Wonderful Pickerel Fishing!

Water temperatures in the middle Chesapeake Bay region continue to drop toward 50F, which makes for prime feeding/action of many species throughout the bay and especially in the rivers. While the striped bass is as popular as ever to catch right now, the most accessible fish to target is, perhaps, the chain pickerel. Right now, fishing for chain pickerel is about as good as it gets all year/season and throughout the colder months. November through December is my favorite time of year to target them, as well as yellow perch. The two species tend to live adjacent to one another. This past week proved to be wonderful pickerel fishing!

Chain pickerel are abundant in many of the mid-bay rivers, none more so than perhaps the Severn and Magothy systems. The species is also popular to target in the millponds of the Eastern Shore, as well as the Tuckahoe, upper-Choptank, Nanticoke/Marshyhope, and Pocomoke rivers. 

Within the past week, I’ve been on the water three times to target the pickerel/perch fishery in the Severn River—specifically, my home creek of Valentine. In the kayak, this is an easy piece of water to fish, especially when I paddle the back coves of the creek not far from where I launch. 

In past years, I have repeatedly found early pickerel season success fishing small paddletails on light gear around the back shallows of this creek. Three years ago, I even lucked into a sizable school of yellow perch that had congregated and held in the creek for several weeks (catching them November through January). So naturally, when late-autumn kicks in, I’m eager to try this stretch of water and fish for both species. 

When fishing from a kayak at this time of year, one must exercise extreme safety and be mindful of all weather conditions—taking into account the tides, temperatures, and winds of the day/outing. Wearing a PFD is a must, and it’s helpful to have a whistle attached to your body in case of an emergency situation. With the cold water comes good fishing—it also will cause hypothermia to set in quickly if you fall overboard. With caution in mind, I gently paddled to the backwaters of Valentine to try my hand. 

This first November outing was a bit trying and I only encountered one chasing pickerel, having effectively worked through an entire stretch of shoreline with a few laydown trees and several docks. I was using a 2” micropaddletail on an 1/8oz jighead. My other go-to lure, which is more of a search bait, is a 1/4oz inline spinnerbait with a single-hook bucktail trailer. With no fish in the shallows, I repositioned in deeper water (about 10–12’) off a sandy point and fished the jig near the bottom in hopes of finding some yellow perch. I worked the light jig gently and felt a tap, then a thump…and drag began to peel off quickly from my light 1500 class reel/setup. I thought “large pickerel,” but the deepwater pull and slow, sweeping headshakes gave away that it was a nice-sized striper!

Given that I was using light line (10# braid with just an 8# leader of fluorocarbon), I had to let this fish play out and slowly work the line back in. An excellent pull, this fish measured about 24–25” and was an unexpected joy to catch. 

The next outing came about one week later on the heels of the new moon, which provided better tides on the high side, in the afternoon when I decided to drop in the kayak. High water plus south-facing shorelines that have been hit with sun most of the day is usually a successful recipe for finding pickerel. 

I paddled to the end of the creek and began casting around the sunny shoreline with an up-sized, white paddletail (3”) on a 1/8oz jighead. First cast was hit by a nice pickerel that showed himself, went airborne, and shook the hook. Elation and defeat in all of 5 seconds. Second cast, another hit! This time, I pulled in a small pickerel and released him safely. Next cast, another hit and a larger pickerel boated and released. This solid action occurred during the last hour of daylight until the sun dropped below the trees and the fish had had enough of me—or wised up to the presentation. I hooked into maybe 15 fish and landed 8 or so. 

Though pickerel are generally considered solitary fish—and they certainly are with respect to territorial feeding habits—they will congregate or are, at least, drawn to the same area by means of favorable conditions. So, finding many pickerel in one area is not uncommon in the right circumstance. In this case, high water around laydowns/shoreline in an area of water that had been warmed all day by the sun. 

The very next afternoon, I decided to see if this pattern would repeat. So, to the back of the creek I paddled. Same gear, same setup, same white paddletail. Same results. Great fishing in the late-afternoon with multiple hookups and several good-sized pickerel landed. The largest was about 22.75” which is nice but just short of trophy size (24”). With a pattern in hand and one that could be repeated if the conditions are right (I’m eyeballing the next new moon phase), I’ll have a shot at more fish—and maybe a trophy—during the best pickerel fishing of the year. And though the yellow perch haven’t shown themselves yet—at least at this particular spot—I look forward to finding some nice specimens in, perhaps, other Severn creeks. 

See y’all on the water again, real soon!