I Think the Pickerel Headed South for the Winter

[deadlowtide]

What a lame Pickerel Derby. We got a few days in in early January before Old Man Winter had his way, and all we had to show were a could of chilly photos. Last week we got out a few days last week and have very little to show for our efforts. Kevin got a 20-1/2" and a nice shad for the leader board, and I caught a 20".

[27 sailfish]

First time in about ten years that I did not fish a single day in Feburary. No way to get the trailer past 3-5 foot snow piles.
Add in frozen ramps - 2010 was a bad a$$ winter.

Great you got out and found a few fish. Better then most of us could do - congrats.

[goose70]

Well, this winter sure humbled us, but at least you got something.

I tried one, last valiant effort casting from the banks of the upper-river yesterday afternoon. The only action I got was several instances of line taking off from the rod that had a live minnow/bobber combo. All three times, the fish got off (I suspect Y. Perch). The water looked nice, it was warm, tide was fine....not a single Pickerel strike or follow that I could see.

Given the weird weather this winter, it's way too soon to sound an alarm bell, but after two decent attempts at fishing what are usually the right places, and in nice weather, I'm getting a little nervous. John Page continues to see fairly salty water all the way up the river, which is odd given the amount of precip that we've had. Perhaps with so much precip as snow, it's melting into the ground rather than running off. That's good for the river for the most part, and might be part of the reason behind the very clear water, but it might not be so good for our salinity sensitive Pickerel. But who knows.

[Hookin-Up]

I did a little shore fishing with Pops in College Creek today looking for MR pickels but no bites in the time we were there... water was a little stained but 4-6" of visibility.

[attml]

You dirty rats! Congrats on catching any pickerel (even if it is a half inch bigger than mine :-) ) Definitely been a really tough winter!!

Mark

[mill686]

That's some fancy Yantzy fish.

[goose70]

Here's how nice the water looked a week ago in a cove off of Round Bay (wish it looked like this year round):




well....that didn't work. I still haven't figured out how to post pics; I want the old TF back