Stress Release

A good friend of mine named Ben was set to get married midway through June. With two weeks to go until the big day, Ben was still busy working overtime and spending the precious free time he had planning for the big day with his future wife. Fortunately, I was able to break him free on a beautiful weekend day to provide some much needed stress free fishing…

I decided to take him to an old mill pond somewhere on the eastern shore of Maryland to catch some bass, pickerel, and an assortment of other warm water fish species. Upon arrival, we unloaded two kayaks and ported them through woods and poison ivy to the dam creating the pond out of a creek.   Ben brought a spinning rod for its efficiency and I brought my fly rod to throw some topwater flies. Right from the start, Ben started to catch bass and pickerel and the action rarely let up throughout most of the day.

The action was a little slower on my end but I'd rather have the exhilaration of a topwater take than the slower "I've got one" take of a plastic worm jigged along the bottom. I was able to land a few pickerel on a variation of the pole dancer fly. The pickerel would rocket off the bottom and violently slash at the fly as it walked the dog on the surface. The largest cleared the water by a full two feet before I set the hook into the side of his mouth. 

Farther up in the creek, we found the most consistent action and the larger bass. Here, the fish have plenty of places to hide and ambush their prey from under log jams or the undercut banks. Towards the end of our fishing window, we both found the bass we were looking for and left perfectly content with the half day of fishing. 

I can't imagine a more stressful event to plan for than a wedding. For Ben, I had to get him out on the water to enjoy a relaxing and fun fishing trip to get his mind off of everything. 

Fishing...

Ben's first cast...

Is it still the year of the bluegill?

Getting way back in it...

Nice Pickerel...

Angry...