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Long ago my parents would take me to and old Mill Pond to fish. This was about 30 years ago and it was on my list of "wild" ponds to check.
I did a parcel search and the pond, or what we found left of it, is owned by the MD Department of Natural Resources. I also found that the 200 acres or so on the discharge creek was owned by the State of Maryland and it appears they scooped up some farm land as it became available. The only issue is the only "easy" access to the pond is private property. You could walk the discharge creek out of it and be on state property but the only walk able route would be to literally wade in the creek. There are power lines that are on private property that will get you close. You still have to ford a small creek and go through a marsh.
Luckily enough for us the power company had been there some time in the recent past and went through the marsh with their tracked crawler. This left a trail through the marsh grass for us to follow. If not for the trail this would be dealing with a major obstacle.
This is a look back over the area we just crossed.
Once we got out of the marsh area and out of the low lands it was a nice stroll down a farm field. One area was heavily posted "No Trespassing" but we didn't cross that line. That was a smaller 12 acre parcel I noted on the parcel search.
Once we got to the pond location we ventured into the creek outflow and walked up the creek.
Unfortunately we discovered one section of the damn has been broken and hasn't been repaired. This happened in the late 80's and has never been fixed.
There is still a small pond there but the level is 3'-5' down from what I remembered as a child.
This where the old spillway outflow was before the dam break.
We fished the old spillway pool. This place was where I always fished as a kid. The water was stagnant and dark. Back in the day this was a bustling pool with lots of flow.
It was a good trip for exploring. We each caught a pickerel so we didn't get skunked this trip. There is still a small pond there that is basically nothing but the original creek channel. I don't think this pond warrants dragging kayaks back there but it does give me some notes to add to my pond data base. Hopefully I will have hit all the ponds I have pinned in the next 3 years. You never know how a pond will turn out to be if you don't try.
This is the third pond that was there when I was a kid that no longer exists. It's a sad feeling as I remember catching a big bass on my dad's pole there and also landing my largest bluegill there.
I did a parcel search and the pond, or what we found left of it, is owned by the MD Department of Natural Resources. I also found that the 200 acres or so on the discharge creek was owned by the State of Maryland and it appears they scooped up some farm land as it became available. The only issue is the only "easy" access to the pond is private property. You could walk the discharge creek out of it and be on state property but the only walk able route would be to literally wade in the creek. There are power lines that are on private property that will get you close. You still have to ford a small creek and go through a marsh.
Luckily enough for us the power company had been there some time in the recent past and went through the marsh with their tracked crawler. This left a trail through the marsh grass for us to follow. If not for the trail this would be dealing with a major obstacle.
This is a look back over the area we just crossed.
Once we got out of the marsh area and out of the low lands it was a nice stroll down a farm field. One area was heavily posted "No Trespassing" but we didn't cross that line. That was a smaller 12 acre parcel I noted on the parcel search.
Once we got to the pond location we ventured into the creek outflow and walked up the creek.
Unfortunately we discovered one section of the damn has been broken and hasn't been repaired. This happened in the late 80's and has never been fixed.
There is still a small pond there but the level is 3'-5' down from what I remembered as a child.
This where the old spillway outflow was before the dam break.
We fished the old spillway pool. This place was where I always fished as a kid. The water was stagnant and dark. Back in the day this was a bustling pool with lots of flow.
It was a good trip for exploring. We each caught a pickerel so we didn't get skunked this trip. There is still a small pond there that is basically nothing but the original creek channel. I don't think this pond warrants dragging kayaks back there but it does give me some notes to add to my pond data base. Hopefully I will have hit all the ponds I have pinned in the next 3 years. You never know how a pond will turn out to be if you don't try.
This is the third pond that was there when I was a kid that no longer exists. It's a sad feeling as I remember catching a big bass on my dad's pole there and also landing my largest bluegill there.
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