Trolled a Nice Pickerel

We did a lot of trolling while fishing Clinton Reservoir for three hours. I had suggested we do so after our last outing, because I had caught a lot of pickerel and bass trolling Tilcon Lake in recent years. Today, I mostly trolled my favorite Storm Hot 'n Tot that gets down 10 or 12 feet, deeper when I let out more line, though I also tried a jointed Rapala in shallows. Brian insisted on shallow running plugs, because he knows someone who recently caught bass on unweighted live herring over 20, 30, and 40 feet of water. 

We also cast rocky shorelines. I used a Senko, Brian plugs and a Chatterbait. Nothing happened this time. 

Wind was pretty heavy. I thought overcast skies would be in our favor, but perhaps the Senko was effective last time because bass tucked in close to shore to hide from the sunlight in shadows. 

After we had got pretty far down lake, Brian spoke about his favorite cove, and when we got there, I felt my confidence grow after I had got a solid hit on the Storm diver. Brian had me sit in the back and run the electric, and I had been setting the speed pretty low, now watching the line intently and feeling as if something more would happen. A minute or two later, the pickerel hit powerfully. I thought I had a nice smallmouth on, until the fish leapt three feet out of the water. Twenty-one-and-a-half inches.