Tweet
Six members of the resident old guys group (Harlan Budowski, J. Rentch, J.A. Veil, Dennis Roundy, newcomer Tom Sullivan and me) ventured to Trap Pond this week for 2 nights and 3 days of fishing.
We were greeted Monday afternoon with gusting winds in the high 20s that caused us to do the sensible thing...sit down at the campsite and gorge on Royal Farms chicken and salads.
Fortunately, the wind subsided between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. as if someone threw a switch. Out on the water each of us went to try our luck. I don't recall the specifics but I'm reasonably sure we all had decent pullage that night. John Veil reported a pickerel within 5 minutes of launching. That would set the tone as John became the pickerel master of the trip, catching far more picks than any of the other participants.
My first fish turned out to the be the best of my trip. This largemouth hit a black foam popper in the back of the pond tight to shore:
P1020738.jpg
That fish also set a tone. I primarily fly fished and mostly I used poppers. Each and every hit I had on the popper was subtle, including the good sized fish above. I caught four more bass in the 14 to 15 inch range and each barely rippled the surfaced as it sucked down the fly. That held for bluegills and crappies that also hit my popper. Like most fly anglers I like explosive surface hits. That was definitely not the case on this outing. I don't know why the fish were so subdued other than to think the extremely cool nights we had on Sunday and Monday lowered their aggressiveness.
In any case, I did manage a fair number of bass, bluegills and crappies on surface flies, although the crappies were each very small:
P1020740.jpg P1020770.jpg
Oddly, I could not hook a pickerel on the fly this trip. Normally, they attack poppers in May. John Veil was catching his on a small twister tail on a jig. Only when I tried the same method, biting an inch off the head of my 3 inch twister tail did I succeed:
P1020771.jpg
We ate and drank well. In addition to chicken on the first night we had excellent brats with onions and peppers grilled by John Rentch on night two. Harlan brought wine and snacks for both nights. Dennis and Tom brought baked beans, watermelon and firewood. John Veil brought the all important coffee and pastries for breakfast for both days.
And we had a freeloader. Here's John Veil discussing pickerel tactics from a local pond pro.
IMG_0060.jpg
The same duck with distinctive head markings visited us last year. It was then that we learned he likes fried chicken. This year we learned he also likes Italian subs. In fact, there was nothing from our table that this duck would not eat.
Here's Harlan and John Rentch relaxing after dinner, decked out in Snaggedline gear:
P1020762.jpg
And here's Tom and Dennis on the water:
P1020764.jpg P1020767.jpg
Dennis was fighting a nice pickerel in the above shot.
So thanks guys for a real nice trip. We'll certainly do it again.
Wait, there's more! -- John Veil and Harlan, even though they had their fill of pickerels at trap, decided they wanted to catch even more toothy fish. On Wednesday morning they headed to relatively nearby Ocean City to hunt down those chopper blues that others have mentioned here on Snaggedline. I know they had success and I look forward to their report and photos.
We were greeted Monday afternoon with gusting winds in the high 20s that caused us to do the sensible thing...sit down at the campsite and gorge on Royal Farms chicken and salads.
Fortunately, the wind subsided between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. as if someone threw a switch. Out on the water each of us went to try our luck. I don't recall the specifics but I'm reasonably sure we all had decent pullage that night. John Veil reported a pickerel within 5 minutes of launching. That would set the tone as John became the pickerel master of the trip, catching far more picks than any of the other participants.
My first fish turned out to the be the best of my trip. This largemouth hit a black foam popper in the back of the pond tight to shore:
P1020738.jpg
That fish also set a tone. I primarily fly fished and mostly I used poppers. Each and every hit I had on the popper was subtle, including the good sized fish above. I caught four more bass in the 14 to 15 inch range and each barely rippled the surfaced as it sucked down the fly. That held for bluegills and crappies that also hit my popper. Like most fly anglers I like explosive surface hits. That was definitely not the case on this outing. I don't know why the fish were so subdued other than to think the extremely cool nights we had on Sunday and Monday lowered their aggressiveness.
In any case, I did manage a fair number of bass, bluegills and crappies on surface flies, although the crappies were each very small:
P1020740.jpg P1020770.jpg
Oddly, I could not hook a pickerel on the fly this trip. Normally, they attack poppers in May. John Veil was catching his on a small twister tail on a jig. Only when I tried the same method, biting an inch off the head of my 3 inch twister tail did I succeed:
P1020771.jpg
We ate and drank well. In addition to chicken on the first night we had excellent brats with onions and peppers grilled by John Rentch on night two. Harlan brought wine and snacks for both nights. Dennis and Tom brought baked beans, watermelon and firewood. John Veil brought the all important coffee and pastries for breakfast for both days.
And we had a freeloader. Here's John Veil discussing pickerel tactics from a local pond pro.
IMG_0060.jpg
The same duck with distinctive head markings visited us last year. It was then that we learned he likes fried chicken. This year we learned he also likes Italian subs. In fact, there was nothing from our table that this duck would not eat.
Here's Harlan and John Rentch relaxing after dinner, decked out in Snaggedline gear:
P1020762.jpg
And here's Tom and Dennis on the water:
P1020764.jpg P1020767.jpg
Dennis was fighting a nice pickerel in the above shot.
So thanks guys for a real nice trip. We'll certainly do it again.
Wait, there's more! -- John Veil and Harlan, even though they had their fill of pickerels at trap, decided they wanted to catch even more toothy fish. On Wednesday morning they headed to relatively nearby Ocean City to hunt down those chopper blues that others have mentioned here on Snaggedline. I know they had success and I look forward to their report and photos.
.
Comment