Wet Days in Delaware and a Tough Bite

[Mark]

Five of my fishing buddies joined me this Wednesday and Thursday for our annual overnight Trap Pond trip. We had chosen the dates for this this outing months ago. For those familiar with the campground, we reserved a string of waterfront cabins and yurts so that we could beach our kayaks at our campsites. Of course, if we could predict the future we have chosen better weather for our trip!

However, it almost seemed as if there was a giant umbrella over Trap while we fished. It rained hard Wednesday morning and night. We had a real frog-strangling deluge last night. But somehow we managed to get an afternoon and evening session on the water Wednesday and a morning and evening sessions on the water yesterday. We even had a very brief glimpse of a blue sky and the sun yesterday. This morning, however was a complete washout. We left without fishing today.

The bite was not great Wednesday and Thursday but we each caught fish -- typical Eastern Shore pond inhabitants, bass, crappie, bluegills, pickerel and even a bullhead and channel cat.

I caught 10 bass and three picks and lost a few others of each species.

This was my largest bass:

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I caught another that was 15 inches.

Most were 12 to 13 inches like this one:

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All except one hit fly rod poppers. The exception took a weedless paddletail. It decided to leave during the photo session:

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I lost two very large pickerel boat-side. One bit through my leader and one jumped and spit the hook after a lengthy fight. But I caught three about this size, two on the fly, one on a spinner:

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It's difficult to see in the photo but the pickerel above had a severely rusted worm hook embedded in its jaw. Clearly, it had been in there a long time. I removed the hook before releasing it.

Perhaps the lingering weather front depressed the bite. We each fished hard with many casts between hookups. A couple of guys even resorted to trolling! Believe it or not, Crappies obliged them. We've certainly had more productive pond outings. But the best thing about these annual May trips is the camaraderie with like-minded individuals, the grilled camp dinners, the beverages and great conversation each evening.

[Big Mike]

Sounds like a fun time with good friends. At least your trip wasn’t today, that would have been a washout.

[J. Rentch]

As Mark said, slow fishing, great company, and we got a day and a half that we did not expect. My highlight was landing a nice pickerel just in front of our campsite at dusk on a small spinner. Wasn't big, but pulled hard.

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My other story was a technique started by an old member of this group-Terry Hill. When bored from no hookups, he decided to just troll up and down the pond with small crappie lures. I tried this and landed several Crappie, not big, but interesting way of fishing in a freshwater pond. Thanks Terry!

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Hopefully we will have better weather next year.

[J.A. Veil]

I missed the first day of the trip, but arrived at 1:00 on Thurs. I immediately got on the water and spent all afternoon and several hours after dinner fishing. I had expected rain the entire time (it rained during the entire drive to Trap Pond from Annapolis on Thurs morning). But conditions were fully dry to an occasional light drizzle -- and certainly fishable.

The fish did not bite as well this week as they had on several previous May trips there. I cast small twister tails to the shoreline and got very few bites. I recalled that several years ago, one of our group had caught crappies by trolling. I decided to try what I refer to as ultralight tackle trolling (ULTT). I was quickly rewarded with two pickerel and a bunch of crappie by trolling slowly around the different stands of cypress trees.

In my one day of fishing, I caught three largemouth bass by casting (all 13" or less), two pickerel by trolling, and about a dozen crappies (some by casting and some by trolling). We did not have our traditional campfire, but did get together in one of the yurts for adult beverages, storytelling, and good camaraderie. It was not fun packing up on Friday morning in a downpour, but otherwise it was a good time.

[ronaultmtd]

ANY day on the water is a good day, John...sounds like you had everything you needed for a great time...not getting skunked helps a lot...

[Mark]

I think this is the 4th consecutive year we've done a two night trip to Trap in May. It's the first time rain has interfered. But the rain could not ruin a good thing.

Certainly, tidal fishing offers larger catches, more hookups and a faster pace than Eastern Shore ponds. But for sheer relaxation in a stunningly pretty environment, even in the rain, it's hard to beat what Trap Pond offers. Its most distinguishing feature is its bald cypress trees as seen here:

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I have paddled among these trees often. Aside from their ageless and magnificent presence, they are fish magnets. I cast flies from the outside of each stand into and around the cypress trunks. Once I enter the canopy, I put up the fly rod and use spinning tackle to send lures deep into the wooden cover. Getting a hooked bass or pickerel out of the trees can sometimes be a challenge. But it's always fun no matter which end of the line wins the battle. It's just a great place to fish and I never tire of it.

Add good company to the mix and it's a few days in May I always look forward to.