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 ...

Beautiful November Day, Gotta Love NC!

This year, I've made many river trips where I've caught all of these species. Today was no different. I was trying for crappie to fill my cooler, but I only got one slow trolling a lime green maribou jig.  Ambient temps around 70 F, light winds, and clear cool water.

Started off the day trolling various cranks and picked up a nice jack. Got it on a Black/White Rapala J-9.



Tied a cordell spot on to one of the trolling rods and caught my first bass within minutes. I then began to throw the cordell spot to the bank and caught 10 bass in total on that one lure. All bass and the pickerel were caught within 20' of the bank near wood in the deepest pools/holes.

Today was absolutely gorgeous. Water temp was ~55 F where I was catching them. Wish I could go again tomorrow.

Why Did the Bear Cross the River?

To get to the other side, of course.  More on the bear later ...

Up in MD this weekend visiting the inlaws. Fished the Patapsco near Sykesville and Potomac near Brunswick.

They had mucho rain up here on Thursday night so my 1st choice (Monocacy) was high and muddy.

The Patapsco was very small and shallow and I didn't get very far from my launch point, but I caught a few small largemouth on a spinnerbait and weightless fluke jr. This section is downstream of Liberty Reservoir and was super clear and full of leaves.



I fished the Potomac yesterday on a beautiful breezy day hoping to find reasonably clear water. I caught 6 or so smallies on a rebel craw crankbait and weightless fluke (arkansas shiner color). The water was super clear with 15'+ visibility and I probably saw 100 bass in the 3.5 miles I floated along with hords of carp and catfish. It was tough not to spook the fish as I was swept along by the downstream wind. I wore my water shoes with no socks and the water was very chilly, probably in the mid to upper 50s.

So, enough with the fishing ... I saw a bear at close range! I was facing river right and heard some splashing behind me and when I turned, this black bear was swimming across the river about 200 yards from me. I paddled closer to get some photos thinking I could probably paddle faster than the bear could swim as long as the water was deep. I got within 100 yards or so and got a few shots at full zoom. That was a first for me and quite a surprise considering how populated it is around where I was fishing. In fact, I got play by play from the local kids football game loud speaker from river left for 1/2 of my trip.





Leaves are turning up there and the scenery was great.

Back Again

After having a delicious fried crappie dinner with my family this week, I have to replenish my freezer stash.

I went back to the same piedmont flow where I slayed bass with Steve. However, today my quest was crappie.

I floated 2.5 miles of river tossing my jigs and bettlespin at every slack pool laydown I could find. Net result = 0 crappie. I know they're in this stretch of river, but either not where I was fishing or they didn't like what I had to offer.

I did catch 20 or so sunnies and a few bass on various lures. Water was chilly with overnight lows in the 40s over the last few days and I think the cooling trend and high-pressure kept most of the fish out of my canoe. Beautiful weather yesterday and a nice peaceful paddle with only a heron in sight.

Big bass (~3 lbs) was caught within the 1st hr trolling a clown colored shallow running suspending rapala x-rap as the wind blew me downstream and I worked the bank for crappie.



Buzzbait got one dink bass.

How to Make the Most of a Vacation Day

My friend Steve sent me a message mid-week asking if I could fish Friday.  After confirmation that I didn't have anything pressing at work, I decided to take the day off and we made plans to meet at a local flow for a little riverbassin' action in our 119s.

I'm sure glad Steve planted that seed, because today was one of those special days.

We launched at daybreak with cool 70 deg water and perfect ambient conditions. No bugs, partly cloudy, and very few leaves on the surface.

We started throwing topwater right away and that would continue all day with great success. Things started a little slower than expected but the action was hot and heavy from 11 am - 3 pm. I caught a 5 lbr, 5 @ 3+ lb, and ~20 others counting the dinks. Most of mine were caught on Walmart Luck "E" Strike buzzbaits with trailer hooks. Black was hot, but I lost the skirt, then used firetiger and was just as successful.

Most fish were caught right on structure and close to the bank near deep water. There were also several caught in pools near swift water.

Aside from the 5 lber, the highlight of my day was an unconventional double with one caught on a buzzbait and one caught trolling an x-rap at the same time.  Both fish were hooked within seconds of eachother.

A long but most excellent day on the water. Thanks Steve!













Oh yeah, Steve managed to catch one too

My Best Fishin' Bud

I've taken my 3 yr old son bank fishing twice since he turned 3 back in April. The "bait" for this trip was for him to demonstrate limited fear of water and swimming ability with a life jacket on. He passed that test a few weeks ago at the neighbor's pool so it was time to give it a go in the canoe.

After tossing down some cinnamon rolls this morning we were off. First, a quick stop for some petrol for the beast. Then we hit the highway and headed south ... it was a little chilly this morning.  The shot from the highway with his big grin is my favorite of this trip.



Pushed off around 10 am and little man did very well staying put in his seat and not standing up. Worms under a bobber near a few laydowns did the trick for him. Here are a few of the bluegill we caught.






I caught a few crappie on a bettlespin and then hooked up with my best fish of the day on the same bettlespin on the UL. Great fight! This is Holden's signature photography (finger blur)



Next I caught a small bullhead on that same bettlespin.


After some lunch, Holden was satisfied taking photos and playing with his paddle, so papa got out the baitcaster and I landed a few more bass. I got him to hold one of the bigger fish and release it. He said "it bit my finger".




One last stop at the crappie hole and it was time to call it quits. We tried to find a few crayfish in the rocky shallows, but had no luck. Great day with my son out on a beautiful Piedmont river.

Trusty Goat

Last year we ran into this goat, or maybe it's his brother, but none-the-less I was surprised to see it. How do goats get on islands in the middle of the river? Got me!

Now, as far as the fishing, it wasn't the best day I've had. However, Dave and I had a great float. He caught a few small bass on flies that he tied as well as his first striper!  I got a small striper and several good largemouth.











Great times on the water with an old friend. Look forward to fishing with you again Dave!