Early Spring Pickerel Pattern

Redfin and chain pickerel spawn in early spring, like most Esox. They are impossible to catch when they are in the act and they don't guard a bed like some species, so it can be hit or miss targeting around the time that they spawn. If you see pickerel rolling around at the surface in weedy areas, assume you aren't going to catch many that day.

Redfin pickerel spawning in shallow reeds, rippling the surface.

Increases in water temperature very early in the spring can often lead to good fishing, unless they peak near the preferred temperature for spawning. After that point, it is best to wait for the water temperature to drop back down to fish for pickerel. It may seem counter intuitive, but a snotty, windy, rainy, cold day after a string of nice early spring weather is more conducive to a strong feeding window. Pickerel that would otherwise be rolling around spawning in the weeds take the time when conditions are no longer suitable to do that to feed instead.

 With temperatures spiking towards the end of our trip south, Noah and I got home to mid-spawn and post spawn pickerel conditions. It was much cooler than it had been and any time the barometric pressure dropped, the fish put the feed bag on. I had one quite good day with a bunch of pickerel to hand and one fairly nice one, at least for the water I was fishing, and the next day Noah hammered larger fish in the same location. We had our pattern figured out.

Steadily retrieving a naturally buoyant streamer is probably the most effective way to catch these early season fish on the fly. Evan earlier in the year, before the fish have started to spawn at all, a gurgler might be even more effective for numbers of fish over shallow mud flat. But for larger pickerel, a fly like an unweighted Bucktail Deceiver, a large Muddler, or a Tabory Snake Fly is a great choice. Something with an erratic action that tracks at the same depth through the length of the retrieve is ideal. Core the water column: start near surface, then fish deeper until you find where the fish are suspended. In shallow water, less than two feet, this is unnecessary, but in deeper water it is a key tactic. A lot of the most memorable pickerel in my fishing career came suspended in deep water over weed edges.

I'm in a mood to catch big fish right now, I'm utterly sick of stocked trout and I'm inclined to leave pressure off the small streams a well given the uptick in pressure I've already seen this spring. Pickerel, especially big pickerel, are on the agenda. I'll be doing a lot of kayak fishing on snotty weather days looking for the largest pickerel of my life this spring.

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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