Pickerel on the Fly!

[CMA719]

I realized that many of the posts that I make are about catfish, but we do a bit of fly fishing as well! We learned to fly fish and tie flies last year, and so far we were perfectly content fly fishing in streams for panfish and rock, smallmouth and largemouth bass.

I decided to introduce a new challenge for the kids-let's try for pickerel on the fly rods! We've caught some nice pickerel on spinning rods in the past, but haven't specifically targeted them with the fly rods.

We tied up some clouser minnows and wooly buggers over the past few weeks. Below is a picture. Theirs come out nicer than mine!




So we took a trip down to a spot where we knew there would be pickerel lurking, and were successful. What a blast pickerel are on a 5wt rod. These aren't lunkers by any stretch (some of them were the smallest picks we've ever caught) but what a fun day. I didn't get too many pictures because we were busy casting and catching, but 7 pickerel in all for the day.

Side note: we were very careful with them. They were out of the water for a minimum amount of time, did not touch the ground (we put the net on a towel when we put it down) and all of them were released unharmed. I taught the boys about the slime layer and how it protects the fish. I think it's good practice for them to get used to this for when we finally go forward with fly fishing for trout.





Thanks for looking!

[NJ219bands]

Nice, I caught a bullhead for you.

[icebadger]

It is the coolest thing when you tie your own clouser minnows and catch anything with them but you set out for a target fish and were successful in getting some pickerel (aka) slime darts and you did well. It is good to hear that you are teaching your kids to be careful with the fish that you do not want for the table. Safe handling of any fish is a good thing to learn so as the fish can return to the water to fight another day. The fly box looked like you guys have got the nack on making your own offerings. Both the clouser minnows and the wooly buggers look good. Congrats to you all for a job well done

[FASTEDDIE29]

Very cool catch on the fly! You tie some awesome stuff! Well done and mission accomplished!

[thmyorke1]

nice! the only thing I tie is a jig wrapped up with black marabou as crude as I wrap a sandwich in aluminum foil
I found the lead-wire, or lead-free wire alternatively, is essential for some streamers too.

[Mikey topaz]

These kids are awesome! I love seeing these young anglers out killin it. Most guy are using a 6 wt for that kinda stuff. The world needs more people like you and your kids👍🏻

[CMA719]

Folks, thanks for the kind words. We can't wait to do it again!

NJ219Bands-now that's a pretty face!

[akoop]

That's great, it is so much fun to set a goal or challenge for yourself and then achieve the goal!