Smithville Lake, Caroline County, MD -- Trip Invitation, Tuesday, 27 March

[Mark]

I will be visiting Smithville Lake on Tuesday morning.

http://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pa...mithville.aspx

I plan to arrive between 0900 and 0930. Radio channel 68.

It will be a little chillier than I like, but the wind forecast is finally tolerable.

Capture.Smithville.jpg

Please join me if you can.

[Mark]

All who refused my invitation chose wisely.

It was 32 degrees when I, together with two members of the FSFFers, launched at 0900. We split up and pounded both ends of the lake and had little to show for it in 3 hours.

I caught three small bass on a weedless paddletail and a bluegill on the fly.

P1020903.jpg P1020909.jpg P1020911.jpg P1020923.jpg

One of my FSFF companions, Don Vance, caught this sizable bass (16 to 17 inches) on a paddletail:

Big Bass.jpg

Don said he saw bait dancing on the surface and cast into it. The result is what you see. That was the only respectable fish of the outing.

One consolation today was that the wind was low. It’s hard to believe that an area with this structure and calm water did not produce a fish or two:

P1020906.jpg

Oddly no picks…I tried everything to find one from using a bullethead darter on the flats, to a stop and start retrieve with the paddletail in the shallows that presumably had warmer water. Actually, each of my bass hit the paddletail when I reverted to a constant retrieve at moderate speed. You just never know what will excite fish on a given day.

All I, can say is hurry up spring. Here we are 7 days into it and it still feels like winter.

[mchottie]

Its tooooo cold for me, but dead-calm water is my favorite.

Did you try an 1/8oz w/ glitter curl tail? That was my winner at Unicorn, but both air and water temp were far warmer that outing.

[Mark]

Its tooooo cold for me, but dead-calm water is my favorite.

Did you try an 1/8oz w/ glitter curl tail? That was my winner at Unicorn, but both air and water temp were far warmer that outing.

Michael,

Nope. I carried only two fly rods and a spinning rod rigged with a weedless unweighted paddletail.

I caught 13 picks the last time this year I tried the darter on the fly rod -- warmer day, different pond. But I thought sure it would work at Smithville. Those bullet head darters look really enticing in the water. I was reluctant to put it down. Even the paddletail failed me.

I should also add that the water was very clear, especially for a pond. I actually saw the few fish I caught strike the baits. But maybe they saw me and that is why they were tightlipped.

Given your Unicorn catch I should have changed tactics. But I was also too lazy and too cold to change baits.

[mchottie]

I will join you again, once I can enjoy the liberty of wearing shorts!!!

Come On Summer!!!