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Last winter the pickerel were very abundant in the Severn creeks and coves. That was a lot of fun for many local anglers. My experience of fishing the Severn frequently for the last decade is that pickerel are not so hard to find in the winter, but rarely get caught in the warmer weather. My pickerel mentor, Virgil Poe, once told me he thought that in the warm months there is so much natural food that a good predator like a pickerel is less likely to get fooled by a lure. Virgil's wisdom has been on target -- at least until this summer.
I have caught at least one pickerel on every second or third Severn perchin' trip since late spring. Most have been the abundant young pickerel we caught by the dozen last winter (12" to 15" long). I caught most of my winter pickerel on live minnows, but all the summer pickerel have fallen for artificials. I did find two 18" specimens earlier this summer.
This afternoon I had a fun paddle around Weems Creek looking for perch and relaxing a bit before a 4-day business trip starting tomorrow. I caught 25-30 perch on various spinner lures. The hot lure today for perch was one of Woody's feather jig spinners in the 1/8-oz size. Toward the end of the trip, I was thinking of working one last stretch of shoreline before heading home. I switched over to an ultralight rod with a 1/16-oz green spinnerbait made by MKF member Bignose -- he gave me a few of his creations last winter to try (they work just fine, thank you). I cast out and thought I was snagged on a submerged branch. Then the fish began to move -- initially it felt like just another 9" perch. Then it must have felt the hook because it took off back and forth, giving the slender rod a real workout. I eventually got the pickerel to the side of the kayak. I tried to get a gripper into its mouth, but ended up just grabbing the lure and lifting the toothy creature onto my lap (with suitable care of the nearby sensitive body parts). Once onboard, I laid the big pickerel onto my Hawg Trough to measure him. It is not easy measuring a long fish when you have one hand pinning the fish to the measuring board and the other holding the camera. My arms were almost not long enough to get the whole body in the photo. The fish measured out at 22-1/4". This is by far my largest ever summertime pickerel by more than 3 inches.
I talked to some anglers a few weeks ago who had caught a very large pickerel in Weems. I know where they caught theirs -- mine was caught nearby. I suspect it was the same fish.
I have caught at least one pickerel on every second or third Severn perchin' trip since late spring. Most have been the abundant young pickerel we caught by the dozen last winter (12" to 15" long). I caught most of my winter pickerel on live minnows, but all the summer pickerel have fallen for artificials. I did find two 18" specimens earlier this summer.
This afternoon I had a fun paddle around Weems Creek looking for perch and relaxing a bit before a 4-day business trip starting tomorrow. I caught 25-30 perch on various spinner lures. The hot lure today for perch was one of Woody's feather jig spinners in the 1/8-oz size. Toward the end of the trip, I was thinking of working one last stretch of shoreline before heading home. I switched over to an ultralight rod with a 1/16-oz green spinnerbait made by MKF member Bignose -- he gave me a few of his creations last winter to try (they work just fine, thank you). I cast out and thought I was snagged on a submerged branch. Then the fish began to move -- initially it felt like just another 9" perch. Then it must have felt the hook because it took off back and forth, giving the slender rod a real workout. I eventually got the pickerel to the side of the kayak. I tried to get a gripper into its mouth, but ended up just grabbing the lure and lifting the toothy creature onto my lap (with suitable care of the nearby sensitive body parts). Once onboard, I laid the big pickerel onto my Hawg Trough to measure him. It is not easy measuring a long fish when you have one hand pinning the fish to the measuring board and the other holding the camera. My arms were almost not long enough to get the whole body in the photo. The fish measured out at 22-1/4". This is by far my largest ever summertime pickerel by more than 3 inches.
I talked to some anglers a few weeks ago who had caught a very large pickerel in Weems. I know where they caught theirs -- mine was caught nearby. I suspect it was the same fish.
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