Smithville Lake 6/7/2015

[BeyondTheBounds]

Alright Yall. Gonna attempt a fishing report for Smithville lake. Video is in production. Now I didn’t setup my lowrance so I don’t know about temps and depths. Just wanted to start fishing. This was my first time here. I like to explore.

I caught a new Personal Best Pickerel 25 ¼ inches. This lake seems to be a pickerel sanctuary. Guy on the dock said he caught a 26” there last year. But also said he has never caught any bass, while I caught several.

PB Pickerel.jpg

I focused on flipping and pitching cover and heavy vegetation. Man that little split in the base of the lilly pad is annoying!! I caught most fish in 6-1ft of water. Only a few off of structure that I could visibly see.

Top water bite was on. I caught my first frog fish, on the Spro pivot frog. Good concept, however takes considerable work to get it across pads without getting hung. The better presentation was a weightless worm drug over the tops of pads. That produce more strikes…..and I used that as a search bait before punching the pads.

I did get three good hook ups on a black on black chatter bait. But lost all three!

I used the Yum Beaver/creature bait in Okeechobee. I burned through them…would only get one hook up per bait. But they make good crappie jig head trailers when you split them down the middle.

bait.jpg

Colors:
Black/Blue Pickerel
Desert Cammo (pickerel favorite) Bass liked too
Okeechobee (My favorite) bass and pickerel
Purple worm...Bass liked

Other baits were Missile baits Baby D bomb, Fishhog worm, Big Bite Baits, Big D bomb, and Z man lizard. No strikes on the lizard, but didn’t fish it much.
3/8oz tungsten weight and 3/0 flipping hook. Landed well on the pads and allowed it to be drug off into the gaps. Nice and soft.

Lost more fish than I caught! Weak hooksets, line cuts. Had pickerel cut 17lb fluro and 50lb braid. Should've retied both.

[DonV]

Very nicely done detailed report. The little things are very important and the technique tips are a godsend. Great guidance on the kind of stuff I struggle with or don't know about on most every trip. Thanks. I'm going to come back to this and try to use it as my standard when doing reports.

[perchy]

You are a pickerel catching machine man. Should hit up Rocky Gorge sometime to catch some pike

[Big Mike]

Very nice pickerel. I'm still seeking that elusive 25" mark.

[J. Rentch]

Not familiar, where is Smithville Lake?

[BeyondTheBounds]

Not familiar, where is Smithville Lake?

Eastern shore MD off 404. Good little hole.


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[BeyondTheBounds]

You are a pickerel catching machine man. Should hit up Rocky Gorge sometime to catch some pike

Let's do it! Hit me up in a PM....I can fish the gorge most afternoons so long as I plan ahead a little.


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[BeyondTheBounds]

Very nicely done detailed report. The little things are very important and the technique tips are a godsend. Great guidance on the kind of stuff I struggle with or don't know about on most every trip. Thanks. I'm going to come back to this and try to use it as my standard when doing reports.

Thanks DonV!

Most bass were small, I've heard this lake has been overfished. But the pickerel are abundant.


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[J. Rentch]

Where do you launch?

[BeyondTheBounds]

Where do you launch?

Physical address is Noble Rd federalsburg MD.

https://maryland .maps.arcgis.com/apps/SocialMedia/index.html?appid=87cf3c7ea7594ab59b1a47d4df3951e6

Or

http://dnr2.maryland.gov/Boating/Pag...boatramps.aspx

This is how I find launches...there is also a anglers app, showing everywhere you can fish.

http://gisapps.dnr.state.md.us/Publi...ess/index.html



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[J. Rentch]

Thanks, after I posted the ax., I remembered the link on the Main Page of Snagglined. Appreciate the response.

[BeyondTheBounds]

Thanks, after I posted the ax., I remembered the link on the Main Page of Snagglined. Appreciate the response.

No problem! Remember when my wife showed me that link......I think the clouds parted....and the heavens opened...lol


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[Capt C-Hawk]

I focused on flipping and pitching cover and heavy vegetation. Man that little split in the base of the lilly pad is annoying!!

Great fishing report, sounds like a place to try. Here's something you might try next time, sounds too good to be true but it works.

Capt. Mike Starrett of Indian Head Charters takes his clients to the center of lily pad fields to fish frogs with few if any hang-ups. It's partly the rig and partly the retrieve.

The rig:
Put a bobber stop on your line and slide it up about a foot. Next a small bead followed by a second a little larger (1/8 and 3/16). Tie on your Texas rigged hook and thread it weedless through your frog or swimbait. Slide the bobber stop tight against the beads. This gives you a tappered entry to the pads or other snags.

The retrieve:
This is the part that's hard to get used to. Forget everything you ever learned about twitching or adding action when you're dragging through pads. Cast as far as you can over the pads, POINT YOUR TIP STRAIGHT AT YOUR LURE and use a steady retrieve back to the rod tip. Don't hold your tip high or to the side, just point at the frog and wind.

BPS has packages of bobber stops and little facetted beads. This really works.

[BeyondTheBounds]

Sounds awesome.....gonna give it a try


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[phoenixkeith]

i caught a 6.11 pig from smithville back in march . curse them pickerel ! i hate them things . the bass fishing would be much better if people would start eating some pickerel .