Huge Surprise

[RavensDfense]

I am posting this here only because one, I caught this fish from shore a few minutes after I pulled my yak up to shore and two because it is a pretty odd catch. I live on Johnshons Pond in Salisbury, MD and took the outback out last night. Typical evening with pickeral, crappie, and a few 1-2 lb large mouth.

Then as I was gather my rods, I decided to fling a spro topwater frog popper into the dead middle of the pond. Two pulls later resulted in a mega air jaws-like strike and a 10 minute fight up and down my backyard. Here is the result....I never thouoght Id catch this in a fresh water, land locked pond. Who needs salt? He was approx. 33-35 inches.

[Shady]

Awesome! Surprises like this are the reason I go fishing. You just never really know what could end up on the end of your line on a given day. There are quite a few places in MD that you can catch landlocked freshwater Striper: Rocky Gorge Reservoir, Susquehanna Reservoir, and Liberty Reservoir to name a few, but I didn't know about this one! Probably my best surprise while fishing was a 12lb channel cat in a small farm pond and then I took my then girlfriend (now wife) to fish there the next evening and she caught an 13lb channel cat. I'm pretty sure your surprise tops mine though. Good work!

[mytmouse]

Nice catch! I bet that was a surprise! I might have to come down your way to launch!

[Capt C-Hawk]

Nice fish and a great place to have a backyard

[DOGFISH]

Don't forget, next time you catch some 18" stripers, replenish the stock. You may have some other fisherman to thank for that catch. That could be fun. The stripers in the reservoirs are said to be reproducing.

All in all, nice catch. Bet is was a surprise. As a kayak fisher, that is a great place to have as a backyard.

Question: Just where is Johnson Pond in Salisbury? I have seen it listed among catches of citation fish but have never really looked into where it was.

[Grilled]

whoot whoot.....nice!

[DanMarino]

Catch and release?

Is it still alive?

[RavensDfense]

Thanks everyone. Johnson's pond is located off of Lake Street in Salisbury. I fish the far west end of the pond, nearest to Rt. 50. It is very large, Id say at least 2 miles in length. Johnson's lake seems more appropriate. I have caught 8-10 nice large mouth and more 20+ inch pickerel than I can count since getting my Outback in mid Aug. A Mepp #4 Silver/hairless spinner is the ticket for the pickerel.

The fish is very much still alive. He was still just long enough to snap the cell phone pics and was released.

If anyone decides to make a trip down and would like a fishing partner, send me a PM. I am always ready to go.

[DanMarino]

Where to Launch?

Awesome fish. I want to catch one of those.

I realize that you might just launch your kayak from your back yard, but is there an official boat ramp for the "pond" should I decide to make a stop there one day?

Tom

[frettr00]

Wow...I thought only hybrids were in fresh water. That's not a hybrid...

[J.A. Veil]

That is a great catch anywhere, but to get it out of Johnson's Pond is extra sweet. Nicely done.

[RavensDfense]

Public Landing

Awesome fish. I want to catch one of those.

I realize that you might just launch your kayak from your back yard, but is there an official boat ramp for the "pond" should I decide to make a stop there one day?

Tom

Tom,
There is a public landing. It is located at the corner of Rose Street and Lake Street on the western side of the pond. I live in the far north portion (i stand corrected from earlier. When I looked at google earth, it made it made sense) and do not normally get down that far, but it is a fairly easy paddle/peddle. There are two coves to your right hand side as you head north that have a lot of structure and consistently hold something fishy. Hope to see you out there. Troll a Mepp spinner on your way up....lots of white/yellow perch to be caught. I have an olive Outback with a Ravens sticker on the left bow and a Salt Life sticker on the other side.

Doug

[jffoley]

Nice fish! And released, too. Great job!

[ronaultmtd]

Doug- I think Hobie calls that olive color "Moss Green"- I got one- new to me- I have yet to get it in the water-

[MetroMan]

Nice going on that catch there!!

Kudos for the release too