Chain pickerel in the Severn?

[dsaavedra]

Usually when I fish the Severn I launch at Tucker Street and stay in Weems Creek, or fish just outside the mouth of it. I don't usually venture past the Rt 50 bridge over the main river. I've caught a handful of pickerel in Weems upstream of the bridges, usually on accident while perch fishing, but with the water getting cold I want to target pickerel specifically. I just got a new Hobie Outback which I'm hoping will expand my range a bit, so I'm interested to explore some of the nearby creeks around Weems. Do any of these creeks hold good numbers of pickerel? I'm not looking for specific spots, just trying to get an idea if any of these areas are even worth visiting.

[Mark]

Short answer: Yes.

[J.A. Veil]

As Mark said, "Yes". Without divulging any specific hot spots, I've caught pickerel this summer and fall in about 11 different tributaries I can reach from Severn River public kayak launches in my paddle kayak. Not all tributaries are as productive as others, and not every stretch of shoreline is as productive as the next one. There is little substitute for spending time on the water and seeing what you find. This morning featured strong winds, cold air temp, and very low water level after several windy days. The fish were not where they normally are, and were not even where I anticipated they would be. I had no bites for the first hour while working shorelines I know to hold pickerel. Over the final 45 mins, I found three pickerel (one each on a paddletail, small crankbait, and red and white spoon). Other than those three fish, I had almost no other bites. It was a tough morning, and I was glad to finish up and get warm.

[mudskipper]

The best way to decide if a spot is likely to have higher numbers of pickerel is to look at the probable salinity of the creek.

Use satellite views from a Bing or Google to look at the creeks arms and ponds off the main river. Creeks that have large watersheds feeding them, with constant freshwater inflow creeks, are going to have lower salinity than the main river. Pickerel tolerate brackish water ok, but they ARE freshwater fish, and as the salinity goes up, the numbers of pickerel in that area goes down.

The two things I look for are incoming freshwater, in the case of creeks, and a narrow, shallow mouth/inlet when it comes to ponds.

Brewer Pond, for example, on the west shore of the river, just south of Round Bay, is perfect pickerel habitat. The mouth of the pond is narrow and shallow. And it has a creek coming in. So it basically acts like a freshwater lake attached to the brackish river. Old Place Creek is another example. Small, shallow mouth, with deep water inside the sandbar at the entrance.

Maynadier Creek is an example of a creek arm with constant freshwater inflow coming from Deep Ditch Branch, which drains a sizable watershed.

Look for fresher water, and you’ll find more pickerel in the winter. Pickerel aren’t picky about temps, so they’re fine staying up in the colder creeks and ponds, when the perch have all left for warmer deep waters in the main channel.

Old Place Creek is fascinating to me. I was fishing there about 20 years ago one summer, and in about two hours, fishing at the mouth of the creek on an outgoing tide, I caught one or more of: white perch, yellow perch, croaker, spot, puppy drum, speckled trout, rockfish, crappie, pickerel, largemouth bass, three different types of sunfish (green, bluegill, pumpkinseed) channel cat, brown bullhead, carp, eel, and toadfish. 18 species of fish, from an area no bigger than a tennis court. I’ve never before or since caught such an incredible variety of fish in the same place. If 3 fish species is a slam, then I dunno what you call 18 species. But they were all there, all feeding on an outgoing tide at the drop-off at the sandbar outside the entrance to the creek.


The biggest problem with fishing the Severn in winter is access. Smiths Marina’s ramp is closed for the season now. So there’s no close access to these upper creeks and ponds around Round Bay. The only way yo get up there is a very long paddle up from Jonas Green Park - a long way, over very cold water. That’s a little outside my own personal risk envelope.

I’d love to make the acquaintance of someone who lived in Sherwood Forest, since their small boat launch sits directly on one of the best pickerel spots on the whole river....

[Mark]

One of the things that has surprised me this fall in catching tidal pickerel is that I have observed jellyfish in the various creeks I have fished. Supposedly, jellyfish prefer higher salinity and higher water temperatures. Our water temperatures probably were higher than normal in early November so that could account for their presence. But not now. Water temperatures are in the 50s. Even last Sunday on my last tidal outing, I saw jellyfish in the upper reaches of the Magothy.

As Mudskipper noted, pickerel do not like salinity. Perhaps their scarcity in our tidal creeks in recent years was due to higher levels of salinity. We don’t really know. Thankfully, they are back and at the moment they are swimming in waters with salt-loving jellyfish. I have caught them this fall in creeks and tidal ponds of the Severn, the Magothy, and the Patapsco Rivers. They’re probably in other Chesapeake river systems too.

