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| 23.5" aggressive pickerel |
School is out for spring break and that means I have even more time to do some bass fishing. The weather for my first day on break lined up for a perfect spring day, so I loaded up the Cuda 14, and went to the Suffolk Lakes. I wanted to try some new spots, so I geared up for a long paddle and left at sunrise.
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| I absolutely love my new Kokatat Gortex Full-Zip Jacket |
I got to my first spot, and after only a few cast, my chatterbait was inhaled by a solid fish. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but after a glimpse of a missile-like body I could tell it was a giant pickerel. I carefully brought the fish to the boat, and landed the beast. This was the biggest pickerel I have ever seen. The fish measured out to 24.75in and and was really fat. I snapped some pictures and went back to fishing.
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| 24.75" Citation Pickerel |
I kept with my plan and hit all of the spots I had found in previous research, and all of them produced fish. I caught several more big pickerel with the smallest being 23in. Most of the bass I caught were small males, but I picked up a few thick pre-spawn females. My biggest bass of the day, came on a 6in hard-plastic swimbait slow-rolled over a secondary point.
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| Chunky Bass on a square-bill |
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| Another good Pre-spawn largemouth |
Near the end of the day, I had one more flat the fish. I pitched a lipless crankbait up near a stump and started burning it back. I saw a flash and my rod was nearly jerked out of my hand. I saw another massive pickerel break the surface, and it had inhaled my bait. I carefully fought the fish, and landed it. This fish was a little smaller than the first pickerel, but still a giant. This one was 24.5in and was really fat. I took some pics, and released the beast.
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| Last fish of the day, 24.5in pickerel |
It was an awesome day on the water, and almost everything I threw produced fish. The baits that seem to work the best were square-bill crankbaits, chatterbaits, and swimbaits.
