Ready for Action -- I Hope

[Mark]

This weekend I'm heading across the bridge hoping to meet some Eastern Shore bass.

I made these two foam poppers yesterday for the trip:

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In the past I would tie a lot of flies over the winter. I still tie off season, but not as much. I enjoy making flies for specific trips, choosing colors and styles on a hunch. I'll find out if I chose well on Saturday.

[J. Rentch]

Mark,
Best of luck this weekend, those poppers hopefully will do the trick.

[kevinfry]

Nice can't wait for the photos!

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[DanMarino]

Fantastic

Those look great, Mark. I’ve never caught a pickerel on a popper before. Looking forward to your photo report.

[Mark]

Thanks guys. The foam holds up well. But sometimes I have to replace the tails.

Tom -- I think picks come up more often at this time of year than they do in cold water...although I had one hit a dry and floating bullethead darter on the surface last December. I usually wait for the spring to try poppers on them. Here's one from a prior trip to Unicorn Lake:

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Interestingly they usually get attached to a popper the same way they do to a streamer. The hookset is often in the corner of their mouth.

Kevin -- I'll send photos if I catch anything worthwhile.

Mainly, I'm anxious to get on the water. It has been a while since I've been out.

[CarsonNash]

Best of luck.

I have yet to catch a fish on top water while fly fishing. With how much I enjoy a conventional topwater blow up, I imagine on the fly is that much better.

Report back if there’s any action. In my neck of the woods bass are just coming off beds. Time to start throwing a frog!

[Mark]

Carson,

You're fortunate to have access to that area of the Severn.

I launch at either Jonas Green or Tucker Street into Weems when I visit the Severn. I've never caught a LM bass near those areas -- never seen a frog in the water there either!

[CarsonNash]

Ready for Action -- I Hope

Sorry, maybe I worded that poorly. I was referring to various small ponds that I fish in the area (and MOCO), not the Severn.

I, also, have never seen a LMB or a frog in the Severn.

[Mark]

Sorry, maybe I worded that poorly. I was referring to various small ponds that I fish in the area (and MOCO), not the Severn.

I, also, have never seen a LMB or a frog in the Severn.

Carson,

No problem. I thought that maybe the far northern part of the river might have LM bass and frogs.

Frogs are also extremely susceptible to environmental hazards. Their presence in a body of water is generally an indicator of the health of that water.

[Mark]

I tested my poppers yesterday on an Eastern Shore pond. It wasn't the best day to fish topwater for bass with a high sun and a bright blue sky.

The black and orange one caught the eye of a small bass immediately:

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Then it hooked this bluegill whose eyes were bigger than its stomach:

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After that it went to a watery grave. I hooked a nice sized bass. I got the fish to the boat and the loop knot broke. Perhaps I nicked it with my clippers when I cut the tag. It's rare for that knot to fail. In any case, I hope the bass has spit the popper by now.

I then tied on the olive popper I made for the outing and caught 4 more bass. This was the largest:

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This tiny crappie liked it too:

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I caught a lot of undersized crappie yesterday on a variety of flies.

I also took my spinning rod. I knew the vegetation would be thick in areas and there's no way to throw flies in cover like this:

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I used this soft plastic rigged weedless and weightless:

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And I picked up my largest fish of the day, a 24 inch pickerel. It exploded on the lure as I dragged it slowly through the growth.

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All things considered it was not a particularly aggressive bite yesterday, aside from pesky goldfish-sized crappie and equally small blue gills. I fished hard for the few decent fish I hooked. But it was great to be on the water after a long spring absence.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work on Trap Pond. You caught quite a few fish during the morning.

[kevinfry]

Nice work on Trap Pond. You caught quite a few fish during the morning.

Poppers have worked good for me in bright sunlight when there are lots of dragonflies around....flyrod poppers.with legs and small clear torpedoes (heddon lure) slay em when fish are wanting to eat big dragonflies

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[Mark]

Poppers have worked good for me in bright sunlight when there are lots of dragonflies around....flyrod poppers.with legs and small clear torpedoes (heddon lure) slay em when fish are wanting to eat big dragonflies

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I cannot say I've replicated your success in that manner. I find the bass more willing to rise in low light, in shade or on cloudy days. However, indeed when the big blue dragon flies are flying around I've had good success with blue foam poppers.

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