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Pickerel with Greg

Raised 5 Pickerel in the W and NW calm side of the lake after trolling and drifting didn't pan out in the SE ,E and NE .Each got two , I dropped one . Greg's best ,18.5" ,1#7oz. John's best 18" 1#,4oz. Fish were in 8',to just a few feet of calm water . Small spinners and spoons . Greg scored 1st with a tiny size 1? spinner and then I shortly afterwards raised and dropped a fish the same size as his 16/17 " fish, on a Gold Nungesser spoon tipped with 1/2 a crawler .Both fish were in Wood/ Rock /Weeds/Lily pads .....Greg's 2nd fish hit a brightly painted 2.5 "? flutter spoon , a little farther down the shoreline on wood/dieing Pads and weeds and I got my 1st Fish with the same worm tipped NG spoon shortly afterwards on weed/ Pads in the NW corner . We did the entire run again and using a gold 1/6th oz. Acme Little Cleo/crawler piece, I got the last fish at the NW bend /cut way up on some distinctive dyeing grass growing up out of the water in just a few FOW, inside dead/thick pad area. I missed that the 1st time thinking it was too shallow .
Water temp 48 degrees in the East and 46 in the West where we caught .Got on the water a round 10:15 and didn't contact fish till around noon; got off the water @3:30 .

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Albums: Fall 2014

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Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 26, 2014 at 11:26am: I have a digital one, too, but it's too bulky to tie around.
The springy scale is about the size if a lipstick tube.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 11:23am: Ah , I see I use a battery powered Digital .I think its a Berkeley ,am not sure if it's readings are off , if I can calibrate it ,but hanging known weights to it and checking is something I've thought of doing but haven't done .

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 26, 2014 at 11:18am: Mine is a little linear spring scale, sold by South Bend. It has a limit of 8 pounds or thereabouts.
It's just the classic lip hook on a spring.
To "calibrate" it, I hang known weights from it. A five pound weight comes in at around five pounds, etc.
I can also adjust the zero with a tension screw attached to the top of the spring. This also has some effect on the upper range accuracy.
It is hardly accurate to the nth degree, however - I wouldn't use it if a citation or record was on the line.
But it's close within a half pound at the higher weights. For casual 'Ol McScruff that's good.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 10:43am: What kind of scale do you have and how do you adjust it David?

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 26, 2014 at 10:11am: I test and adjust my scale periodically.
I still never believe believe what it reports.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 9:59am: According to this chart my scales not off ( DARN! ) http://fishandboat.com/images/pages/fishin1/weightlength1.pdf

Comment by John Sheehan on November 26, 2014 at 9:45am: Thanks Mike .

Jim , how much do you think an average 18 " Chain Pickerel should weigh ? Wondering if my scale is off on the low side . This fish just looks more than 1,1/4 lbs .,like my scale read.

Thanks for the Pickerel lake list . My biggest Pickerels have been 23.5" ,24", and about 25" . Shepherds Lake , Gatun Pond , Grassmere Pond ,Waywayanda Lake, Pompton Lakes and Monksville Reservoir are all lakes I've caught them in and I'm sure there are bigger ones.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on November 26, 2014 at 9:33am: Many of the Chesapeake tributaries have excellent pickerel fish and 4 to 5 pounders are available and active thru the winter, as long as we have no ice cover. Loch Raven, a Baltimore City water supply res., has a huge population of them with many in the 3-4 lb range.

Other good Mid Atlantic pickerel spots...

Deep Creek Lake, western MD's top bull bluegill lake.

Pocomoke River, MD Eastern Shore.

Little Creek Lake, VA

Cahoon, Western Branch and Burnt Mills, Tidewater, VA near Suffolk

Nanticoke River, Delaware and most Delaware millponds.

Pinchot State Park, Wellsville, PA...yields 6 pounders annually, lightly targeted there.

If it doesn't freeze up, these guys could offer exciting fishing through the entire winter season!