I went to Watkins Mill State Park last night and arrived around 6:30. With the warm temps and lack of wind, I was hoping that I would be greeted with the sight to shad busting on the surface and hybrid striped bass just begging to be caught. This is not what I saw. What I did see was water with a little bit of a chop with zero activity. It wasn't like glass so I started wondering if the hybrids are more prone to chase shad to the surface in calm water. As I contemplated this as well as other mysteries of the universe, I also debated whether I should fish at all. My hopes were dashed and I felt deflated. But then I started to wonder if the hybrids were just staging slightly below the surface and might be enticed by a tandem rig of white wooly buggers trolled at a slow speed. I unloaded the boat.
Waylon and I trolled for 20 minutes or so without a bite. I decided I would go catch a few bluegill or redear under an indicator and then call it a night. I hooked a few and even got a nice redear to the boat but Waylon knocked it off the hook before I could snap a picture. It felt like that was the theme of the evening; nothing awful but nothing spectacular either. I landed a couple more small fish and then decided to try one more spot for some bass. I had some luck at that spot last time and it was close to the boat ramp so it wasn't out of the way.
I pulled up to the spot and one of my flies got SMASHED on the first cast. I expected to see and feel a 1-2 pound bass but instead was surprised to see a channel cat. The evening was starting to look up! I decided to stay put a little longer and see if anything else was lurking around. After a few more casts, I looked over my shoulder and saw bait busting on the surface. It was 8:00 so I guess the hybrids were just late starters. I told Waylon a pat on the head and told him that this was what we had come for!
We pulled up to the first school and one of my flies got crushed on the first cast. It was a small hybrid but still put a bend in a six weight. We pulled up to the next school and my fly got hit on the first cast there as well! Two hybrids in two casts felt pretty darn good. We had a ways to go before we got to the next blow-up so I trolled the flies behind the boat and caught a third hybrid. Fish #2 and #3 were all the same size as fish #1. I have heard that hybrids will travel in age groups so this made sense.
I ended up catching one more fish (same size again) while casting to boiling water. I also had a larger hybrid on the line that was probably between 1-2 pounds but lost it at the boat. I landed one more small hybrid as we trolled to the boat ramp. We were in the truck, headed home at about 8:30. What I came fore didn't last very long, but it was pretty fantastic while it was happening. I sure am glad that I got out of the truck and unloaded the boat!
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