A number of years ago, I went out to the Hatchery during the week of Christmas.
Weather was unseasonably warm, but not by a lot. It was around 74 for the high for several days.
We were fishing for bass, but ended up catching (combined) more than 60 jacks. It was a LOT like when the sea trout are really active.
Anyhow, anyone else target them in the winter? The trick is to use bright firetiger type colors, noisy lures, and stuff that can take a beating. Rattlin’ rogues are my choice, followed by floating ratl-trap types.
I make a few pickerel trips every winter just for quick action fun. There are a TON of them in the duck pond flats and in the immediate area of the duck pond flats landing… also a lot of juvenile bass. We get most of them on inline spinners and roostertails. They will usually hold me over pretty well until the shad run starts… and that carries me into spring time bass etc!
What size do these fish reach? I am interesting in catching a few next time I’m down there. I love to Musky/Pike fish, so it would be cool to catch their smaller cousins too!
They average the sizes of speckled sea trout, and they tend to behave similar as well (in their biting habits), maybe a bit more aggressive.
Biggest I’ve ever caught was 3-4lb.
I recommend you take some heavy fluorocarbon leader, or even steel leader. If they are very active, the steel leader isn’t a deterrant. Start with the fluoro 20lb leader, otherwise they will gnaw your line all up.
Someone here PM’d me tonight about fishing for 'picks, and I accidentally deleted the message. Resend it to me lol. I was clearing out my inbox and deleted the new PM, and now I have no idea who sent it.
anything over 18 inches is a pretty solid fish that can be alot of fun on ultralight tackle. Cant stress the duck pond ■■■■■■■■■■ pond flats landing area enough… there are tons of pickerel, small bass, and yellow perch here during the colder months. I went this past weekend and slaughtered them, great fun and lots of action with ultralights. If you cant find bigger fish when its cold they hold you over well until things start to warm up.
David, did you catch any of them near the top, such that I could maybe use a heavy cork for my son with a big grub underneath? I DO NOT want my son casting anything with treble hooks lol, that would be a horrendous mistake (he’s 4, and very good with his rod for his age, but not THAT good yet lol).
haha unfortunately there are alot of old dead lilly pad stems etc in the water around there… you get the rooster tails caught up pretty easily and often. But… pickerel prefer that sort of habitat so it just comes with the territory. A grub under a float may work fine, a live shiner under a float works really well out there too… ive watched other people light them up that way one after another.
Please…take everone you catch home! They are over populated on the lakes.
I usually give them away. They have so many bones that I don’t want to even make fish cakes with them for my kids. Bones aren’t really big enough to be a danger, but annoying.
David G - are the yellow perch reliable enough to target? To me they are one of the best eating fish around. If I could go and catch a batch of decent size ones, that would definitely be worth a trip.
Thanks Matt. I probably won’t make it up to try, but it’s tempting. It would take quite a few to make a meal, though. Have you ever eaten yellow perch? They are really good. I guess that’s why people go crazy for Walleye - they are close cousins.