A few Severn pickerel

[J.A. Veil]

I was traveling in the southern hemisphere for much of the past two weeks and did not fish at all. I was eager to get back out after the local pickerel. I picked up some minnows from Anglers and launched at Jonas Green about 1:30. I jigged the debris piles for a few minutes without success. The sonar did not show fish there. I proceeded to a tributary and began casting the minnows on 1/16-oz jigheads and retrieving the minnows like a lure. I was very optimistic after catching 4 pickerel in the first 20 minutes. The bite slowed down dramatically after that. I struggled for another 90 minutes to get 3 more pickerel. Most were 17" to 19", with one larger at 21.5". The air temp was just above freezing, and the water temp was in the upper 30s. My feet are still cold an hour after getting off the water.

Seven pickerel in an outing is my best performance of this year so far, but it is definitely off of last year's catch rate, when I had at least three trips with double digits. Hopefully the numbers of pickerel will pick up soon.

I hope to get out again tomorrow in the late morning to try some other locations.

[camelbird]

Nice work, John. Always feels good getting back in the yak

Do you know if Anglers sells minnows year round? Thanks

[J.A. Veil]

I don't know that answer. Just give them a call.

Do you know if Anglers sells minnows year round? Thanks

[Mark]

That's a good day, John.

Congratulations.

Will you forego lures for the rest of the winter for pickerel?

[Shady]

Thats similar to my outing sunday. Caught 3 in the first 15 minutes and took a little longer to find the rest. Did you go to the same spot as your last outing? Thats where I went Sunday

[J.A. Veil]

Thanks Mark. I will most likely stick with minnows for the rest of the season, unless I get the urge to try my 12 Fathoms plastics again. My top three fish so far were all caught on Buzz Tails.

That's a good day, John.

Congratulations.

Will you forego lures for the rest of the winter for pickerel?

[dson05]

My feet are still cold an hour after getting off the water.

I just noticed that they sell insole foot warmers (like the inserts for your shoes). I tried it out right before the snow came in on Saturday. I started the early morning hours with out them. The later put them into my boot. My foot wasn't cold at all and it wasn't as hot as I thought it would be like the hand warmers. It might have been cause of wader sock, but none the less my feet weren't cold, but not sweaty either. You might want to give it a shot. They come in different shoe sizes and run only about $3.

[Mark]

Thanks John.

I've read that in addition to vision pickerel rely on their sense of smell to locate food. Maybe that sense is heightened in colder water. Or maybe they notice the distress of the live minnow more so than the vibrations of a swim bait.

On the other hand, I may take my fly rod after them on my next outing and see if I can entice them with a Clouser minnow.

I'm not using a crank bait anymore. It's no fun removing treble hooks from a toothy mouth.

[kayak456]

Hi john, I have been using only a spinner and 1/8 ounce jighead and a small swim bait. I caught a bunch this weekend and I haven't used minnows yet this year, try these out , I use them in nc a lot and pickerel love them http://www.doalures.com/store/index....jerk-baits.cfm

[J.A. Veil]

Hi john, I have been using only a spinner and 1/8 ounce jighead and a small swim bait. I caught a bunch this weekend and I haven't used minnows yet this year, try these out , I use them in nc a lot and pickerel love them http://www.doalures.com/store/index....jerk-baits.cfm

Thanks Andrew. I have a bunch of lures like that made by 12 Fathoms -- Fat Sam mullets and Buzztails. I caught my three largest pickerel this winter on the buzztails. I believe that I get more attention from the fish when I throw live minnows.

[Turtle135]

Nice work John!

Have you been targeting Pickerel over the years long enough to notice peaks and valleys in the numbers of Pickerel in the Severn tributaries on a given season? I wonder if last was a banner year for numbers? The one time I got out there last season they seemed to be plentiful.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work John!

Have you been targeting Pickerel over the years long enough to notice peaks and valleys in the numbers of Pickerel in the Severn tributaries on a given season? I wonder if last was a banner year for numbers? The one time I got out there last season they seemed to be plentiful.

Dave -

There definitely are ups and downs in the populations of tidal pickerel in the Severn. Although pickerel can survive under brackish conditions, they are probably at the edge of their comfort zones. If there is some particular event that causes short-term changes to water quality (e.g., sewage spill or heavy thunderstorm after several weeks of drought that washes pollutants into the creeks), it can wipe out or diminish the pickerel population in one tidal creek. I started winter pickerel fishing in 2006. I fished mostly from the shore that winter and found lots of pickerel from the few places where I could get access to the water. Most of my fishing that year was in one particular spot in College Creek. I caught dozens of pickerel, including a few huge ones from that spot during the winter. I also found quite a few yellow perch in the same location. Sadly, after that banner year, I found very few pickerel anywhere in College Creek and almost none in the previously productive spot. The years 2007-2010 were pretty weak pickerel catching years in the various spots I fished, including Weems, College, and Spa creeks. I think I caught fewer than 10 fish the entire winter.

Then in 2011, I discovered some new areas and began catching pickerel steadily. I visited the spots where I had done poorly before and now could catch pickerel there (except for College Creek, which remained slow). During the summer of 2012 I caught more pickerel than I ever had before in warm weather. I did very well in the winter of 2012-2013 too.

So far this year, I have caught a total of 23 pickerel on 6 trips. By this time last year I think I had caught over 100 pickerel. Although I have three large pickerel so far (22", 23", 23"), my overall totals are way down. I have not heard of anyone else really banging the pickerel this year either. The more experienced anglers are getting a few each trip, but nothing like last year.

I do not have any great theory on why the catches are lower. The very cold weather we had in Nov may have caused the pickerel to move from their normal very shallow spots to medium depth spots two months earlier than normal. I can also report that I have seen very few minnows or other obvious bait when I have been out. There are more guys out there winter fishing now than a few years ago. To the extent that we as anglers catch pickerel and do not return them to the water quickly and in good shape, we are helping to diminish the population too.

I am done traveling for the next three weeks. I hope to get out several times each week and see if I can figure out where the pickerel are (which creeks, what depths, etc) and what they are interested in eating.

[Turtle135]

Thanks! Good info John. I really need to get over there in January, I have a fondness for all the members of that clan (Pickerel, Pike and Musky).