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Fellow Free State Fly Fishing member Don Vance and I fished Smithville Lake today on MD's Eastern Shore.
Here's my ride moments before launching:
P1040728 (2).jpg
I was determined to make amends for my recent tidal water skunks. I was carrying two fly rods and a spinning rod. I had a popper on one fly rod for bass, a foam spider for bluegills on the other, and a paddletail on the spinning rod rigged weedless and weightless. The spinning rod was my secondary choice for bass.
Unfortunately, Don and I had barely launched and the heavens opened, thunder roared and the wind howled. We hurried back to the launch and waited out the rain for about 90 minutes in Don's vehicle. We solved many of the world's problems during that rain delay with some excellent conversation.
The storm passed around 11:00 a.m. so we headed back to the water. However, the fish were clearly unsettled. The bite was hard for about two hours. Then it turned on somewhat. Try as I might, I could not raise a bass with my fly rod popper. They simply would not come up. I tried the edges of pads and drew no interest. I cast as close to shore as I could and caught a lot of pond slime, but no bass. Not one rise.
So I picked up the spinning rod. I worked inside the pads and caught one 12 to 13 incher. It come up through the growth to hit the paddletail. But evidently it had no friends because I got no more hits inside the pads. I tried many other lily pad locations too. The one I caught must have been a lone wolf. Then I found the key. The bass wanted shade and they were tight to shore. I mean right next to shore. Further they were lazy. I already mentioned that they would not come up. Nor would they chase the paddletail. You had to land the lure right on top of them to get their attention. Each of next 8 bass I caught attacked the lure as soon as it hit the water. There was no tap, tap, tap. They grabbed it immediately and I hooked them fast. The two largest of my catches were a 15.5 incher and a 14.5 incher:
P1040754.jpg P1040759.jpg
Don discovered the same pattern. He also worked a weedless and weightless soft plastic:
P1040738.jpg
Don got eight including 3 over 14 inches. He also caught 4 crappie.
Now to bluegills. While I searched for bass with the popper bluegills kept getting in the way. They were also in the shade but they were 10 feet or so from shore.
In fact, they got so pesky I decided to play a game. With apologies to poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Bluegills, how do I catch thee? Let me count the ways."
By popper:
P1040761.jpg
By foam spider:
P1040745.jpg
By wooly bugger:
P1040746.jpg
I finished with 15 but I could have easily caught 2 dozen. Where Smithville's bass were lazy, the bluegills were active. For example, this one swam fast right toward me and got tangled in the line as I tossed it overboard during the retrieve:
P1040744.jpg
Do you notice anything about the bluegills on the Hog Trough in the photos above? Each was just shy of 8 inches. Every bluegill I caught today was that size. Hence the title of this thread referring to "bluegill clones". In all my years fishing, I don't recall catching so many bluegills in one outing that were the same size.
The wind was pervasive today heading from the dam straight up the lake. It was difficult to hold position and I anchored a few times which I rarely do. However, the biggest problem was the slime. It's getting pretty thick in areas and you cannot always see it before casting. Believe it or not, there is a wooly bugger in this mess:
P1040752.jpg
Lastly, I'm accustomed to an audience of turtles when I fish Eastern Shore ponds. I saw plenty today sunning themselves on downed wood. I even saw one in the parking lot scooping out a hole with her back legs where I presume she intended to lay eggs. I also had other spectators today. These deer watched me intently then scampered away as I drifted closer:
P1040750 (4).jpg
So, after a stormy start to our day, Don and I were glad we waited for the clouds to clear. We did OK. Plus the weather must have deterred others from coming. We were the only two anglers on the lake. it was a good day.
Here's my ride moments before launching:
P1040728 (2).jpg
I was determined to make amends for my recent tidal water skunks. I was carrying two fly rods and a spinning rod. I had a popper on one fly rod for bass, a foam spider for bluegills on the other, and a paddletail on the spinning rod rigged weedless and weightless. The spinning rod was my secondary choice for bass.
Unfortunately, Don and I had barely launched and the heavens opened, thunder roared and the wind howled. We hurried back to the launch and waited out the rain for about 90 minutes in Don's vehicle. We solved many of the world's problems during that rain delay with some excellent conversation.
The storm passed around 11:00 a.m. so we headed back to the water. However, the fish were clearly unsettled. The bite was hard for about two hours. Then it turned on somewhat. Try as I might, I could not raise a bass with my fly rod popper. They simply would not come up. I tried the edges of pads and drew no interest. I cast as close to shore as I could and caught a lot of pond slime, but no bass. Not one rise.
So I picked up the spinning rod. I worked inside the pads and caught one 12 to 13 incher. It come up through the growth to hit the paddletail. But evidently it had no friends because I got no more hits inside the pads. I tried many other lily pad locations too. The one I caught must have been a lone wolf. Then I found the key. The bass wanted shade and they were tight to shore. I mean right next to shore. Further they were lazy. I already mentioned that they would not come up. Nor would they chase the paddletail. You had to land the lure right on top of them to get their attention. Each of next 8 bass I caught attacked the lure as soon as it hit the water. There was no tap, tap, tap. They grabbed it immediately and I hooked them fast. The two largest of my catches were a 15.5 incher and a 14.5 incher:
P1040754.jpg P1040759.jpg
Don discovered the same pattern. He also worked a weedless and weightless soft plastic:
P1040738.jpg
Don got eight including 3 over 14 inches. He also caught 4 crappie.
Now to bluegills. While I searched for bass with the popper bluegills kept getting in the way. They were also in the shade but they were 10 feet or so from shore.
In fact, they got so pesky I decided to play a game. With apologies to poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Bluegills, how do I catch thee? Let me count the ways."
By popper:
P1040761.jpg
By foam spider:
P1040745.jpg
By wooly bugger:
P1040746.jpg
I finished with 15 but I could have easily caught 2 dozen. Where Smithville's bass were lazy, the bluegills were active. For example, this one swam fast right toward me and got tangled in the line as I tossed it overboard during the retrieve:
P1040744.jpg
Do you notice anything about the bluegills on the Hog Trough in the photos above? Each was just shy of 8 inches. Every bluegill I caught today was that size. Hence the title of this thread referring to "bluegill clones". In all my years fishing, I don't recall catching so many bluegills in one outing that were the same size.
The wind was pervasive today heading from the dam straight up the lake. It was difficult to hold position and I anchored a few times which I rarely do. However, the biggest problem was the slime. It's getting pretty thick in areas and you cannot always see it before casting. Believe it or not, there is a wooly bugger in this mess:
P1040752.jpg
Lastly, I'm accustomed to an audience of turtles when I fish Eastern Shore ponds. I saw plenty today sunning themselves on downed wood. I even saw one in the parking lot scooping out a hole with her back legs where I presume she intended to lay eggs. I also had other spectators today. These deer watched me intently then scampered away as I drifted closer:
P1040750 (4).jpg
So, after a stormy start to our day, Don and I were glad we waited for the clouds to clear. We did OK. Plus the weather must have deterred others from coming. We were the only two anglers on the lake. it was a good day.
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