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  • Pickerel handling suggestions

    Many Snaggedline members have enjoyed fishing for pickerel in the local tidal rivers (Severn, Magothy, South) during cold weather months. The pickerel have provided some fun and good pullage when the other local near shore species were absent. The pickerel bite was reasonably predictable each winter until November 2016. At that point, pickerel became very scarce. As an example of the obvious decline, here are my pickerel catch totals for Nov and Dec over the past few years (all from the Severn tributaries).

    Year Nov Dec Total
    2013 13 48 61
    2014 42 58 100
    2015 50 81 131
    2016 a few 0 a few

    I have not started targeting pickerel this fall, but for the first time in a decade, I did not catch any pickerel during the summer months while perch fishing in Severn tributaries. I have heard from others fishing in different parts of the Severn and from the other two rivers that they noticed a significant decline too.

    With this unknown population decline as a backdrop, I would like to offer several suggestions if you do catch a pickerel. Hopefully these ideas can protect the remaining pickerel in our waters and allow them to reproduce next year.

    1) Unless you are desperate for some fish to eat, put it back. Practice careful catch and release.

    2) If this is your first pickerel or is larger than others you have caught, or if you think it may be a citation size (24"), feel free to take a photo. If not, consider releasing the pickerel quickly without taking time to lay it out on a measuring board and taking a photo. That flopping around and handling cannot be good for the fish.

    3) For most pickerel that I have caught, the hook is through the jaw but is not inside the mouth. If you grab the fish around the body behind the gills (not in the gills) -- like grabbing the barrel of a baseball bat -- you can control the fish long enough to slide the hook out with your fingers or pliers.

    4) If you fish live minnows, keep the minnow moving like a lure. Fishing a live minnow under a bobber allows the fish to get the minnow into its mouth and throat and requires a much more invasive release procedure.

    5) Consider getting a simple jaw spreader tool.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

  • #2
    Great Post John,

    appreciate the chart as well. This really gives us a good look of the decline.
    -TimH

    Perception Striker

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    • #3
      For me the easiest & best thing to do is hold the top of the head / skull so their body isn’t squeezed


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        John those are amazing #s and pretty much fall in line with my years went.. knocking their socks off to NOTHING basically.

        I have been once this year on the severn and only managed 3.. which is not good for the creek i was in.

        Im starting to think the water is too salty for our toothy friends
        Zach Moore
        Delaware Paddle Sports Fishing Team
        Fishal Custom Baits Pro Staff
        Bait Towel Pro Staff
        2017 Hobie Pro Angler 12
        YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSa...8WkC2WzHhAjVaQ

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        • #5
          Unfortunately I think the Severn creeks will be like 2016. The bay salt levels were high this year
          John
          Hobie Adventure Island 16'

          Slayer Propel 10

          Pelican Trailblazer ( don't hate , pond use only)

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          • #6
            A special thank you to John for this post.

            The population decline over the past 12 months has been obvious to those of us who target them.

            I did indeed query the MD DNR about it. I was a little surprised that that they did not acknowledge the decline. They cited only the positive relationship of SAV to pickerel numbers as the key factor in their population. My internet reading (northern states produce more info about them) leads me to believe that increased salinity played a role in their downturn here. And while I hate to think it, my own catch and release tactics during the good years and that of others may have contributed to their decline.

            John showed me how to grasp them years ago and that works fine for most of my catches. Also, he's correct that most are lip hooked. They rarely take a lure deep. I carry jaw spreaders in case they do. In fact, I find that my hook often comes out easily perhaps due to the bony jaw of pickerels. That's also probably why they sometimes spit the lure back at me during the fight!

            One thing I would add to John's list is to use a fish grip when your pickerel is 20 inches or more. (You can tell by the fight before you see them.) When they reach that size, I cannot get my hand around them because of their girth and their hyperactivity when they are out of the water. They're hard for me to hold. Instead, I slide my fish grips into their mouth at the side of my kayak and pop out the hook without removing them completely from the water.

            Unfortunately, these are tactics I have not applied for tidal picks in the past year. However, the good news is that they are still present in many Eastern Shore ponds...another reason I believe salinity as opposed to any other factor is cause of their decline in tidal waters.
            Mark
            Pasadena, MD


            Slate Hobie Revolution 13
            Hidden Oak Native Ultimate 12
            Lizard Lick Native Ultimate FX Pro

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            • #7
              I just read an interesting article from 2007 . About the earths rotation and how it changes the flow from the northern rivers to bring more fresh water into the bay . Along with lack of rain .. we’re getting both right now .. which is why the bay is saltier than ever .. pushing these fish north .



              https://www.chesapeakebay.net/news/b...nderwater_life


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
              Zach Moore
              Delaware Paddle Sports Fishing Team
              Fishal Custom Baits Pro Staff
              Bait Towel Pro Staff
              2017 Hobie Pro Angler 12
              YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSa...8WkC2WzHhAjVaQ

              Comment

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