1/20 Tuckahoe Creek Pickeral

[eastonkayaker]

Loaded the kayak headed to Tuckahoe Creek today, when I arrived it was a little breezy plus I was short on time decided to fish from shore.

Caught several creek chubs, one was 14". Also caught the pickeral in the picture. Had another real nice pickeral on but didn't get him to shore. Fun to catch with 4lb test and 5.5 ft rod. I bought a Penn 2000 reel for pan fishing, I am really liking it.

[surfdog]

thats a nice pickeral, what bait did you use?

[eastonkayaker]

thats a nice pickeral, what bait did you use?

For that fish I was using a pink/white 1/8 oz jighead with nightcrawler.

The bigger pickeral went after the same jighead with a Berkely Gulp 2" minnow - Glow orange, first time I tried that bait, picked it up at BPS after M&G. Caught a lot of the creek chubs on the Gulp Minnow.

I really liked the action of the minnow in the water. Think it will catch a lot of other type fish also. Fish seemed to hit it hard and hold on.

[ictalurus]

Sweet. Nice fish. They're a blast on ultralights. I love seeing the V heading toward my lure.

[Yak Fish]

I've never got a pickerel before. Is there a good time for them or a specific way to target them? Are there areas that are known for holding them?

[eastonkayaker]

I've never got a pickerel before. Is there a good time for them or a specific way to target them? Are there areas that are known for holding them?

I have only caught pickeral in Tuckahoe Lake and Creek. Can catch them year round but they are a good winter fish to target, cold water doesn't seem to bother them and they are aggressive. As Bill said sometimes you can see the ripple on the water as they head for your bait. They will hide under logs, tree limbs etc. waiting to strike. I caught a really nice one last spring about 25", it was a very good fight on light tackle in a kayak.

They really like nightcrawlers and soft plastic worms. You have to keep the bait moving, in my experience won't bite anything standing still. Sometimes I will throw a blue/silver kastmaster, but gets expensive when I lose the lure trying to throw it close to places they might be hiding.

[ictalurus]

Like easton said, I've only caught them in the winter and spring. When Spa Creek held a lot of them, they seemed to prefer the sunny spots around docks and logs and the shallow areas near drop offs. I've also caught them jigging a bucktail (that's all that I had that was heavy) in St. Mary's Lake when I saw a group of suspended fish on my sonar. My go-to lures are 2-4 inch chartreuse or white grubs on 1/16-1/4oz heads, floating Rapalas, and spinnerbaits. Suspending Rapalas are supposed to work, too, but I don't have a lot of confidence in those.

[Capt C-Hawk]

I remember when I was a kid fishing with my father. The first frost in Oct. always signaled the start of pickerel fishing. They used to be everywhere, but we'd go to a select few places; South River in the Riva area, Nanjemoy Creek and Port Tobacco Creek in So. MD. South River was always my favorite, we'd fish from a rental skiff and concentrate on the Broad Cr and Beards Cr area. The air was always brisk and fresh, the summer color was gone from the water, and as mentioned there was the thrill of following the V trail coming at your spoon. There was only one "go to" artificial, the Daredevil spoon in red/white. The second choice was either a r/w shad dart or plain Mepps spinner, both tipped with a large bull minnow. Pickerel were the only game in town, along with a few yellow perch thrown in till the spring spawning runs started. My personal best pike came from Port Tobacco on Washington's Birthday in 1956 and weighed in at 4.5 pounds (got a Fishing in MD patch for that one).

Here's a link to the Daredevil, I'm sure it would still work.
http://fishtacklelures.blogspot.com/...daredevil.html

[DOGFISH]

I still use nickel plated Daredevils for blues and rock. Its a good spoon. They are still around. Of course, most of the pickerel went the way of the seaweed. When the seaweed went so did the health of the Bay. It is so sad. We all have those fond memories of the Chesapeake. In fact its a damn shame what has happened to the Bay.

[surfdog]

theres a good pickerel population in the magothy river around bushwood park and the bridge over the magothy (magothy bridge road) if you can find a spot to fish.

[jffoley]

Nice catchin' there!! Pickerel are really cool. I kept one about 8" in a 125gal fish tank years ago. So fast! Love the way they stalk their prey and then.. wham! So cool...

Daredevils are excellent. Really good for northern pike as well.

Hey Bob, a 4.5lb chain pickerel is impressive. Very nice.

[DOGFISH]

I always had the best luck with anything flashy. A larger Rooster Tail used to do the trick for me. The upper Choptank and Tuckahoe were hot spots. They can really be fun fish. Sometime the strike would occur like a flash. They can be vicious. Good fishing.

[DanMarino]

New and Never Caught a Pickeral

Hi Guys,

I'm new to the site and new to kayak fishing. My main focus will be fishing for smallies on the Upper Potomac and hitting the local reservoirs near my home. However, I'd love to figure out how and where to catch some pickeral. I live near Columbia, MD, so what direction do you think I should travel to find some water that isn't iced over that has them?

Thanks,

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[DOGFISH]

DanMarino, you can probably fish anywhere in Florida that you want, and you are asking about pickerel in Maryland??? Whats with that???

I would head to the Eastern Shore, Tuckahoe Pond, River and the upper Choptank. Your could even do some shore fishing at Red Bridges. You will be catching yellow perch and pickerel this time of year. For the pickerel use something flashy, like a rooster tail or a fast moving grub or tube.

There are some ponds on the Severn River that hold some pickerel, but it would be a long paddle. You could also explore the upper Little Patuxent and the ponds in that area.

By the way, where do you fish on the upper Potomac. I do some fishing above Harpers Ferry, in those slower river areas. I have done pretty well on smallmouth up there. I have even caught a few walleye. Its a great place to fish, even though the pressure has really increased in the past several years.

Good Luck.

[DanMarino]

Dogfish,

I've got a jon boat with a 20HP jet outboard and my son and I normally fish around Edwards Ferry and Whites Ferry. Sometimes if water levels are good enough we will fish around Brunswick and Point of Rocks.

There's some portions of the Potomac closer to Great Falls that we intend to fish this summer with the kayaks.

Thanks for the tip about Tuckahoe, we'll try to make it out there soon.

For quick evening trips we'll be hitting Triadelphia Reservoir and some of the small lakes around Columbia, MD.

Best wishes.

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