Find A Pond Near You

 

For many fishermen, their first experience with catching a fish was at a small pond. Hooking that first sunfish has put a smile on the face of many kids. I know that was the first fish I caught almost 65 years ago. In my case, I caught it in Marblehead, Ohio, near Cedar Point, long before the park became a popular destination. Now, maybe in an attempt to reinforce my belief that the size of the fish doesn’t matter,  or to smile like that kid again, at least once a summer I head to one of the local ponds near my home. It’s usually during the hottest and driest portion of the season, when the rivers are low, and in need of a good rain to freshen the flow. 

 

Hot summer day on a small pond.

Instead of a cane pole and worm, my tackle of choice is now a 3wt fly rod and a small popper. But, any lightweight rod will make catching these willing panfish a lot of fun to land. And, if you happen to hook a bass, so much the better. Panfish are not shy. They will sip just about anything off the surface.

Panfish love small poppers.

So, find yourself a pond, and spend an hour putting that kid smile back on your face.

Go out and fool a fish!

How To Kill An Hour

Do you have an hour of free time? If you do, find a pond near your home and rig up a small panfish fly or a worm and bobber. Then, spend that hour catching some gems.

This hour will be fun not because you caught something huge, but because you were able to steal an hour on the water. That time will recharge your batteries. You may not catch a monster but that won’t matter. In fact, save trying to catch something big for another time. What will happen is you will have a lot of fun. But if you do catch something, more than likely it will be a nicely colored bluegill or sunfish. And, with an ultralight rod you will be surprised how much fight they have.

This is the darkest bluegill I have ever caught. It couldn't resist a black popper.

Another panfish fooled by a popper. Find an hour, find some fun!

So, if you want some quick fun, find that hour, and find that pond.

Go out and fool a fish!

Sometimes It’s Not About The Fish

I know it sounds like a cliché, but sometimes it’s not about the fish, especially this time of the year. Being an early riser, late spring / early summer is my favorite time of the year. First light is before 5:30AM. Throw in a warm morning, and it’s a perfect time to hit the water. As the pictures show, you can’t beat being alone on water at that time of the day.

A great morning to be on the water.

There’s a local pond that I like to fish at least once a year. I use the pond to kill a couple of hours, practice casting and maybe catch a fish or two. Sunfish, largemouth bass, and catfish populate the water. A light fly rod or ultralight spinning outfit is all that is needed. When fishing the pond I take my 4wt and use a popper. After six months of using an 8wt for steelhead, the 4wt is a welcome change.

This week I hit the pond at the right time. It gets pressure in normal times but because of the lockdown even more fishermen were showing up. Now, Ohio has opened up, and some of the added pressure is coming down. The parking lot was empty when I showed up at 6:00AM. The water was a mirror except for a few active geese. Nothing beats casting a popper on a glass surface.

 Smooth as glass.

I started with a large popper, hoping a bass would key on it. But, anyone who has fished ponds knows that sunfish can be a nuisance. They always seem to be around the popper no matter where it lands. If it’s a larger popper, all the sunfish seem to be able to do is bump it. And, that’s what they were doing.

Meanwhile, the bass were having nothing to do with the large sized popper. So I switched to a smaller size, one that even the sunfish could inhale. Sure enough, a sunnie hit the popper and inhaled it. Several casts later a large wake followed the popper and a nice size bass hit it. It went deep into the weeds and hung me up. I finally managed to free the fly but the fish got off. After that I managed to land a couple of sunnies, but I reminded myself that sometimes it’s not about the fish.

 Could have been a 20" bass or a 5" sunnie. It just didn't matter.

Find yourself a warm summer morning and hit a local pond. You’ll be glad you did.

Go out and fool a fish!

Time To Shelve The 8wt, For Now

After using the 8wt outfit since September it’s time to downsize for the spring and summer. The steelhead are all but gone, and after months of throwing big streamers and weighted nymph rigs it’s time for the lighter rods. I’ll be hunting smallmouth in the Lake Erie tribs, and trout in the Shenandoah Valley using a 4wt and 6wt. Since those outfits are much lighter, I need a practice session to regain the feel of a lighter setup after fishing for chrome. Last year, on a trip Virginia I wasted the first hour on the water trying to get some feel for the lighter rod. I guess my skill set isn’t good enough to just pick up a light rod and cast correctly.

To work out the kinks I make a short drive to a great little pond at Lake Metroparks Veteran’s Park. There’s something about getting there early just when the sun is rising. Catch a windless morning and the water gets that mirror look. Add in honking geese and pileated woodpeckers, and you’d think you were in a wilderness area.

Water with a mirror like appearance makes an early morning worth it.

(Click on image for larger view.)

Catching a fish during these practice sessions is a bonus, so I have no expectations of landing many. But, as the day warmed up the fish started to become active. I couldn’t get anything to show interest in a woolly bugger so I switched to a small, yellow popper. That did the trick, as I was able to land a few small sunfish, and make a new friend at the same time.

A small sunfish fooled by a  popper.

The pond is probably 60 acres, and dotted along the banks are herons, always looking for a meal. I landed a sunfish, and all of a sudden a heron glides in and lands about 5 feet from me. He knew I had a fish, and he wanted it bad. If he was going to get it, he was going to work for it. I placed the fish back in the water and the heron, in a blink of an eye, scooped it up. I didn’t think they could move that fast. He stood a few feet away from me for the next 20 minutes. Unfortunately, he and I were both shut out.

My new friend. He was hoping for seconds.

Go out and fool a fish!

4th of July on the Pond

The rivers around northeast Ohio were not quite fishable due to the volume of rain we  received in the last few weeks. In fact, it has been three weeks since I’ve been able to do any river fishing. Itching to wet a line I decided to put the 4wt in the car with a few surface flies and hit Veteran’s Park in search of some panfish. Spending a few hours casting to these eager eaters is fun especially watching them grab a dry fly or small popper.

Being July 4th I knew the park was going to be busy so I got an early start and beat everyone to the water. The early morning started cool with temps around 56°. The first half hour was slow, and I wondered if I was going to take the skunk on a pond where sticking a finger in the water attracts several sunfish. As the sun made its way higher in the sky the temps and the fishing warmed up. The elk hair caddis started to see some action. I pulled in five sunfish in about a ten minute period.

The Elk Hair Caddis got a workout.

(Click on image for larger view.)

 

After the EHC was swallowed by more than one fish I changed to a small red and white popper. What was interesting is that a lot of sunfish came to the surface, inspected it, and just swiped at the short marabou tail. For awhile I didn’t think any of them were going to hit it, until one did. Then it was steady action. Over the next half hour I brought 10 sunfish to hand.

Red and white popper was appropriate for the 4th of July.

By now the pond was getting crowded and I gave myself only another half hour before heading home, so I quickly switched to a Griffith’s Gnat. I love this fly for panfish. It must look like filet mignon to them and has a hook size that makes it easier for them to grab it with their small mouths. In the course of that last half hour I brought in another eight.

The Griffith's Gnat...filet mignon for panfish.

Now none of these fish will equal the fight of nice smallmouth or trout but with a lightweight fly rod they will put a bend in it. So, when the rivers are not an option and you need a fix head for a local pond. You will have fun.

Go out and fool a fish!