Post Christmas Outing

[J. Rentch]

My friend, Mark Bange, and I visited a local eastern shore lake for a few hours mid morning to hunt for some Pickerel. We launched abt 10:30 to an overcast sky with air temps of 52 and water temps of 40. Both of us were using fly rods. I was throwing a Red/Yellow Bendback fly.
We spent the next three hours hitting the normal spots for Pickerel with little success. I did manage two from the same location. Around 1 we called it a day, frustrated with the lack of activity, but glad for another day on the water.
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[J.A. Veil]

Sorry they were not biting well. Several of my usually productive spots in the Severn have not done well for me during the past week either. The weather was pretty nice for late December.

[Mark]

"Lack of activity" is a kind way to say it. How about "no bites"! That was my day. I've caught no fish before. We all have that happen. But it's rare that I don't at least feel the tap of a mildly interested fish. Or in the case of a pickerel outing, see one follow my fly or lure and then turn away. I felt no taps and saw none.

John even called me over to share his productive spot. He must have caught the only two hungry fish in that location!

Thanks for the invitation to join you, John. There is always the promise of a catch on the next cast, or in my case, the next outing. We'll try again soon.

[Red_Beard]

I really feel like the pickerel have been hammered pretty hard the last couple years thanks to the CCA tournament. The number of participants has really grown, and everyone knows the best rivers and millponds to fish for them. I got skunked myself yesterday fishing out of Solley's, but I think that had less to do with the tournament than what appeared to be a brown tide in the creek. I didn't notice it heading out because there was a slight chop on the water, but it was dead still coming back in and you could see the brown algae plumes in the water.

[J.A. Veil]

I really feel like the pickerel have been hammered pretty hard the last couple years thanks to the CCA tournament. The number of participants has really grown, and everyone knows the best rivers and millponds to fish for them. I got skunked myself yesterday fishing out of Solley's, but I think that had less to do with the tournament than what appeared to be a brown tide in the creek.

I agree completely about the impact of multi-month winter pickerel tournaments (CCA, Severn River Rod and Keg Club, and others). In my opinion, lots of fishing pressure, combined with handling behaviors that maximize good photos for tournament entries, rather than fish safety, have stressed and/or killed many pickerel. Many spots located near popular kayak launch locations are not producing in late December the way they did in October and November. I continue to see photos on Facebook of anglers holding large pickerel vertically by a lip gripping device. This does not do the fish any favors. Continued use of treble hooks and drifting minnows under bobbers (may lead to gut hooking) contribute. We are our own worst enemy.

[Mark]

I hesitate to blame various pickerel tournaments completely for the slowdown in pickerel catches. I do agree that treble hooks can be damaging to all species and anglers too for that matter. I don't know about minnow fishing because I've never done it. I imagine a fish may indeed gulp down a live minnow. I do know that it's rare to gut hook a pickerel on the fly. Also, each of us can do better for the fish with safe handling techniques. I believe a net shortens the struggle for both the angler and the fish. I was a latecomer netting fish but I'm very glad I do so now. Another benefit I find in using a net is that pickerels often spit the hook as soon as I get them in the mesh. That leads to a very quick, no touch, fast release.

However, the very nature of our hobby is that even if we practice catch and release, and no matter how carefully we handle our fish, we are inadvertently going to harm some on occasion. It's an inner conflict I have. It hasn't made me stop fishing yet, but I do think about it. Maybe one day I will have enough of it.

I don't doubt that more people are fishing for pickerels, tournaments or not. More people are fishing period given the recent increases in fishing license sales. And kayak fishing is especially conducive to targeting pickerels. We know that fishing kayak sales have increased too -- a lot. However, I believe another factor may cause lower pickerel catches in December. I think it's a transitional month for them. Throughout December their vegetative cover is dying to the point where it mostly disappears, Their water is chilling fast during the month. I believe those changes alter their behaviors making pickerels a little more tentative and evasive until they adjust to their new environment. And they will. I do very well catching pickerels in true winter. Some of the most aggressive pickerels I have encountered have been in the crystal-clear frigid waters of mid-winter where no vegetation is present. I expect the same will occur this season.

[Red_Beard]

I will give the CCA tournament credit for banning the use of treble hooks in their tournament. You have to replace all of them with single hooks. I'm less worried about that than the extra fishing effort targeting pickerel that these events have inspired. For a fish species that already sees very cyclical recruitment, I feel like that added fishing pressure can have an inordinate impact on the fishery.

[Mark]

We anglers are an odd lot. We like to catch fish. We encourage others to fish via our participation on forums like this one and even by inviting folks on outings with us. But when we don't catch as many as we used to, we think the answer is overfishing. It's not just pickerels. For striped bass on the east coast, redfish in Georgia, and river trout out west, anglers are presently debating the potential effects of too many anglers pursuing those species. It's actually good for pickerels to be included in that discussion. Maybe readers of this forum at least, will be more careful in how they pursue and handle pickerels.

A few years ago, when tidal pickerels got very scarce, I queried the MD DNR. They had no concrete answer and frankly little concern. One DNR respondent reminded me, erroneously I believe, that a pickerel is not a significant cash generating fish for the state. I certainly spend money here to catch them. His point was that the DNR concentrates on species with higher economic value.

I believe Cliff is right. The pickerel spawn varies from year to year. Their population, especially in tidal water, is cyclical. I think that's the answer the DNR should have given me. But perhaps they didn't have the data.

I don't doubt that tournaments encourage more targeted fishing and more dead fish. I am strictly a catch and release angler. But I know some fish die shortly after they swim away from my kayak due to the stress or injury that I inflicted on them. That happens all year for each species I catch. Not just at tournament time. I don't like to think about that. Instead, I like to think that the money I spend on various state licenses annually and the excise tax we all pay on fishing gear helps to support fish conservation and clean water efforts.

The CCA is indeed a fishing organization foremost. But it also has a conservation component to its mission. Its tournament may dent the pickerel population, but I would hope not excessively in light of the other good work it does.

Now a truth in lending statement: I am a CCA member, but I am not competing in the CCA tournament. I am however participating in the Free State Fly Fishers pickerel tournament. That's a low key catch and release event with less than 10 competitors thus far, no entry fees and no cash prizes at stake.

Finally, as I stated earlier, my pickerel catches per outing typically decline in December from the numbers I hook in October and November. Perhaps that is due to my method of fishing, which is always with artificial baits, mostly flies. Or it may be due to the changing pickerel environment in December as I suggested earlier in this thread. Historically, my pickerel success increases later in winter. Is that because fewer people are fishing for them as winter descends on us? Maybe. But I met and chatted with numerous CCA and other tournament anglers on the water in November and I caught plenty that month. My point is that there are many variables linked to our successes and failures on the water. Rarely are we impacted by one thing alone.

[dsaavedra]

Pickerel fishing in the Severn has been finicky. 4 weeks ago at the start of December I had the best day of pickerel fishing I've ever had, catching over two dozen of them and getting countless short strikes and follows. 2 weeks ago I had a good day, I caught double digits but the action was noticeably slower than the prior trip. Yesterday and today I got exactly 2 bites on each trip... I landed none yesterday and landed 1 today. Maybe it's fishing pressure, maybe it's seasonal transition, but something definitely gave the pickerel lockjaw in a hurry.