Oh what a day, and not necessarily for all of the right reasons! Since recently refurbishing my jon boat and purchasing a new-to-me trailer to travel with it, I’ve been itching to bass fish the century-old mill lakes on the Eastern Shore—especially Unicorn Lake, Tuckahoe, and Wye Mills. Those small fisheries are near and dear to me. More than 20 years ago, when I developed a passion for largemouth bass fishing, I would take a small inflatable boat and fish them. I even brought my then-girlfriend/now-wife with me for fishing dates and she’d catch bass! There are some good bass in those lakes. Now, with striped bass season on hiatus during the two week closure (through July 31), it’s as opportune a time as any to target other species like largies and vist some of these far flung fishing holes. So, on this outing, I went bass fishing at Wye Mills. Though that wasn’t the original plan.
Let’s preface the following by suggesting that it is always wise to have a Plan B, and even Plan C, in mind before departing for any fishing trip, whether they’re for different fishing techniques, various target species, waypoints on your chosen body of water, or entirely different bodies of water altogether…just in case.
Awaking at 5 a.m., I prepped myself, loaded gear into the boat, hitched it to my truck, and began driving—across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and to the Shore’s farm land, north to Unicorn Lake. Spits of rain hit along the drive and though it was a cloudy, I didn’t think much of storms forming. It was an awesome drive. Quiet, relaxing, and full of anticipation. I hadn’t been back to Unicorn Lake in more than a decade. Pulling into the lake’s parking area, though, a pit formed in my stomach. I could see the lake was choked out with algae growth everywhere. So much so, that launching here would be both a navigational and fishing nightmare. The mid-summer phenomenon is not uncommon, although it’s a gamble year to year if a lake will become choked out or not. This gamble did not pay off. So, on to Plan B, which was a brief drive to Tuckahoe Lake.
Tuckahoe holds memories for me. My father first took me to fish this lake when I was about five years old, more than forty years ago! As I made my way there, a torrential rain formed over Ridgely, Maryland, and seemed to take hold. Pulling into Tuckahoe’s launch area, the rain intensified. It was a thunderstorm predicted to last more than an hour. Unbelievable bad luck. The good news? Tuckahoe was clean and fishable. So, I sat in the truck, in the lot, contemplating what to do. Wait it out? Call it a day? Any other ideas?
Reviewing the weather radar, it appeared the storm would move off and away from the area just south and west of me within a half-hour, exactly where Wye Mills Lake was located. So, Plan C—drive to Wye Mills Lake and pray the rain would let up. When I arrived, the rain was a gentle spit and easing away. First, I climbed the dam and looked over the lake. Open water! Then, I took stock of my boat—filled with rain water like a bathtub. I spent 25 minutes bailing it out and prepping for launch. The rain stopped. I finally launched and began fishing!
Wye Mills Lake is a shallow, 50-acre mill lake originally dammed during the Colonial era. Most of the water averages just three to four feet deep, even with the incredible amount of rain the region has had this summer. Around the dam area, the water is about 6.5 feet deep at most. I didn’t see a number 7 on my depth finder at all in the entire lake! Water temperature averaged 86 degrees, with some pockets of water up to 89 degrees–others down to 85. The degree differences are key when targeting water that fish may prefer—with cooler water more likely to hold fish. The lake’s shoreline is mostly wooded, with plenty of laydowns to fish around. So, I opted to fish a wacky rigged worm, working the structure and shade along the entire lake’s perimeter AND throw the occassional topwater or shallow crankbait behind me into the open water as a search option.
The day-long cloud cover offerred pleasant reprieve from the harsh sun, so fishing was relaxed and slow. I was able to take time around each tree laydown in the lake and, in my opinion, fish effectively. I selected a red, 5″ Yum Dinger worm (similar to Senkos) and gave it a dip in Spike-It garlic scent, red color, Dip n Glo. I used a 6’6″ medium-light bass setup with 2000 class spinning reel. Just 15# braid for the mainline and a five-foot, 10# fluorocarbon leader. A nice, light presentation. Having recently stormed, maybe the fish would pick up on my idea that worms and insects may have washed into the lake. A good looking meal indeed.
With my mind and gear set, I motored to the far side of the lake within the dam area and began working the shoreline from south to the north end of the lake. The first take of the worm was a good refresher on how bass usually accept worms. Taken on the fall after a slick cast along a branch in the water, the worm and line began moving from right to left—a visible cue to watch the line a second, wait another, and then set the hook. A fiesty bass on the end of the line, one lip of him, clean hook removal, and the skunk was off the boat. After the morning I had, this bass felt like a little bit of redemption.
The pattern continued into the upper reaches of the lake. And, although, I threw the search baits into open water behind me, I never got a sniff from those presentations. Every bass came on the wacky rig. About half-way through my casting and a couple swing and misses, I downsized the worm slightly to a 4″ Senko in root beer color. I do prefer reds, browns, and green pumpkin colors when bass fishing in pressured lakes. Anything in a more natural color seems to work well in my experience. Two notable catches came off a single laydown in slightly cooler water (only one degree cooler) that was about foot deeper than adjacent zones. Another catch came at the mouth of a feeder creek that had a noticeable inflow of water to the lake—it was like the bass was waiting for a meal to wash into its feeding zone. I obliged with the offerring placed and worked into this area.
While my hope was to catch larger bass—most of those I caught were only 1 to 2 pounds—I was relieved to catch anything at all after the struggle to launch in the morning. Executing my plan to fish wacky rigged worms proved effective. Doing so in the middle of this blazing hot summer felt satisfying after a somewhat lackluster spring (for me personally). A full bag of bass was oh so cherry.
I recommend the Eastern Shore mill ponds. There are several options, which, as a morning like mine proved, can be trip-saving should any one of them not pan out as planned. In the fall, any algae growth will die back, water will clear, and the fishing should fire up. By winter, expect the chain pickerel bite to improve, and when spring arrives, I’ll now be ready to visit these small lakes for the most excellent largemouth bass fishing of the year!
See y’all on the water again, real soon!
