Pick Pickin' with the Pike Picker

My good buddy Ken Capsey and I both love to fish for chain pickerel. These lil guys have a whole lot of heart, put up a great fight and are a blast on the fly. And they are a pretty good looking fish too. So when Ken suggested that we get out and fish one of his favorite ponds I jumped at the chance to do that! It was early on Satuday morning that we headed out, armed with a bunch of freshly tied flies using Deer Creek Gliss-n-Glint and the heads were coated in Deer Creek Diamond Fine. Ken and I are both Pro Team tyers for Deer Creek and love the stuff that they make. 

The pond was in great shape and quickly started to produce fish. The pickerel were on. I spotted a fish sitting near the surface and made a cast near it. The fly barely had a chance to hit the water when it got smacked hard by a jolt of green lightning! That was how it was most of the day. There were a few slow minutes but for the most part the action was hot and heavy. Not all of the fish were large but the vast majority of pickerel were in the 16-20 inch range. Ken got the corker of the day with a 22" pick. He assures me that there are pickerel up to 30" kicking around in there... 

There were two bonus fish too. Within the first hour we were there I got a 13" crappie- big enough to qualify for the Vermont Master Angler program! I also got a really nice and fat 19" smallmouth, another Master Class fish! 

To round out the Master Class fish for me this weekend, I got out yesterday after having some clients out and got a really nice 10" rock bass. I was working a larger one than that but it wasn't playing... but I know where he lives!