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I hosted an outing today for the Free State Fly Fishers at Unicorn Lake in Millington, MD. I was joined by On the fly, (Harry) and four FSFF members.
Unfortunately we scheduled this event on a day with sustained double digit wind and gusts in the high 20s -- not the best conditions for fly fishing.
However, by working the western shoreline which provided some shelter from the pervasive wind and with judicious anchoring I found I could make
decent casts, albeit in a limited area.
Aside from the wind the first thing I noticed about the pond (I don't know why MD calls it a lake) is that the vegetation on and under the water seems to be ahead of the calendar. Look at this mess at the launch:
P1020689.jpg
Harry later told me he saw water snakes in this muck. If he had seen them before our launch I would not have this report to share with you!
My first catch was this small pickerel. Obviously there also is a lot of vegetation under the water.
P1020691.jpg P1020692.jpg
I caught two more picks between 15 and 17 inches. And I got one at 21 inches:
P1020694.jpg
Each hit this 1/2 inch diameter foam popper with rubber legs and bucktail, a very simple and effective tie:
P1020707.jpg
It actually held up quite well after 5 pickerel hits. One pick got away.
I was using a 6 wt. rod with floating line and 12 pound mono for tippet on a bass leader.
Of course no visit to an Eastern Shore pond would be complete without at least one bluegill on a foam spider. I caught this one on my way back to the launch:
P1020711.jpg
I had a 5 wt. rod rigged with floating line and the spider to chase bluegills. But I cast it only a few times. I was really hoping for a bass so I threw the popper on the 6 wt. the most. No bass though. Like last year Unicorn must have a high pickerel to bass ratio.
Lastly, here are a few photos to show you the thick patches of spatterdock in Unicorn.
P1020708.jpg P1020710.jpg
Picks love this stuff. Cast a popper near it if you want to catch one and watch for the bow wave of water toward your fly before the surface explodes with a splash.
I've had more prolific catching days for sure. But I wanted folks here to know that the topwater bite is active in the ponds. I plan to take advantage of it often in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately we scheduled this event on a day with sustained double digit wind and gusts in the high 20s -- not the best conditions for fly fishing.
However, by working the western shoreline which provided some shelter from the pervasive wind and with judicious anchoring I found I could make
decent casts, albeit in a limited area.
Aside from the wind the first thing I noticed about the pond (I don't know why MD calls it a lake) is that the vegetation on and under the water seems to be ahead of the calendar. Look at this mess at the launch:
P1020689.jpg
Harry later told me he saw water snakes in this muck. If he had seen them before our launch I would not have this report to share with you!
My first catch was this small pickerel. Obviously there also is a lot of vegetation under the water.
P1020691.jpg P1020692.jpg
I caught two more picks between 15 and 17 inches. And I got one at 21 inches:
P1020694.jpg
Each hit this 1/2 inch diameter foam popper with rubber legs and bucktail, a very simple and effective tie:
P1020707.jpg
It actually held up quite well after 5 pickerel hits. One pick got away.
I was using a 6 wt. rod with floating line and 12 pound mono for tippet on a bass leader.
Of course no visit to an Eastern Shore pond would be complete without at least one bluegill on a foam spider. I caught this one on my way back to the launch:
P1020711.jpg
I had a 5 wt. rod rigged with floating line and the spider to chase bluegills. But I cast it only a few times. I was really hoping for a bass so I threw the popper on the 6 wt. the most. No bass though. Like last year Unicorn must have a high pickerel to bass ratio.
Lastly, here are a few photos to show you the thick patches of spatterdock in Unicorn.
P1020708.jpg P1020710.jpg
Picks love this stuff. Cast a popper near it if you want to catch one and watch for the bow wave of water toward your fly before the surface explodes with a splash.
I've had more prolific catching days for sure. But I wanted folks here to know that the topwater bite is active in the ponds. I plan to take advantage of it often in the coming weeks.
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