Pick Pic Report 12/8

[Shady]

Caught 5 on the Severn today and took pictures of 4. Biggest was a fat 22.5". Smallest was maybe 15" (didnt measure)

[J.A. Veil]

Nice going. I'm glad to see you found at least one larger fish. I am catching plenty of sub-20" pickerel, but only one larger (21") during the past month.

I fished for several hours this morning out of Jonas Green. I caught 5 pickerel in one tributary and 3 in a second one. The bite was not fast this morning, but I did enjoy the higher water level and the slick calm conditions.

I spent a few minutes jigging over the Rt 450 bridge debris and the old railroad bridge debris. I continue to see what appears to be fish hanging above the debris piles, but I cannot get even a nibble. I have been jigging a 6" BKD. I assume that even perch might nip at that occasionally.

[Shady]

John, thought that was your van at Jonas Green right next to my car. I fished only in the one cove for pickerel and caught all the fish along one shoreline. I jigged both old bridges for a couple of hours too, but no luck. It sure was flat calm out there.

[Shady]

Got out again this morning and caught 8 in Weems. Today, most of the Picks were on the smaller side (some really small), the biggest was 18.5

[chex]

Nice going Ryan! Live minnows or lures?

[Shady]

most on live minnows on light jighead, but I i did miss one on the minnow and tried a follow up cast with a small yellow inline trout spinner and got him on that.

[J.A. Veil]

Good work Ryan. I may slip out for a few hours this afternoon.

[J.A. Veil]

Ryan outcaught me today. I managed just 6 pickerel in Weems this afternoon -- all on minnows. The water was slick calm, and the water level was higher than average. With those six today, I have caught 97 pickerel in the Severn since Nov 1. Hopefully I will go over 100 on my next outing. I am still looking for some larger ones, though. A guy posted on Tidalfish that he caught a 26" pickerel in the Magothy yesterday. He did not show a picture of the fish next to a measuring device, however, so I remain skeptical.

At the ramp on the way out, I talked to a local woman in her 80s. She admired my kayak and told me that her father had made a kayak for her out of barrel staves when she was young. I could tell her mind was thinking back to her younger years. A second woman (not as old as the first women, but still at near senior status) came out and told me that she had a kayak too, but it was too heavy for her to handle anymore. I mentioned how small and light my Malibu Mini-X is. Any time I can spread some good will with the local residents on Tucker St, I try to do so.

[tufnik]

Nice work, guys. Are they tasty enough to take home?

How are the striper bites there?

[chex]

With the air temps where they were, I wished several times today that I was out on the water... it's great that you can get out and fish during the week and entertain us with the reports.

Watch out for Ryan... he came within less than an inch of breaking your Pickerel record with his 22.5"er on saturday! As for the quantity record, i think you're safe.

Glad to hear the pickerel are out in force again this year!

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work, guys. Are they tasty enough to take home?

How are the striper bites there?

Regarding eating pickerel, I have never done it and probably never will. I prefer to release them and catch them again on another trip. The Severn pickerel population is non-migratory and somewhat limited -- each fish removed from the population reduces the number of fish left to get caught again.

From what I have read, they have a complex bone structure that makes them difficult to clean.

Regarding stripers, last year about this time, there were stripers on various debris piles near Jonas Green. I have targeted them repeatedly this fall and have not had even one bite. However, on two occasions last month, I was fishing with other guys (Reelaxin and <mike>) when they caught keeper sized stripers there. Keep in mind that Maryland's rockfish season ends on Sat. After that you can catch but cannot keep until spring.

[Shady]

I'll admit that I have taken a couple of pickerel home, and they are not bad to eat, but kind of a pain to clean because of their Y bones.

My prediction on the Striper is they will show up over the debris piles when the season is over. Last year, we caught them at the end of December.