This month as winter hits we talk with Capt. Tom Weaver of Fish with Weaver about winter pickerel fishing. When the water temps grow too cold for the rockfish to bite this turns into an awesome angling opportunity and helps you break that cabin fever.
Q: What's your favorite thing about pickerel fishing?
A: The chain pickerel is a beautiful fish, with a teardrop tattoo under each eye, tiger stripes on its back, and a mouthful of very sharp teeth. They look—and act—mean. Sometimes their bite is wide-open but other times they’re finicky and you’ll see them follow your lure out from a bank and then refuse, and fade away into the depths. The bite can be very subtle, or they can explode on the bait and jump, cartwheeling in the air. The bonus is that they are most active in the winter. In recent years the population in the rivers in the mid-Bay area has exploded and these fish provide a wonderful opportunity on a pleasant mid-winter day to get on the water and stalk some fish for a few hours. Having a boat that can wriggle its way into tight spots and sometimes skinny water is a plus. They are a great fish on light tackle and fly rod.
Q: Tell us your top three pickerel lures, and why/when you use each.
A: On light tackle I love the Rapala X-Rap SXR #8, in “Minnow” and “Yellow Perch.” I remove the treble hooks and replace them with 1/0 inline singles, and whip a little bit of copper crystal flash on the trailing hook. I fish it in heavy cover and over sunken logs. It’s a suspending bait and can be fished very slowly. In open water around docks and deeper drop-offs I like a natural-color three-inch paddletail on a quarter-ounce jig head. My go-to fly is the Joe Bruce Crab Clouser, it’s got all the right color, flash, and action. I have also had some success with the mini Gamechanger in yellow perch patterns, this one is good for very picky fish as it will suspend and the crazy action will trigger a strike.
Q: What's your favorite setup: rod, reel, and line for both spinning and fly fishing for pickerel?
A: I use a 6’6” medium-fast St. Croix Triumph spinning rod with a 3000 series reel, 10-pound braid, 20-pound leader, and a five-inch “bite guard” of AFW six-kg Surflon coated wire in camo color.
For fly fishing, it’s a St. Croix Imperial six-weight paired with the Cheeky Burst 325, loaded with Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Tripple Density INT/S2/S3 line. That’s topped with a 12-pound tippet and a Surflon biteguard.
Q: Give us a hint or two about what you look for when you enter a creek that you know holds pickerel. Structure? Depth changes? What else?
A: I like creeks with about six- to eight-foot depths in the middle and a moderate or steep drop-off about 10’ to 15’ from the shoreline. Look for shorelines with lots of debris, downed trees are ideal. Riprap walls hold fish too, particularly on sunny days as the rocks heat up. Docks are also a great option, again with depth changes near the shoreline.
Q: We've heard you've had some success setting records with pickerel, so tell us a bit about that.
A: As an IGFA Captain I keep an eye on IGFA World Record opportunities for my clients. A lot of records are shifting to catch-and-release length records, and this suits my style. My clients currently hold world record lengths in the Fly and Junior categories for chain pickerel.
Q: What haven't we talked about that someone who's interested in fishing for pickerel this winter needs to know?
A: Understand the fish; they are ambush predators but are wary and will stalk a bait for a while. It’s very common for a fish to follow your lure for dozens of yards, so always look just under and behind the lure or fly before you pick it up and if there’s a fish there keep the lure moving in a figure-eight. Also, when it gets really cold go really slow with small twitches to incite a bite.
If you’d like to give winter pickerel fishing a shot with Capt. Tom call/text (410) 533-0928.