2012 - Year of the Pickerel

Up until 2011, I'd never caught a chain pickerel. Well, that all changed when I discovered a local river that's loaded with them. I caught many pickerel in 2012, including two trophy fish. I caught them on buzzbaits, rattletraps, minnow lures, bettlespins, spinnerbaits, and inline spinners. They're an aggressive fish and very fun to catch, but have your grips handy to avoid those teeth! Here are a few of my favorite pickerel photos from 2012 ...

Trophy 4.25 lb pickerel caught trolling a cordell spot


Caught on a rapala x-rap


Caught on a black buzzbait


Caught on a spinnerbait


Caught on a rapala J-9


Trophy 4.25 lb pickerel, caught on a Rebel Minnow

Quick Departure

I've been working in the Tarpon Springs, Fl area over the last few months, making trips every few weeks. A friend and co-worker has a nice flats boat and we managed to get out one afternoon for some fishing. Wind was blowing pretty steady and we threw plastic paddle tails on jig heads looking for sea trout as the wind blew us over the shallow flats. We caught a variety of fish: trout, sea bass, mackerel, and the obligatory pinfish. It was a good day and once I hope to repeat several times over the next year.

December on the Local Flow

One of the Triangle area flows was red hot in December. With ambient temps in the 60s and water temps in the low 50s, the bass were very active. I made two trips over a week's time. Once alone and once with my bud Mack. I caught ~30 bass between the two trips with several in the 5-6 lb range. Most fish were caught on a spinnerbait.

A few of the highlights ...