Pickerel Hunting

[J. Rentch]

Went Pickerel hunting with my friend-Mark Bange on a creek off the Severn River. We launched abt 9 AM to a very low water level, no wind, and warm air. I was throwing a Joe Bruce- Bullethead fly on my 7wt.
DSCF0047.jpg

I managed to land 9 Pickerel this morning, the largest was abt 21". All of my catches were in the shade, nothing in the sun areas. Mark landed more than me, will let him expand on that.
DSCF0046.jpg

I had an even larger one on the line, got it to the boat before the knot broke. The fish swam away with the fly in the corner of its mouth. So if anyone finds a yellow Bullethead fly, it's mine.

I switched to a Bendback fly later in the morning. Had several hookups, but the fish kept throwing the hook. I think the hook was too small for Picks. I finally offset the hook and got some hookups.
DSCF0054.jpg

We both left the water about 12:30.

[Mark]

You had a very good morning, John. That 21 incher put you on the FSFF pickerel contest leader board.

I had a good morning too. I wasn't expecting an active bite when I saw how low the water was. I prefer higher water for almost all tidal fishing.

The picks obliged if also frustrating us a bit. I got 14 into the boat but I know at least that many got off via long distance releases or boat-side as I tried to grab their slimy bodies or get the fish grips into their mouths. I see a net in my future...recommendations from Snaggedline readers are requested.

I got one on a bullethead darter that I had tied yesterday:

A.jpg

It looked so pretty in the vise. Notice how chewed up the fly was. That's because I had at least 6 or 7 hits on it before finally sticking a pickerel sufficiently to get the fly inside my Ultimate with the fish still attached.

Actually, John radioed the secret to me -- shade and intermediate line. I had been fishing in sunny spots because frankly, sometimes pickerel enjoy the sun. But today, they wanted shade. They also wanted flies slightly deeper than I could reach with floating line. So I switched tactics and the bite was on. At one point I caught 3 on consecutive casts, missed on the 4th but hooked up on the 5th. I also started using an articulated crystal bugger in lieu of the well-shredded bullethead darter.

Here are two on the crystal bugger:

B.jpg C.jpg

Now I didn't top 20 inches today like John. My largest was only 17.5 inches. But the little ones go airborne when hooked. That's fun. That's also when they're most likely to spit the fly back at you.

I brought two spinning rods today. I never touched them. Flies were doing the job just fine.

Also, I imagine these 15 to 17 inch picks I caught today were not spawned this year. I asked a couple where the hell they had been for the past three years but none bothered to answer. Their reappearance is good news and remains as much a mystery as when they vanished from tidal waters a few years ago.