Finally on the Board in 2026

[Johnsfolly]

So work and weather has kept me from fishing out in Maryland since the end of November. I knew that there would be better weather for my business trip to OK. I was able to get out this afternoon and fish. As I was headed out to a small urban trout lake just outside ot town, I stopped to check out a small creek in town next to the local CVS. I just picked up some redworms from Walmart. I saw several sunfish near the bridge. didn't take long before I was wetting a line. The fish were skittish with me directly above them. I decided to drop my bait next to a large concrete slab and I found my pattern, e.g., fish the gaps in the large blocks/rocks. Quickly caught several green and greengill hybrid sunfish😉. It felt good to finally get out and catch some fish😁.

Green Sunfish

Greengill (greenXbluegill) hybrid sunfish

Headed out to Turtle Pond out in Lake Carl Blackwell state park for trout.

I fished with my go to urban trout lake setup, a 1/8 oz split shot about 8 to 10 inches above a small hook. I put on two or three Gulp eggs and cast and wait. At my first spot, I was texting a few different folks and got a strong bite. I would love to say that I landed that fish but I didn't 😒. I fished that spot for another 25-30 mins repositioning the bait every five or ten mins. I moved to another spot and swapped out the Gulp eggs with salmon colored Powerbait. I just wanted one trout. I saw a guy across the pond catching more than a few trout. He and I got talking and he called me over to see his setup and baits. I won't give up his secrets, but I did manage to catch five stocker rainbows and lost two really big ones. Never hurts to listen to the locals.

 

[Xraydude]

Nice first trip to get the rust off and think about what the seasons holds in other trips. Thanks for sharing. 

[Johnsfolly]

11 minutes ago, Xraydude said:

Nice first trip to get the rust off and think about what the seasons holds in other trips. Thanks for sharing. 

I'll have three or more trips to OK thru Apr. Also have a big trip planned out to San Diego in Mar. Looking forward to that trip. I'll post reports with lots of photos for @snagged in outlet 3😉.

[Quillback]

Love those green perch, tough little buggers.  Wished they grew to about 3 lbs.  If you are close to AR in your travels, give me a shout, we could pan fish one of the Bella Vista lakes, might have a shot at a big red ear.  We've got a lake with trout too, and there is always Beaver Lake.

[BilletHead]

                      Yea team John!    I know wherever an angling opportunity presents itself you will catch something. Have a fish full season. 

[WestCentralFisher]

Those ponds definitely fill a small but very specific niche in the fishing year. Usually about two trips to them in February or early March. Sort of an annual rite of passage. 

I did one of these trips so far. It was back in the cold snap, and there was very limited open water. I finally caught one 10 inch 'bow. I wasn't really prepared to keep fish, as it was an impromptu trip after work, so I let it go. The resident crazy guy at the park was pretty mad at me for that, as he said his dog wanted a trout to eat. Notably, there was not an actual dog in evidence. Figured that was a decent stopping point. 

[Johnsfolly]

I wanted to get back and catch some more trout but wanted to try fishing Boomer Lake for possible white crappie. We don't have many locations in MD that have white crappie. Black crappie are all over the state. I wanted to check out the boat ramp at the north end of the lake and possibly a floating dock or two.

I fished a trout magnet about 14 inches under a float.

My first cast was just right of the log in front of me. I got some small bites and then nothing. I reduced the distance from the float to about 10 inches. I made the next cast and just let the bait sit for about 5-10 seconds then it went down. 1ST fish on! White Crappie!

I made cast after cast to that spot. The only cast that I didn't land a fish was when I cast out too far to the right of the school. After catching 30 crappie I made a cast upstream and didn't get a bite🙄. I can't complain about 30 fish with 33 casts.

I then drove out to the trout pond. I made my first cast with the same trout magnet setup and hooked into a decent 12"+ rainbow. Made my little spool drag scream. With 4# Pline, I really fought those fish before netting them.

I made a couple more cast with the trout magnet and got only a couple lighthearted bumps. I then switched to the secret baits from yesterday and caught nine more and lost at least four. I ended the night with my PB trout from OK.

Tomorrow I head home. I will be back in OK a few more times before the end of April and will try for more OK fish.

 

 

[Quillback]

That's some great fishing from the bank.  The secret trout bait is slaying them!

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

That's some great fishing from the bank.  The secret trout bait is slaying them!

I would love to be able to fish them again. Might be getting too warm when I get out this way later in Mar or this Apr.