Caught a few more picks in the severn

Hopefully the pickerel stay active for another month until the M&G.. Weems creek has been consistent, but I decided to fish College Creek today to change it up a bit.

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Other recent reports and some cool pictures at http://thehobielife.blogspot.com/

[jet]

nice fish! whats is the water temps out there?

[Goody]

Nice catches.

[J.A. Veil]

Matt texted me this morning to see if I wanted to join him in College Creek after lunch today. Matt launched before me --we met up in College Creek. We ended up fishing in two separate areas today that provided a striking contrast in the amount of bites. In one area, neither of us had a bite in an hour of casting to a variety of fishy-looking spots. Later we relocated to another area not too far away. What a difference -- in a bit more than an hour, I caught 7 pickerel to 19.5". Matt seemed to be a busy catching machine -- he had a bent pole almost every time I looked over in his direction. All of the fish in his photos came from the second area.

Other than getting out of the house on a pleasant February afternoon, we wanted to do some scouting for the March meet and greet. I hope to get out soon again and explore some other tributaries and spots.

Just as an aside, today's 7 fish brings my total to 195 pickerel caught in the Severn tributaries since Nov 1, 2012. There are plenty of pickerel in the Severn tributaries -- but they are not everywhere. This time of year, in particular, it takes lots of searching to catch more than a few fish.

[CB kayak 02]

nice fish! whats is the water temps out there?

I'd say low 40's

[Sidemadder]

Good going! Thanks for the post and pics.

[Shady]

nice! they all look like twins, been finding any big gals in the Severn? I want a paper pick

[J.A. Veil]

nice! they all look like twins, been finding any big gals in the Severn? I want a paper pick

Big Severn pickerel have been scarce this winter. I have caught 195 pickerel since Nov 1. Of those, I had three over 23", one at 21", and two others between 20"-21". Of all the 26 anglers entered in the SRRKC tournament, the only other pickerel entered so far (must be greater than 20") are 20", 21.75", and 22". I have hooked a few other large pickerel, but did not get them to boatside for a photo and measurement.

Just doing the math on my fish -- 6 fish over 20" out of 195 total fish = 3% of my catch is over 20".

I am fishing live minnows, most of which are 2" to 3" long. Perhaps someone fishing significantly larger baits could attract a larger pickerel -- I don't know the answer to that since I don't fish large baits in the winter.

[Shady]

Big Severn pickerel have been scarce this winter. I have caught 195 pickerel since Nov 1. Of those, I had three over 23", one at 21", and two others between 20"-21". Of all the 26 anglers entered in the SRRKC tournament, the only other pickerel entered so far (must be greater than 20") are 20", 21.75", and 22". I have hooked a few other large pickerel, but did not get them to boatside for a photo and measurement.

Just doing the math on my fish -- 6 fish over 20" out of 195 total fish = 3% of my catch is over 20".

I am fishing live minnows, most of which are 2" to 3" long. Perhaps someone fishing significantly larger baits could attract a larger pickerel -- I don't know the answer to that since I don't fish large baits in the winter.

hmm... Guess I've gotten pretty lucky to catch a 22.5" in only two trips in the Severn and a 22" in only one trip on the Magothy.

[J.A. Veil]

hmm... Guess I've gotten pretty lucky to catch a 22.5" in only two trips in the Severn and a 22" in only one trip on the Magothy.

Of course, there is the distinct possibility that you are a better big-fish fisherman than me.

[M_Duong60]

Has anyone eaten these? I wonder what it tastes like although I hear they have a lot of bones.

[AbuMasgouf]

Nice going Guys!!

[DanMarino]

No eating John's pickerels!!!!

[J.A. Veil]

No eating John's pickerels!!!!

Thanks. I'm glad to see that some have paid attention to my pickerel conservation suggestions.

[M_Duong60]

Well I wasn't planning on eating them! I was just wondering is all.