Loch Raven Res. PICKEREL

[Andre Sturkey]

Hey to anyone with in 4 hours of Maryland and who love Pickerel fishing... Let me assure you Loch Raven Reservoir is your holy land!  In MD we mainly fish Loch Raven for other species like Bass.  However,on any day you almost certainly catch more healthy 2-3 pound Pickerel.

These fish appear to be extreme visual predators and anything moving with a flutter they smash!  I truly recommend trying this lake if you are a Pickerel hunter! 

Check out my page in 2011 or 12 I caught a 6 pounder on power worm

[Gary Boysen]

Hi Andre. Thanks for the tip. I just got my first water borne vessel, a NuCanoe Frontier kayak, and plan on taking a fishing trip down to visit a buddy in Maryland this summer. My intention is to fish the Pokomoke River out of Snow Hill, MD. Looks like I'll be making a detour on the way home to check out the reservoir.

[John Sheehan]

Andre, where ya been man! Maybe someday I can get down there and fish with you and Jim Gronaw !

[Jim Gronaw]

That would be cool...Andre puts us on the Big Game and I'll handle the small fry!

Loch Raven has excellent bluegill and crappie fishing as well!

[John Sheehan]

How about Perch too Jim?

[Andre Sturkey]

Hey John it has been a long time! Just been busy and not online a whole lot. I plan to get more involved with these discussions. Some great folks in this group including you

[John Sheehan]

Great to see you back posting large fish pics!

[Andre Sturkey]

@Gary Boysen I'm at work now but later I'll post some of the rigs I use for pickerel. Easy way to look at it though is green pumpkin with a ribbon tail!

[Gary Boysen]

I'm looking forward to checking out those rigs, Andre. I could use a lesson in catching those big ones. So far my biggest is a 17" chain pickerel. Not bad, but not in your league.

[Andre Sturkey]

[Andre Sturkey]

Gary during the spring moving baits work best.  Make sure you find clear water though.  And throw trailers with swim action.  Pickerel seem to be extremely visual predators and water clarity makes a difference.  Soft plastics work all year long but they are really good once the grass grows.  Pickerel use the grass for ambush better than bass in my mind.  Play with the speed of your retrieval even with soft plastics.  I have noticed Bass hit the soft baits as they sit.  But pickerel hit on the bounce when the tail moves.  You will also find at Loch Raven you get a lot of pickerel chasing your bait right up to the boat.  They are extremely aggressive.  Spinnerbaits work well also however, you will lose a lot of them!  

AND FINALLY DO NOT THROW $20 BAITS!  You will lose a few when a 3 pound Pickerel swallows it whole!

[John Sheehan]

I like those big baits Andre. I like big blade spinnerbaits so they can feel the thump from far away . Pickerel will travel after a bait this time of year and spoons can be killers in coves. Flutter spoons calling the pickerel out of the weeds have proven to work very well for me and my brother Greg ,in the past Got four on Spinner baits and one on a Rapala .Yesterday fishing over the  weeds on the  flats 5-8 feet deep.

[John Sheehan]

Pickerel tools nabbed three the other day . 18',19' and 22", from shore in wooded ponds hiked to . Keep the bait up and visible ,when you see it move or dissapear and then feel the rod load set the hook .Lift rod high above head and reel the fish in quickly , keep his head up . You cant get them out of the pads if they take you down into thick stems , unless you have a boat to go to them.