Fishing, again

[woodjin]

As many of you know, I am always looking for new fishing areas, particularly remote areas. Today I got my gear and headed out on the motorcycle to visit a long lost bog that has surprisingly eluded me all these years. I knew it was there, as it is very close to one of my favorite holes, but I always figured the water levels were too slight to support much, without having ever seen it.

Well, looking at the birds eye, it occured to me that I must have underestimated this ancient bog. So that is were I went today.

The only route to this bog was across an overgrown land bridge long since abandoned by all but a few deer. And it appeared even the deer were using this path infrequently. After wrestling through chest high brush I came to the old weir. Here is what I saw:

I got excited. The lilly pads, lack of sphagnum and slow gentle flow of the water were good indications. Here is another view:

I got eight pickerel in about 20 min to a 1/2 hour. All looked reasonably healthy, good size and very hungry. They were not the most aggressive fighters for some reason. Sometimes that is a sign of warm water temps.

You can see my boot for comparison. Keep in mind, I have very large feet.

Another;

I will have to manage the kayak to this location to access the points out of reach of my casts. There are some big ones waiting in there.

Moving on, I went to more familar ground. This channel/creek is what was once the deep trench they dug around the inner perimeter of an old bog. The bog was left dry and eventually became overgrown. The channel had a small amount of water in it but about six years ago some beaver dammed it up and created some habitat for pickerel. So, I don't want to hear any more beaver bashing you Webbs mill beaver haters.

Anyway, the damn is actually a little upstream of this shot. The water was as black as oil but with a little persistance yielded a couple strong fighing fish. Here is one:

A parting shot.

Jeff

 

[bobpbx]

Jeff, a plastic worm? What happened to your sunnies?

Knocking those remote bogs down one by one I see.

 

[woodjin]

Jeff, a plastic worm? What happened to your sunnies?

Knocking those remote bogs down one by one I see.

Well, carrying live bait on a motorcyle can be more trouble than it is worth. As for the bogs, yes I've hit a lot of them. I used to use topo maps to find them but now satilite images have opened up a lot more. Between bogs, streams and oxbows, and a whole lotta woods, by my calculations I still have enough to keep me busy for a long time.

Jeff

 

[Teegate]

Nice fish Jeff! That motorcycle is getting quite a bit of use with your car out of action. Who needs a car in the summer anyway


Guy

 

[jburd641]

Nice fish! Curious, how did the pike do when you released them? I used to fish a lot of farm ponds near Mullica Hill when I was a kid and baby sunnies were always the best bait. It used to be illegal but I was a kid and didn't know it at the time.

 

[GermanG]

I know there are lots of effective pickerel lures but I just can’t seem to bring myself to use anything but a red and white Daredevil spoon for them. It is the classic pickerel lure and I’m just too much of a damned traditionalist

 

[manumuskin]

Jeff,
Have you ever fished the upper Tulpe? I did twice,the beaver dams straight west of friendship bogs.Never seen so much as a bobber or piece of line.Caught about 20 in maybe three hours.Once i slogged up the creek and the second time i hauled a canoe in for a mile from the south.
Do you eat em? I never have but heard their good if you know how to fillet em.I don't know how but if you can get the bones out their supposed to be tasty.
Al

 

[46er]

Do you eat em? I never have but heard their good if you know how to fillet em.I don't know how but if you can get the bones out their supposed to be tasty.
Al

Pike have different bones than other fish and there is a special way to fillet them. We had them as shore lunches many times, the folks doing the cooking knew how to do it, something about getting the 'Y' bones out. They are very tasty, similar to Walleyes, which are also in the Pike family. A search would probably get the filleting details.

 

[GermanG]

I seem to recall a method of cooking them in a way that caused the smaller bones in the fillets to soften and virtually disintegrate. It might have involved boiling them first. I don’t exactly remember. I put more than enough saltwater fish in the freezer, so my freshwater catch goes back into the water.

 

[woodjin]

Nice fish Jeff! That motorcycle is getting quite a bit of use with your car out of action. Who needs a car in the summer anyway


Guy

Yeah, the bronco is next on my project list so it will be up and running pretty soon, but the short of carrying a kayak, the motorcycle has been serving me well.

