where the f do the pickerel go???

[buzzbaiter]

I've been chasing chainsides for 20 years now. I like fishing for them so much I'll even take vacation days just to fish for them all day. Many of my best pickerel lakes cough up 100+ or more in a day. Come summer though - POOF! - mostly gone. Where do they go? Its very odd and has always puzzled me. Theories include a) they go to deeper, cooler water; b) they hide in the thick weeds making them unreachable and C) they go into a state of estevation - similar to hibernation - where they sort of "tune" out and feed sparingly. I do catch them occasionally but nowhere near the amount I get in April/May. Things do "pick" up again in the fall so temps must be a factor. I do think the weeds are a factor too as most of my April trips there are no weeds emerging yet and so the pickerel tend to stay cloes to shore or near stumps/wood. By June 1st, many lakes are full of weeds both on top and below.

[oelgnal1]

I don't fish any shallow lakes or ponds in the Summer so I can't comment on that but in deeper lakes they seem to be in depths of 12+ fow, outside weed edges and the bigger they are the deeper they go. I've caught them to 5 1/2lbs.
while targeting bass in 30 fow. Hope this helps.

[buzzbaiter]

I will say I make far fewer summer trips as well as many of the lakes are full of boats May thru August whereas mid-week in late April there are often none. Even the banks are full. I stopped by a pocono lake Sunday and pretty much every opening along the shoreline was a person fishing if not entire families. I had to go to far side where there were no openings and walk in the water to get "free" water. Of course about 8 kakayers had to show up and most paddled right by and even circled near me. No fishing, just cirling the lake. One woman was was cool though. She said "Sorry we didn't see you. How far can you cast out?" I said "Not too far. Hard to cast with the trees behind me - maybe 30 feet"( I was fly fishing). She said" We'll stay away from shore for ya" I watched and they kept their distance from shore. Not all people are d*cks.

[Skunk City]

For me, ice fishing is the only time I see Pickerel all year. I may get the occasional one on Bass or Panfish tackle, but they are few and far between during the summer for me.

[yumasdad]

I think that when the water temps rise & there is less prey/oxygen in the shallows they go suspend deep & prey on schooling baitfish.

Have caught many monster mud snakes @ 20'+ in 60 ' plus deep water which I had though were going to be a real nice SALMON or Trout but end up with another dam mud snake.

They only people I know who want them are CHINESE RESTAURANTS who are happy to trade for them.

[huntcountypussbuck]

had one pickeral on yesterday at white lake and lost it at the canoe. was in less than 3 feet of water in the thick weeds. has a bass pro stump jumper in yellow hanging from his mouth now.

[Jhunter1]

I catch a lot in the summer on flukes and moss boss. The millstone is loaded with 20+ inchers anywhere you can find thick weeds. I used to live along it and killed them in weeds during July and august. Strikes are easy to come by but they can be hard to hook when you work the lure fast on top.

[buzzbaiter]

Originally Posted by Jhunter1

I catch a lot in the summer on flukes and moss boss. The millstone is loaded with 20+ inchers anywhere you can find thick weeds. I used to live along it and killed them in weeds during July and august. Strikes are easy to come by but they can be hard to hook when you work the lure fast on top.

Fished Millstone@Blackwell Mills on Sunday. Tossed a buzzbait around for three hrs near every log and weed. Not so much as a hit. Switched to a small spinner and caught a bunch of redbreast sunnies and little bass. Walked back along canal and picked off dozens of sunnies some close to ten inches, a few perch and two pickerel. Not bad but not sure its worth the 75 minute drive. Last year did get two large pickerel over 24"

[Jhunter1]

Park in millstone and walk canal towards manville. Once you get to the pipeline go towards the river and fish that back to the old sportshop. That area has a lot of fish and some big smallies.

[Bruce Litton]

I've caught pickerel outside weedline edge as deep as 17 feet, summer. But back five and more years ago before Lake Musconetcong got sacrificed to weed killer...water chestnuts would have killed it, unless manually removed...we used to do real well all summer with surface lures. Any opening in the thick weeds, we targeted, right around sundown. Have done well on Little Swartswood Lake, surface plugs, summer, also.