Magothy Chain Pickeral, Saturday, Nov 21

[Magothyman]

I looked forward to the nice-weather weekend after the windy, cold days earlier this week. Wanted to go and target chain pickeral in nearby Spriggs Pond. Put in at 9:30 am and was fishing 10 minutes later. First cast was a winner with a 14” pickeral, then nothing for over an hour. Then two quick catches and a few hits. The tide was very low and the water was very clear giving the pic’s no place to hide around the docks or fallen trees in the cove. I could clearly see the bottom in 3 feet of water. The first fish hit the pictured lure and the others hit a spinner I use for perch fishing.
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[LC3]

Thanks for report. The Lure looks interesting.

[Mark]

It's never good luck to catch a fish on your first cast.

Indeed tides are odd right now. I launched into the Severn yesterday supposedly on a high tide. The water was low but not as low as the interest by pickerel for my flies. I visited three creeks. I found willing fish only on one 20 foot section of seawall. I had 4 hits and two catches in the span of minutes. Then back to silence.

At least it was a nice day for a paddle.

[Magothyman]

Thanks for report. The Lure looks interesting.

The lure is a Truscend Fishing Lure with multi-jointed body. Sinks slowly but has a very authentic body-swimming motion to it. It was an impulse buy last winter on a cold day while I was dreaming about fishing and surfing the web for fishing stuff! This year I’ve caught perch, rockfish, and now chain pickeral with it. It has a little bit of weight to it so it casts well.

[Mark]

The lure is a Truscend Fishing Lure with multi-jointed body. Sinks slowly but has a very authentic body-swimming motion to it...

I visited the Magothy this afternoon -- Cockey Creek and Old Man Creek.

The tide was still odd. It was supposed to be high around noon but the water was several feet low.

The bite was slow just as it was in the Severn yesterday under similar tidal conditions. I had only 6 hits. Otherwise it casting practice during a nice paddle on two Magothy Creeks.

I boated 4 picks from the 6 strikes. They measured 17.5, 18.5, 18.5 and 20 inches.

Here is the largest:

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But mainly I wanted to share that flies I have been using for pickerel this fall are similar to Magothyman's lure in that they are articulated. They sink slowly and suspend in the water column on the retrieve. They wiggle life-like during the retrieve. In fact they turn sideways when I pause the strip. That is when they are most apt to get hit -- during the pause.

This one has a marabou tail:

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The one has bucktail for the tail:

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They each worked today for limited catches I had. You can see in their photos where they are jointed. Segmented (articulated) flies and lures are good choices.

I'll be glad when the tides return to normal. I suspect the strong winds we had last week pushed water from the Bay and it has yet to fully recover.

[mudskipper]

Where’d you put in?

[Mark]

Where’d you put in?

I was my son's guest at his community's ramp on Cockey Creek.

[DuffDynasty]

Very nice pickerel Mark. Now that the water temps have dropped in the creeks, pickerel are my next target species in the Magothy.

[Magothyman]

Went out Sunday, Nov. 30, again to Spriggs Pond. Caught 3 chain pickeral around the docks. As I went from one side of the cove to the other I trolled my pickeral lures behind me. After about 100 yards of trolling one rod bent over double and I pulled in a very feisty 14” rockfish! Made my day to catch one so late in the year up here.
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[Mark]

Went out Sunday, Nov. 30, again to Spriggs Pond. Caught 3 chain pickeral around the docks. As I went from one side of the cove to the other I trolled my pickeral lures behind me. After about 100 yards of trolling one rod bent over double and I pulled in a very feisty 14” rockfish! Made my day to catch one so late in the year up here.

Good for you Magothyman.

I was out Sunday on the Magothy upriver from you near Tar Hill Cove. The wind had kicked up beyond my liking by the time I launched at noon. The bite was almost non-existent. I had one and only one hit. It was a 23 inch pickerel on a streamer fly.

On Thanksgiving day in the same general area I caught 4 picks, each under 20 inches and a 12 inch largemouth bass. Again, on the fly.

Others I met on the water both days told me they had caught a few yellow perch. Yellow perch catches should become more prevalent in the weeks ahead.

The diversity of fish in the Magothy is impressive.

[Magothyman]

Even though it was chilly today, the flat water and little wind convinced me to launch and pickeral fish for a while. Tide was up which meant plenty of water around the docks. Caught three picks, the largest being just over 21”. Two of them followed the lure to within 5 feet of the kayak before getting hooked. With the water being very clear I was able to watch them stalk and then hit the lure—pretty cool. The lure I used had a little propeller on it and I added the plastic. I am going to cut the length of the plastic down—pickeral often grab the bait but wait a bit to inhale it (and the hook). I’ve lost a few recently by feeling the first hit and trying to set the hook—user error. With shorter plastic tail I’m hoping the fish will get hooked right away.
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[bignose]

That's one chubby pickerel

[Mark]

Magothyman,

The pickerel you caught clearly has been eating well.

The extremely low/somewhat erratic tides in our creeks of late sent me and some friends to an Eastern Shore pond yesterday on a pickerel search. Unless their dam is being repaired, Eastern Shore ponds never have a low tide. I like the predictability of their water levels.

It was a tough a bite for all in our group. The picks were tentative. But we boated a few.

I prefer to catch pickerel on the fly. As you've discovered, they do like a sizable meal. The fly I've been using of late is articulated which gives it an undulating lifelike movement on the retrieve. It's 4 inches long:

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Here's a pickerel I caught with the above fly yesterday:

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The pickerel is lip-hooked, as most are on this fly. Occasionally, they will take it deeper. I carry forceps for those instances for a quick safe removal of the fly.

Even though the fly is long at 4 inches, the hookpoint is is almost centered in the body of the fly due to the addition of the articulated head section of the fly.

Another lure I use for pickerel is a 3.5 inch paddletail:

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I use the above in warm weather when vegetation is thick and I cannot get a fly or my fly line through the cover. Note that the hook is also somewhat centered in the lure. Most of my catches with the above lure are lip-hooked.

So, it might be wise for you to reduce the length of your plastic trailer. But I think keeping it between 3 and 4 inches would be wise. I've caught pond pickerel on small bluegill flies. But that is the exception. I believe they like a bigger meal most of the time.

I hope to visit the Magothy again tomorrow or Sunday. The forecast is promising.

Continued success to you.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice going on the Magothy pickerel. I have fished in Severn creeks and ponds on 7 of the past 9 days. On most days I can catch close to 10 pickerel over a 2 to 3 hour trip. Yesterday offered pleasant temps, calm seas, but a lousy bite. I fished for three hours in three different tributaries. During that time, I had one bite but caught no fish. I really hate to get skunked, so I stayed out longer than usual and fished in a fourth tributary. Either I found the right spots or the setting sun between 4:00 and 4:30 got the fish more interested. I caught 3 pickerel in the final 20 minutes.

[Tim Elliott]

John-

I had the same experience yesterday. I fished from 2pm to sundown and all of the action occurred within the same timeframe. I managed to land 2 fish, but had one spit the hook as it went airborne, a rather large pickerel that followed my lure all the way to boat before dashing off, and one bite that came unbuttoned.

I tried 3 different coves in a Patapsco tributary where I’ve had success in the past, but it wasn’t until 4 pm in the third spot that the bite was on. I’m wondering if it’s the sunset that is their dinner bell.