I might have found my "lucky fish" again

[J.A. Veil]

On Sat morning, I snuck out onto a Severn tributary for a short trip on my kayak. I soon caught a 20+" pickerel and a few perch. Half an hour later I had paddled around to the location where I had caught my 13.5" perch last January 1. This was the citation perch that eventually allowed me to win top prize in the Maryland Fishing Challenge (a Tracker bass boat). I noted at that time that I thought I had caught the same perch twice before. On all three occasions, the perch was caught in the same 100-ft radius area. I have never caught any other perch larger than 10.5" in that tributary. (In case it had not been properly noted on this forum, that prize-winning fish was caught from a kayak, as were the other two previous catches that I presume were the same huge perch).

The water level was very low on Sat, so I had trouble fishing the shallows. I cast to a spot just off a fallen tree and suddenly felt a strong pull and some aggressive swimming. From the way the line moved through the water, I assumed that I had another large pickerel on the line. As the fish neared the boat, it swirled near the surface. I got a glimpse of a silver side -- then the fish spit the hook. I never saw it again. I continued casting the area for a few more minutes, but I pretty much knew that I had missed the fish for today. But I also realized that where I hooked it was inside the same 100-ft circle. I think my buddy is there waiting for me to catch it again -- to be continued....

[Shady]

Maybe you should tag the fish if you are able to catch it again. That way you will know for sure its the same one each time you catch it.

You should also give the fish a name. Maybe Tracker would be appropriate or Jim since it was your Diamond Jim fish.

Looking forward to seeing a pic of your buddy soon this time at 14"!

[WST120]

John,

I'm looking forward to seeing a picture of your citation perch when you catch him!

Good luck!

[J.A. Veil]

Here are photos from the last three times I caught it. I did not have my Hawg Trough with me on any of the three occasions.

Jan 1, 2012




Oct 28, 2011




July 21, 2008

[chex]

That's great. Maybe he's measuring YOU every time you catch him and thinking "man this human does not grow! I'll eat him next time."

Way to catch and release and catch and release and catch and....

[kevinfry]

Same lure each time???

[J.A. Veil]

Same lure each time???

July 2008 - beetle spin with white twister tail

Oct 2011 - Strike King micro-king spinnerbait

Jan 2012 - live minnow

Oct 2012 - Gulp 2" minnow grub

Obviously this perch was not a discriminating eater.

[fishon81]

That is very cool. My friend and I fished a lot in our yaks over the summer and we tagged a 5in croaker and a 14in Red at the beginning of the summer and caught the croaker 3 more times and the red twice more. The red was 14.25 the last time we caught him and the croaker was 7.

[kevinfry]

July 2008 - beetle spin with white twister tail

Oct 2011 - Strike King micro-king spinnerbait

Jan 2012 - live minnow

Oct 2012 - Gulp 2" minnow grub

Obviously this perch was not a discriminating eater.

eating at the John Veil smorgasbord.... a veritable Golden Corral for perch!

[J.A. Veil]

That is very cool. My friend and I fished a lot in our yaks over the summer and we tagged a 5in croaker and a 14in Red at the beginning of the summer and caught the croaker 3 more times and the red twice more. The red was 14.25 the last time we caught him and the croaker was 7.

I never tried tagging or otherwise marking a fish then releasing it. Your success at re-catching the same redfish and croaker is quite remarkable. That is great.

As an aside, when I was in graduate school I worked one summer as a research assistant for a biology professor. He rented a cottage on the coast of Maine to study birds and insects. I traveled there twice for a week. He had me wear handball gloves and capture bumblebees in a meadow near the cottage. I then glued tiny colored and numbered tags on their backs. We kept records of how often we saw the same bees in a field and how many different flowers they visited. It was fun for two weeks, but that was about all I could have taken.

[fishon81]

Yeah, what would be really cool would be if I catch the same one next year or someone else catches it. It is a Green tag.