 

[woodjin]

Nice fish! Curious, how did the pike do when you released them? I used to fish a lot of farm ponds near Mullica Hill when I was a kid and baby sunnies were always the best bait. It used to be illegal but I was a kid and didn't know it at the time.

The fish did okay on the release but did require me to gently pull them backwards a few times to get the oxygen running through their gills. After doing so they took off with plenty of energy.

For live bait I actually use kili fish. You are correct about the legality of using blackbanded, and perhaps sphagnum sunfish as bait.

Jeff

 

[woodjin]

Jeff,
Have you ever fished the upper Tulpe? I did twice,the beaver dams straight west of friendship bogs.Never seen so much as a bobber or piece of line.Caught about 20 in maybe three hours.Once i slogged up the creek and the second time i hauled a canoe in for a mile from the south.
Do you eat em? I never have but heard their good if you know how to fillet em.I don't know how but if you can get the bones out their supposed to be tasty.
Al

It is funny you mention that, Al. I have fished some parts of the tulpe but not specifically where you have mentioned. It has been on my to do list for a long time. I plan on taking the kayak there and making it an all day affair, which requires a bit of preparation which is why I haven't done it yet. That is a real wild area and I have been looking forward to getting in there with the yak.

I used to eat pickerel a lot. Five a week perhaps. I know the trick in filleting around the Y bones. Unfortunitely, you seem to loose some of the meat that way. so most of the time I would just deal with the bones. I do not know this method of cooking that German eluded to however. They are very tasty.

I did that for years but then the mercury warnings became more and more prevalent and I slowly reduced my consumption. I eat them rarely now. The catch and release method can be turned into something of an art form and I think (but can't prove) that I have a 100% survival rate from my catches. I actually don't like to completly remove them from the water much but do so for a few photos on occasion.

Jeff

 

[bobpbx]

I know there are lots of effective pickerel lures but I just can’t seem to bring myself to use anything but a red and white Daredevil spoon for them. It is the classic pickerel lure and I’m just too much of a damned traditionalist

I used to use them, until I quickly learned every strong 'hit' was more than likely a stump.

 

[woodjin]

I used to use them, until I quickly learned every strong 'hit' was more than likely a stump.

:rofl:

Spoons are great for Pickerel but I reserve them for lake use. I hear you Bob. If I'm going with lures it is usually texas rigged plasitics that handle the stumps and weeds great.

Jeff

 

[manumuskin]

Jeff
I drug my canoe almost a mile in from the south.there are much shorter ways in now that i know the area better.if you want advice on how to get close let me know I'll send you some maps.
Al

It is funny you mention that, Al. I have fished some parts of the tulpe but not specifically where you have mentioned. It has been on my to do list for a long time. I plan on taking the kayak there and making it an all day affair, which requires a bit of preparation which is why I haven't done it yet. That is a real wild area and I have been looking forward to getting in there with the yak.

I used to eat pickerel a lot. Five a week perhaps. I know the trick in filleting around the Y bones. Unfortunitely, you seem to loose some of the meat that way. so most of the time I would just deal with the bones. I do not know this method of cooking that German eluded to however. They are very tasty.

I did that for years but then the mercury warnings became more and more prevalent and I slowly reduced my consumption. I eat them rarely now. The catch and release method can be turned into something of an art form and I think (but can't prove) that I have a 100% survival rate from my catches. I actually don't like to completly remove them from the water much but do so for a few photos on occasion.

Jeff

 

[RednekF350]

Very cool outing Jeff.
I love those remote spots and came across a few last fall while duckin' that warrant a closer look.
Thanks for the post.
BTW, I have yet to see a foolproof way to fillet a picky and would love to learn the method if one exists.

 

[46er]

BTW, I have yet to see a foolproof way to fillet a picky and would love to learn the method if one exists.

Found this with a search, northern pike are the same as pickerel, only bigger. I should have payed more attention to the cook :jeffd:

 

[RednekF350]

I would like to try that on a picky and see what happens.
They should be morphologically similar although it seems like I see a lot finer bones in pickerel than I saw come out on that y bone in the northern.

 

[46er]

I would like to try that on a picky and see what happens.
They should be morphologically similar although it seems like I see a lot finer bones in pickerel than I saw come out on that y bone in the northern.

Probably because of the size difference.