Tweet
The Severn River and its tidal creeks and ponds are my home waters. I fished in 9 different creeks and ponds on 10 trips so far during July. Since July 16, I did not target stripers and looked primarily for perch. On most of those trips of 2 to 3 hours, I worked very hard to find a few perch. Before this morning's trip, I averaged just 12 perch out of many casts each trip. I was glad to get out for short trips, but was not thrilled with the catching.
This morning, I visited a Severn tidal creek where I had not been since January 2 (and on that day I was skunked). During the first 20 minutes, I could not get a bite. Then I moved on to a stretch of shoreline that has produced in the past. Suddenly the perch were very interested. Once I left that shoreline -- no bites until I got to another short productive stretch (there were three productive stretches today). When I got home I used Google Maps to estimate the percentage of shorelines that I fished today that was productive. Only 20% of the shoreline produced perch catches, whereas the other 80% produced none. To my human eye, there was little difference between the hot shorelines and the cold shorelines. But there must have been something under the water that the perch liked. Most of the other creeks and ponds show a similar pattern. Learning which are the hot stretches takes some time, but can pay off. Here is a photo of one of the three productive stretches today.
2021-04-11-002.jpg
Given my recent perch catches, I was happy after reaching 10 perch, then 15 perch. But wait -- there's more! When the fish were not biting in one area, I kept and moved on to another area. During the first 2.5 hours, I caught and released 50 perch, some of which were over 10". In addition, I caught three pickerel. The first one was noteworthy because it is the second smallest pickerel I ever hooked (roughly 8" -- not even big enough to be called a hammer handle). 48 of the perch and 2 of the pickerel bit a Bignose spinner. 2 perch and 1 pickerel hit a 3" paddletail.
2021-04-11-001.jpg
I caught the tiny pickerel within 50 yards of where I had caught my personal best 24.5" pickerel last November. It is good to see that they are reproducing at that location.
As I worked well up into the head end of the tidal creek, I spotted what looked like a few pieces of lumber shoved up under trees on the sloped shoreline. Upon closer examination, this turned out to be a badly decayed hull of a large wooden boat. The old engine still sits in the middle of the hull. This was a pleasant historical surprise to add to a highly productive fishing trip.
2021-04-11-003.jpg
I finished up after 3 hours and was home in plenty of time for lunch.
This morning, I visited a Severn tidal creek where I had not been since January 2 (and on that day I was skunked). During the first 20 minutes, I could not get a bite. Then I moved on to a stretch of shoreline that has produced in the past. Suddenly the perch were very interested. Once I left that shoreline -- no bites until I got to another short productive stretch (there were three productive stretches today). When I got home I used Google Maps to estimate the percentage of shorelines that I fished today that was productive. Only 20% of the shoreline produced perch catches, whereas the other 80% produced none. To my human eye, there was little difference between the hot shorelines and the cold shorelines. But there must have been something under the water that the perch liked. Most of the other creeks and ponds show a similar pattern. Learning which are the hot stretches takes some time, but can pay off. Here is a photo of one of the three productive stretches today.
2021-04-11-002.jpg
Given my recent perch catches, I was happy after reaching 10 perch, then 15 perch. But wait -- there's more! When the fish were not biting in one area, I kept and moved on to another area. During the first 2.5 hours, I caught and released 50 perch, some of which were over 10". In addition, I caught three pickerel. The first one was noteworthy because it is the second smallest pickerel I ever hooked (roughly 8" -- not even big enough to be called a hammer handle). 48 of the perch and 2 of the pickerel bit a Bignose spinner. 2 perch and 1 pickerel hit a 3" paddletail.
2021-04-11-001.jpg
I caught the tiny pickerel within 50 yards of where I had caught my personal best 24.5" pickerel last November. It is good to see that they are reproducing at that location.
As I worked well up into the head end of the tidal creek, I spotted what looked like a few pieces of lumber shoved up under trees on the sloped shoreline. Upon closer examination, this turned out to be a badly decayed hull of a large wooden boat. The old engine still sits in the middle of the hull. This was a pleasant historical surprise to add to a highly productive fishing trip.
2021-04-11-003.jpg
I finished up after 3 hours and was home in plenty of time for lunch.
Comment