 2 small perch).
Then it started raining, gently at first, but soon a hard rain. Fortunately, I was near some overhanging trees and quickly paddled underneath them. I was not worried until I saw lightning and heard thunder 2-3 seconds later. I hoped that by sitting in my kayak under cover, I would not be subject to a lightning strike that hit the ground or the water surface. I must admit that I was relieved when the storm moved off a few minutes later.
Since the sky was now reasonably clear, I moved out into the open water and started casting again. Within 10 minutes, light rain started, so I stowed the rods and paddled back to the launch site. Just as I finished loading things into the van, the skies opened up again.
In summary, I had some good catches, I broke an excellent lure, and I dodged a lightning storm. That was more drama than I had planned on. I guess it serves as a good prelim for this weekend's weather events.
It's pretty wild you've been seeing so many nice pickerel this summer. Hopefully, that bodes well for pickerel fishing this winter.
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