Pickerel Fishing at French Lake 2011
My best pickerel of the day.
James, Casey, and I went to French Lake on Friday afternoon to do some pickerel fishing. We arrived around 2 pm and fished until dark. As soon as we put the boat in the water the wind was blowing very hard. We knew this was going to affect the fishing but there was nothing we could do about it. We just tried to find areas that were protected from the wind as much as possible.
We made our way up the main channel and found some weeds and lily pads. We fished this area for a bit with no luck. It was hard to fish because it was so windy. We decided to go up farther and over to the left as it looked protected from the wind. There were lots of weeds so we started fishing. I caught the first pickerel of the day. It was just small but it was a start. Casey keeps track of our catches during the day for the fun of it. At least I could say I was on the board.
We continued to make our way around the lake and tried different protected areas. We each used different baits but all three of us used the red senko the most as it, once again, proved to be the most successful throughout the day. James and I had a close race throughout the day with him keeping at least a couple of fish in front of me. Casey caught a good sized perch fairly early but was having trouble hooking into a pickerel.
We were able to find a handful of little inlets off the main channel that were fairly well protected from the wind. This is where we had the most luck. As it started getting a little later in the day we started hooking into some bigger fish. I caught my biggest pickerel on a red senko around this time. It was also around this time that Casey was using the red senko again and he started hooking into some pickerel. The first two he caught were also the two biggest fish of the day so far. We were hoping as it got past 7pm that the wind would die down as it usually does as the sun gets lower in the sky but this did not happen. It stayed windy right until we got off the water.
Casey's best of the day.
As it started to get close to dark James caught his best fish of the day. Casey and James each caught a pickerel that measured right around, if not, a little longer than 22 inches. My best was around 20 inches.
James' best of the day.
Our tally for the end of the day was James: 15 pickerel, me: 10 pickerel, and Casey 8 pickerel and 1 perch. It was the first day of the season that all three of us got out fishing together. We had a great day on the water.
For those of you wondering, the water level is still at least 2 feet higher than normal but the lake is certainly fishable. If you are interested in trying some pickerel fishing, get yourself some red senkos and give French Lake a try.
Tagged with: chain pickerel • French Lake • red senko
Filed under: Chain Pickerel Fishing
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I remember one point we were travelling so fast due to the wind I thought the motor had to be going, but it wasn’t. We were just flyin’.
The funny thing is that at Redbank they seem to turn right off when the slightest breeze picks up but not so much at French lake. I guess they are more used to that amount of wind.
I was fun when we found a nice sized section that was protected by the trees where we didn’t need to use the anchor so much.
Note: When it started getting dark I switched from using YOUR red worms to using a black or very dark worm and I started getting some really good strikes. So much fun.
It was amazing how high the water still. Made it tough to find and follow the channels, but Casey knows where he’s going. I’d be so lost.