Their willingness to bite in these creeks varies from day to day and even hour to hour. I think there is a magical dinner bell that is rung that turns them on. It rings again to turn them off. I say that because my catches often come in bunches in multiple areas after long periods of inactivity in spots that I know from experience hold pickerel. Then the bite stops as suddenly as it started. I have noticed that same tendency when I fish for them in Eastern Shore ponds.

So, pickerel can be moody. You may have to search for them with many casts in the likely spots mentioned by John and Mudskipper in this thread unless you happen to be in precisely the right location when their dinner bell rings. Then it’s lots of fun while it lasts. You may even begin to think you're quite an angler. But give them time and the pickerel will humble you again.

[mudskipper]

I think we’ve had several good (meaning lots of rain and fresher water in the creeks) years for pickerel spawns. As long as the salinity gradient is low enough in the late winter when they spawn, it gives the young pickerel enough time to get started. Dry springs where the salinity goes up fast in the summer are bad years for pickerel in the next season.

The good part is, pickerel grow insanely fast. In good habitat an 18” fish is usually only 2 years old. A 30 inch fish is likely only 3 or 4 years old.

The bad part is they are not long lived fish. 6 or 7 years, tops. So their populations are subject to extreme fluctuations if you get two bad spawning seasons in a row. That can remove 50% or more of the population just in 2 years.

Right now we’re in a boom time for them because of the wet springs the last several years. But that will change eventually when we get a dry year. They’ll rebound again quickly though.

I used to keep a pet pickerel in a 110 gallon aquarium. I’ll say this from having observed it daily for almost 2 years - they are NOT intelligent fish. Not by a long shot.

I’ve kept lots of other natives, mostly of the bass and sunfish varieties. Those species are wayyyyyy smarter than pickerel. They can recognize a person, be conditioned to feeding and behavior training, etc. much the same way goldfish or cichlids can be trained and imprint on their caretakers.

Not pickerel. They never “learn” to recognize their caretaker, or expect feedings at a given time. They seem to have very little capacity to identify people or patterns or outside stimulation that other types of fish seem to.

Striped bass, white and yellow perch are similar, but not quite as “dumb” as pickerel. But the sunfish and bass are definitely the smartest kids in class.

[CaptCHawk]

I used to keep a pet pickerel in a 110 gallon aquarium. I’ll say this from having observed it daily for almost 2 years - they are NOT intelligent fish. Not by a long shot.

I’ve kept lots of other natives, mostly of the bass and sunfish varieties. Those species are wayyyyyy smarter than pickerel. They can recognize a person, be conditioned to feeding and behavior training, etc. much the same way goldfish or cichlids can be trained and imprint on their caretakers.

Not pickerel. They never “learn” to recognize their caretaker, or expect feedings at a given time. They seem to have very little capacity to identify people or patterns or outside stimulation that other types of fish seem to.

Striped bass, white and yellow perch are similar, but not quite as “dumb” as pickerel. But the sunfish and bass are definitely the smartest kids in class.

Almost sounds like you're describing cats and dogs. You can sure train a dog, but a cat, not so much. Those cagey pickerel are probably laughing at those dumb bass jumping through hoops, while they wait for a chance to pounce on an unsuspecting suspending jerk shad.

[Mark]

Almost sounds like you're describing cats and dogs. You can sure train a dog, but a cat, not so much. Those cagey pickerel are probably laughing at those dumb bass jumping through hoops, while they wait for a chance to pounce on an unsuspecting suspending jerk shad.

Pickerel will closely study a lure or a fly by following it during the retrieve and then suddenly turn off. Most of the other fish I target in my kayak do not have that degree of self control once they're locked on to a target. I give pickerel credit for that. Cagey is a great word to describe them. Besides that, they beat us more than we beat them in our efforts to catch them. If they're so dumb, what does that say about our intellect?

[dsaavedra]

Some really great discussion points brought up here. Thanks for the tips!

I went out with a friend yesterday and we managed to catch 5 pickerel (and had a few follows/lost fish) in one of the creeks accessible from Tucker Street. The pickerel seemed to be relating to woody structure and laydowns in the shade. The tricky thing was, the tide was so low a lot of the laydowns were 2 or 3 feet above the water!

Looking forward to getting back out there and exploring some more creeks... and dressing warmer next time!