Pickerel eventually cooperated at meet & greet

[Yak Fish]

I was also exhausted after fishing and doing some home repairs.

It started cold and windy when I got to the ramp at around 6AM as the sun was just peaking out. Chimo was already there unloading and shortly after a crew of yakers started pulling up. Anxious to get to an undisturbed cove, I headed off alone dragging a rapala which drew a 17-18" rockfish pretty quickly in about 7-8' of water. I pedaled into Manresa and got a bite on the rapala pretty quickly but it shook off and the same thing happened with a small plastic lure. So no pickeral for a couple of hours. JA Vail pulled into the cove with Rockchaser, at which point I saw Camelbird as well. The 3 of us had never gotten a pickeral and John was determined to help us get our first. He showed us some good spots, but no hits. He came back and said he'd gotten one to hit in about 1' of water. This gave me a clue so I headed to another shallow spot that I'd given up on, worked it slowly and got my first pickeral, 19". I caught it so close to the boat that I didn't get to experience a fight as it just kinda gave up.

The others were still looking for their firsts so John took us to another area. After a little work, we all had a fish. I got 2 more small ones there and a few that I missed. Rockchaser was fishing like a champ, casting from a standing position on his Hobie. I told him that if he falls in, he's on his own I enjoyed fishing with those 3 guys. I also learned some things from them so I'm leaving the M&G with some new friends and a better fisherman. Thanks guys and especially John for showing us the ropes.

[ictalurus]

I launched around 7 and started off at the spot John and the others ended up at later. Wayne eventually joined me, and we worked our way around the shoreline several times. I picked up five pickerel, ranging from 9.5 to 16.5", all on my firetiger Rapala:





I couldn't buy a bite on soft plastics, which was weird. All my fish were caught by casting into the middle of various woody debris. The Rapala rigged with single hooks is surprisingly snag-free.

Around 10, or so, we decided to head upstream into the howling wind. We stopped for a break at Weems Creek, where we saw Chexone. Given his lack of luck and John and Ed's report from a few weeks ago, I didn't stick around long. I was going to head to the Cove of Cork but didn't feel like fighting the wind for an uncertain outcome. I headed to Manresa and ran into John and the guys who updated me on the lack of action there.









I hit the usual spots with the Rapala and Storm Shad. I had a bunch of small followers at one spot, but none of them would commit. They would eye the Rapala on the pause, so I tried drop-shotting (drop-shooting?) small plastics but didn't have any luck. I wish I had rigged a Husky Jerk or X-Rap with single hooks because I think that would've been really effective. Sun came into the cove a little later, but I didn't have any useful info.



We were tired of dealing with the wind and not having any hits, so he and I headed back a bit before noon.

Lunch at Griffin's hit the spot. I definitely recommend the cheese steak. It was good catching up with all the guys I haven't seen in a while and putting some new faces to screen names. I hit a small pond on the way home that gets stocked with trout and managed to scare up a couple snack-sized fish to round the day out. It was a pretty good day all the way around.

[Yak Fish]

I was very close to stopping off for some trout too, to make it a 3 species day. I was too wiped though. Getting up at 4AM was too much for me

[camelbird]

Finally awoke from the coma I put my self in yesterday. Yakfish checked his GPS when he was heading back to the ramp and it read about 6 miles or (?). I ended up doing one more trip back up river, so maybe about 8 miles total - beat.

It was awesome seeing / meeting you guys! Great group of fisherman.

Caught my first kayak pickerel thanks to John! You are the man, thank you

Rockchaser, Yakfish, John, it was great fishing with you gentlemen out there.

7 total pickerel for the day, biggest about 17"(est), all on a micro spin spinner and a suspending twitch bait. All released healthy and unharmed.

[kayak456]

ur catching crappie and sunfish and catfish in the severn??

[J.A. Veil]

ur catching crappie and sunfish and catfish in the severn??

Short answer -- not in this part of the river at this time of year.

[J.A. Veil]

7 total pickerel for the day, biggest about 17"(est), all on a micro spin spinner and a suspending twitch bait. All released healthy and unharmed.

Nice work! You struggled to get that first one, but you must be a fast learner to get 7 in a day. That is a decent outcome for anyone -- but especially for a rookie pickerel angler. Did you get all of them in the cove where I left you?

[camelbird]

That first one was tough no joke. I caught a total of 5 in that cove, 2 more when I went back to where we started. Yak Fish said that the water temp jumped 4 degrees - maybe that's why they turned on later?

[chex]

ur catching crappie and sunfish and catfish in the severn??

Nah, we drove across the bridge to Tuckahoe Creek which is a Choptank tributary. Tide was really low, but we managed to get some miniature pullage. Only Rock and Pickerel in the Severn this time around. I was really happy to hear Yak Fish and MagothyMan caught some rocks.

Yak Fish, we may have caught the same pickerel . My first too. My experience was a bit different though... I actually thought I was snagged for a good 15 seconds before I started feeling head shakes and realized I had a fish. Got a good fight out of him. Fun fish.

[CB kayak 02]

Who caught the rock?

[chex]

Who caught the rock?

Yak Fish and MagothyMan each got one I believe. Trolling...

[Yak Fish]

Yah, I got one trolling on the way to the cove. From the sound of it, doing so was not common right now. I marked some fish off the drop off to Manresa cove which had rockfish written all over it, but I was there for the pickeral.

I also marked some fish at the old bridge. The guys were right, there are lots of things going on under there. I left camelbird to jig and I went home.

Getting that first fish was nerve wracking. For awhile I didnt think it was going to happen.

Again, very happy to share the experience with you guys.

[Yak Fish]

I had about 45 degrees in the main stem, 47 degrees at the bottom of the cove and 50 degrees in the upper shallow section. The fish seemed to be in the warmer shallows.

[J.A. Veil]

I'm glad that yesterday produced lots of pickerel for the MKF crew. Today was a different story for me. I fished Weems Creek (8 spots where I have previously caught pickerel) and Cove of Cork (in areas that were loaded with small pickerel two weeks ago). I did not get a single bite in nearly two hours of fishing -- my first Severn skunk of the winter.

To add financial loss to my bruised ego, I managed to get my Android phone (in a plastic baggie inside a jacket pocket) completely wet. When I discovered it just a few minutes after the first wetting, the phone was dead. I wiped off the battery and tried to start the phone -- no power.

When I arrived home, I did a quick rinse with freshwater, patted it dry, and set it on top of one of my heating grates on the carpet. Popular Mechanics suggests placing it in a bag of rice grains overnight to absorb more moisture. I have not written it off yet, but suspect I will need to spring for a new phone.

[ronaultmtd]

Life proof makes a completely waterproof case, John. Guaranteed to 33 feet...I have one for my IPhone 4S and it is nice...