Late Season Paper Pickerel

Matt and I got out a few weeks ago at the tail end of Pickerel season and I'm glad we did. It was a rainy afternoon on the Severn and my second bite felt like a good one. It stayed deep as I brought it towards the kayak and then launched out of the water right over my net. I missed netting it 2 or 3 times, each time hoping that it wouldn't spit the hook. Finally, got it in the net and knew it was close to a citation. Sure enough once I put it on the measuring board it was exactly 24", my first citation pickerel!

 Photo credit: Matt Baden

We each caught a few more and called it a day. The bait of choice was live minnows on a light jig head.

Later in the weekend Dave, his buddy Denny, and I got out on the water to chase Pickerel for the last time this spring. They will be spawning shortly and it's better to let them do their thing in peace. Dave crushed it that day and caught about 8 pickerel to my one. I did manage to catch my first white perch of the year which came as a surprise that it was hanging out in such shallow water.

 It was cold day and we posted up on a secluded beach/ mud flat and started a nice fire to warm up. Overall, a great two days on the water.

Busy being crappy

Crappy fishing has been great this year even though the weather has been quite frustrating.

Potomac Blue Cats

The winter itch to hit the water has been bad recently with all the cold weather we've been having. I planned all week to get out in search of some fish and the next question was where and for what species? Stripers? Yellow perch? Pickerel? Catfish? Dave and I decided to give the potomac a try and it was the first time I had fished this section of the River. We launched from Jones Point Park under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and headed up to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. I was surprised at how shallow the Potomac is after you cross to the other side. At times it was so shallow in the middle of the river I could't use the mirage drive. Dave hooked up with a 23" Striper casting and shortly after I had my Shimano Baitrunner singing. I knew the fish was a decent size because it made some good strong runs and was giving me a nice fight. I finally got it yak side and got the fish grips on it. The blue cat ended up being 33.5" and was my biggest fish in a kayak to date!

After another hour we had each snagged a few gizzard shad on casts but had nothing else to show for our efforts. The storm they had been calling for all week to come in Sunday night started a little earlier than expected. With a steady rain coming down we made the trip back to the bridge to try for some cats around the pilings. Action was steadier at the bridge and I ended up with 7 cats.

Overall, it was good to get some pullage in between this cold winter weather.