My week of fishing

[get the net]

Got out monday, that was brutal with small craft conditions and high around 32. Water was freezing on the boat and rod guides. Only caught one small pickeral on an electric chicken BA.

Today, Friday got out with some coworkers, but they just couldn't figure it out. Between helping them I managed to catch two, a 17 and 19. We also lost one at the boat. One on storm, two on electric chicken BA. The bite was really turning on towards dark as the tide came high. But the darkness and ice pellets forced us in. A real miserable ride in, looks like I wont get out for a while with the cold fronts moving through.

I brought minnows on friday, clearly didn't know what I was doing because I didn't get a hit on them, how to you guys rig/fish them?

[get the net]

The first photo is from monday, he is not in the tourney, even though it's a small fish.
The second photo is bad, it's the best i have, I'm not trying to cheat you guys, call it what you want. The third is the almost 19. The forth is me with my biggest to date on my boat, same as pic 3.

[lfreed]

Way to go, Billy. Glad you got out, even if it was a bit frosty :)

We used minnows on friday... I simply took the plastic off a small road runner and a small beetle spin and replaced them w/ the minnows... seemed to work pretty good. We slow trolled and casted them.

Some guys say put it 3' under a bobber... haven't tried that yet but may have to now that the trolling motor is crapping out.

You may want to put the pics under the "fisherman of the month" thread so Rod will know which ones to add to the tournament board (It'll be easier for him to find everything if its all in one thread).

Hope you can get out again soon... Thanks for posting!

[J.A. Veil]

On my last few outings I have used a white 1/8-oz jighead with live minnows. I run the hook through the lips and cast the minnow as far out into the water as I can. Over the past two weeks, the pickerel have moved from 1-3 ft water near the shore to deeper waters.

As an anecdote, when I was fishing last Sun, I alternated between a rod with 12-lb test and one with 4-lb test. The lighter line cast about 30-50% farther, and I got a better hook-up ratio when the casts were out the extra distance.

Some guys fish minnows attached to the jighead along with a 3" - 4" plastic grub. This gives more motion and color to attract the sight-feeding pickerel. About 3 weeks ago I tried minnows with and without a grub in the same locations and the same day. At least on that occasion, I did better without the grub.

This is my first winter seriously targetting pickerel over an extended period. After getting some basic tutelage from Virgil, I have been able to make some useful obervations on my own.

Later this morning, Megabyte and I are going to brave the cold air to hunt some Severn pickerel from my shoreline hotspot. We will post our results later unless we stink up the joint.

[uncljohn]

As an anecdote, when I was fishing last Sun, I alternated between a rod with 12-lb test and one with 4-lb test. The lighter line cast about 30-50% farther, and I got a better hook-up ratio when the casts were out the extra distance.


John-

I assume you're rigged w/ mono? I have 1 combo rigged w/ 12# Spiderwire Fusion (6# test dia) and 1 combo rigged w/ 20# Suffix Superbraid (8# test dia). Those are my light rock/largemouth bass setups and give great casting distance and the sensativity of the braid in the cold weather, when a 'strike' might only be a tap, is good. I have had a few issues w/ wind knots w/ the Suffix, but none w/ the Spiderwire.

[Virgil Poe]

WTG Get the net. :) Like all other fish, they won't eat all day long and feed most on a moving tide. Still, ya keep at it and you'll pic one here and one there when things are slow.

Feb can be tough. Definetly time to scale down in size and a minnow will sometimes make or break yer day. :)

[Big E]

Nice Billy anytime your ready I'd be glad to show you how to fish minnows. Larry and I just learned ourselves.

-E

[get the net]

Yea, I've been tacking ppl from work, but now I need to get serious about fishing, as the time is running out. I'll give it a try as soon as my schedule and weathe comes together.

[uncljohn]

Nice Billy anytime your ready I'd be glad to show you how to fish minnows.
-E

Billy, you may want to reconsider that offer. I mean, do you want to learn techniques from someone with the 10th largest fish, or someone with THE largest fish? =:confused: You decide.....;)