Therapy

[bignose]

I managed to get out and fish a small private pond from the shore today.
In 45 minutes I caught 3 bass, all small.

It didn't matter.

For 45 minutes, all was right with the world.

[J. Rentch]

Glad you got out, have been house bound for a month!

[Mark]

I could certainly use a little of that therapy Stu.

Today concludes my first fishless April in years.

That's just not right!

[ronaultmtd]

We have a bit better situation down South, but not by much....still in the “hot zone” so social distancing, face coverings are a must for us old anglers...the open launches makes for more options for us, but when I roll up to one that has a line of boats waiting their turn to launch, I turn around and head for a more remote site...the more popular launches are pretty full...even at six a.m. I found a nice bunch of White Perch my last trip that were cooperating. A few Speckled trout are here but the colder than normal April and May have delayed our normal summer patterns. Tropical Storm Arthur and the developing rain patterns haven’t helped. The worst culprit is the gusting winds. Even in somewhat sheltered waters, it makes fishing tough. May is always fickle weather and wind is usually higher in May than June, so there is hope this incessant wind will lay down. One bright spot is the news that medium size croakers have been found as far north as Cobb Island. You may remember that area of the Potomac used to have a reliable big croaker fishery of croakers up to three pounds. Hopefully, we can safely get out and catch a few fish soon. Tight lines, my friends.

[Mark]

Ron,

Agree. Our pervasive wind as much as this damned virus has kept me grounded since the governor allowed recreational fishing to restart.

I did have a wonderful and long overdue MD pond outing last week with many agreeable bluegills hitting on top and underneath. I slimed a new boat with its first catches and christened a new flyrod in a single outing. It was great to be back on the water after a two month layup. Like all here, I'm anxious to get out again.

[bignose]

I went to the same little community pond today, this time armed with a fly rod.
I haven't done much fly fishing in the past couple of years, but Mark's casting challenge of a couple of weeks ago, kinda piqued my interest at trying this again.

So I flailed around the pond for about 1/2 an hour, catching only one 4" Bluegill on a black wooly bugger. Doesn't matter, it was a fish!

Is it me or are the water bodies being very slow to warm up this Spring? There were a few signs of Bass and Bluegill spawning nests, but the fish were definitely not active.

[Mark]

Good for you Stu. I hope you try the long rod more often.

Smithville's water was 60 to 61 degrees a week ago. It may be cooler today with our chilly nights and strong winds since then.

I saw no bedding bass and no bedding bluegills. I caught no bass. I tried for bass, casting poppers and streamers to likely spots where they should be holding. I got no interest. Fortunately bluegills in open water treated me very well. Like white perch in tidal waters, bluegills make many pond trips worthwhile. They may have been queueing up for their pending nuptials.

A wooly bugger is great "find-em" fly. Often I'll use it to locate willing fish and then switch to topwater.