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I enjoy fishing Eastern Shore millponds. I routinely fish public access ponds – those managed by either the MD DNR or DE DNREC.
But an opportunity arose for me today to fish a private farm pond on the Eastern Shore. All I had to do was to ask permission. I approached the door with some hesitation. However, a very pleasant lady greeted me, and said, “I see you’re here to fish. Well, have a good time.”
However, fishing under a sign like this one even with permission is unsettling:
P1060815.jpg
On the other hand, that sign implied to me a fishery that was perhaps underutilized. I had visions of 24-inch pickerels, 5-pound bass and 10-inch bluegills.
It didn’t work out that way. For the first two hours I cast a size 2/0 Bendback Minnow on a 7-weight rod hoping for a pickerel or bass. I caught neither. In fact, I had no bites. And I had targeted all the proper fishy spots for those two species.
So, I took break for a while and ate a sandwich I had purchased at a Royal Farms Store before I started fishing. That seemed to be an appropriate source for lunch given I was fishing a farm pond. Of course, on the Eastern Shore there is a Royal Farms store on nearly every street corner. They’re hard to miss.
While eating lunch, I saw adult and juvenile bald eagles perching in trees and soaring overhead. Plus, I saw a deer walking through a wooded area bordering the pond munching on new growth. And turtles, lots of water turtles, some as with shells as big as a hubcap were poking their heads above water.
After lunch I shifted tactics and cast this fly on a 5-wt. rod:
IMG_6205.jpg
I don’t know if it was the fly or the time of day, or if I had just lucked into the right spot. But I caught 12 bluegills most of which were 7 to 8-inches in the next hour in about a 200-foot stretch of water. Here are two:
P1060808.jpg
P1060810.jpg
Then I caught this little bass on the same bluegill fly:
P1060813.jpg
I wondered if the bass and picks had finally awakened. So I gave up on the hot bluegill bite. I put my 5-wt. back into its holder and I tried my 7 wt. again.
I caught a second little bass. This one hit the Bendback:
P1060806.jpg
Then I hooked this somewhat respectable bass (compared to the first two) on the Bendback:
IMG_6207.jpg
That was my last fish of the day. I kept casting the Bendback, but I had no more hits. Plus, the windspeed rose as predicted making it difficult to stay on the structure I wanted to target. After about 3.5 total hours of fishing I called it a day.
I was pleased even though my catches did not match my anticipation for this pond. For one thing, the trip spared me a fishless March. I had been able to get out only two prior times this month, both tidal, and both were fishless. Secondly, I had injured my casting arm a few weeks ago by lifting a heavy object. I was pleased today to know that I can pitch a double header with my fly rod if I need too. No arm pain while casting.
I will visit that farm pond again in April or May to see if I can locate its larger inhabitants. Also, I will enjoy the springtime fishing in the public access ponds across the bridge.
But an opportunity arose for me today to fish a private farm pond on the Eastern Shore. All I had to do was to ask permission. I approached the door with some hesitation. However, a very pleasant lady greeted me, and said, “I see you’re here to fish. Well, have a good time.”
However, fishing under a sign like this one even with permission is unsettling:
P1060815.jpg
On the other hand, that sign implied to me a fishery that was perhaps underutilized. I had visions of 24-inch pickerels, 5-pound bass and 10-inch bluegills.
It didn’t work out that way. For the first two hours I cast a size 2/0 Bendback Minnow on a 7-weight rod hoping for a pickerel or bass. I caught neither. In fact, I had no bites. And I had targeted all the proper fishy spots for those two species.
So, I took break for a while and ate a sandwich I had purchased at a Royal Farms Store before I started fishing. That seemed to be an appropriate source for lunch given I was fishing a farm pond. Of course, on the Eastern Shore there is a Royal Farms store on nearly every street corner. They’re hard to miss.
While eating lunch, I saw adult and juvenile bald eagles perching in trees and soaring overhead. Plus, I saw a deer walking through a wooded area bordering the pond munching on new growth. And turtles, lots of water turtles, some as with shells as big as a hubcap were poking their heads above water.
After lunch I shifted tactics and cast this fly on a 5-wt. rod:
IMG_6205.jpg
I don’t know if it was the fly or the time of day, or if I had just lucked into the right spot. But I caught 12 bluegills most of which were 7 to 8-inches in the next hour in about a 200-foot stretch of water. Here are two:
P1060808.jpg
P1060810.jpg
Then I caught this little bass on the same bluegill fly:
P1060813.jpg
I wondered if the bass and picks had finally awakened. So I gave up on the hot bluegill bite. I put my 5-wt. back into its holder and I tried my 7 wt. again.
I caught a second little bass. This one hit the Bendback:
P1060806.jpg
Then I hooked this somewhat respectable bass (compared to the first two) on the Bendback:
IMG_6207.jpg
That was my last fish of the day. I kept casting the Bendback, but I had no more hits. Plus, the windspeed rose as predicted making it difficult to stay on the structure I wanted to target. After about 3.5 total hours of fishing I called it a day.
I was pleased even though my catches did not match my anticipation for this pond. For one thing, the trip spared me a fishless March. I had been able to get out only two prior times this month, both tidal, and both were fishless. Secondly, I had injured my casting arm a few weeks ago by lifting a heavy object. I was pleased today to know that I can pitch a double header with my fly rod if I need too. No arm pain while casting.
I will visit that farm pond again in April or May to see if I can locate its larger inhabitants. Also, I will enjoy the springtime fishing in the public access ponds across the bridge.
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