Cover Image: Alex and Ryan both show off pickerel that they submitted to the CCA Pickerel Championship! As employees, they can’t join our Calcutta to win additional prizes from Daiwa worth up to $500, but you can! Click here for details
Pickerel: Winter Pickerel and panfish fishing is the fishery that we are most excited about right now! The bite is still consistent in both our tidal rivers and creeks, and in the eastern shore mill ponds, but water clarity has become a bit of issue with all of the rain that we have been having. In murky water, your best bet will be to fish with darker, natural colors and to use bladed jig heads to create vibration to attract the fish’s attention, even if they can’t see the lure. Live minnows under a bobber also work well.
Panfish: We’ve also been catching a lot of panfish like yellow perch, white perch, crappie and bluegill in both tidal creek and pond. The mill ponds are great, but there are also numerous ponds in our local area that are full of blue gill and crappie. Small feather jigs under a bobber are great to use for panfish! Alex and Jimmy talk more about where to go and how to fish for panfish in this video
White perch are also in deeper water around structure in the main bay, with the bay bridge pilings being just one great spot! Try using a metal jig in these deeper water areas.
Rockfish: Most anglers out in the main bay are chasing schools of large rockfish, up to 50 inches, in the lower bay. Launching out of Solomons or Point Lookout would be a great option to target those fish. While you can troll for them, they are schooled up pretty tight, so it’s not the best option. Instead try to find the fish either with electronics or by following birds and jig with 1.5 oz jig heads and larger plastics, like 10″ BKDs, or use one of our favorite lures for this time of year, a flutter spoon!