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I had been catching pickerel consistently in a Severn River tributary from mid-November until Decenber 3 using various spinner baits and Gulp baits. I had not fished for nearly two weeks when I headed back to my spot last Thurs. That day I had no bites during an hour and a half of casting. That was a signal to me to switch to my winter pickerel mode -- live minnows. They definitely produced today.
I picked up some live minnows at Anglers on Friday. (Note: I tried another tackle shop first but they had no minnows in stock -- if you want minnows it may be a good idea to call first). I launched my kayak this afternoon from a mid-Severn launch spot and paddled a while to reach my pickerel spot. I hooked a frisky minnow on a 1/8-oz jighead and cast it out using a 6' ultralight rod. I had no action on the first four casts, but after that things picked up. In just under two hours, I hooked 13 pickerel and landed 7 of them up to 23-1/4".
I had several other bumps that never hooked up. The pickerel have relocated from some of the locations where I had caught them just a few weeks earlier. The water temperature was in the mid-40s, which slowed down most of the fish. Two of the fish must have had caffeine recently as they jumped out of the water and gave me a tail-walk. At the end of the two hours, my hands had gotten so cold, I could barely hook a new minnow on the jighead and reluctantly paddled back to the launch spot.
When I had launched two hours earlier, I met Chimo returning to the park. He told me that he had found both perch and rockfish on some nearby structure (Chimo - nice to meet you and thanks for the tip). I could not resist the temptation to stop and try a drift or two over the same structure where he had fished. I was not really rigged well for jigging in >20' depth, but used the light jighead and a lightweight 5'6" rod that I had onboard. To my delight, I hooked something strong on the first drift. It turned out to be a fat 21.5" rockfish. All fish today were quickly returned to the water. I made a few more drifts but had no more action.
I picked up some live minnows at Anglers on Friday. (Note: I tried another tackle shop first but they had no minnows in stock -- if you want minnows it may be a good idea to call first). I launched my kayak this afternoon from a mid-Severn launch spot and paddled a while to reach my pickerel spot. I hooked a frisky minnow on a 1/8-oz jighead and cast it out using a 6' ultralight rod. I had no action on the first four casts, but after that things picked up. In just under two hours, I hooked 13 pickerel and landed 7 of them up to 23-1/4".
I had several other bumps that never hooked up. The pickerel have relocated from some of the locations where I had caught them just a few weeks earlier. The water temperature was in the mid-40s, which slowed down most of the fish. Two of the fish must have had caffeine recently as they jumped out of the water and gave me a tail-walk. At the end of the two hours, my hands had gotten so cold, I could barely hook a new minnow on the jighead and reluctantly paddled back to the launch spot.
When I had launched two hours earlier, I met Chimo returning to the park. He told me that he had found both perch and rockfish on some nearby structure (Chimo - nice to meet you and thanks for the tip). I could not resist the temptation to stop and try a drift or two over the same structure where he had fished. I was not really rigged well for jigging in >20' depth, but used the light jighead and a lightweight 5'6" rod that I had onboard. To my delight, I hooked something strong on the first drift. It turned out to be a fat 21.5" rockfish. All fish today were quickly returned to the water. I made a few more drifts but had no more action.
Trying to catch up on all the posts since I was last on, you guys have been busy.
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