Deep Creek Weekend

This past weekend Annie and I loaded up the kayaks and headed to stay with her family at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. We stayed at a family friend's lake house that has a great location right on the lake. It's a beautiful Timber frame home with artistic detail in all the woodwork.

Last time we were here was in June of 2010 and I got skunked the one day I fished so I wanted redemption. My room was overlooking the lake on the bottom floor of the house and it fit me perfectly. It was completely fishing themed from the bed spread, to the hand painted trout sink.

Saturday morning came fast with my alarm set for 5:45a.m. I waited for the sun to come up for at least 45 minutes and rigged my kayak until it was light enough to see how I was going to get down to the water and shimmy the Hobie over the wall at the water. I went directly across the lake to a cove I had scouted out. I had some minnows left over from pickerel fishing in the Severn and used them on an 1/8 ounce jig head paired with a 6' Overboard light rod and a Shimano Sahara 2500 reel. Within about 5 casts to the wooded shoreline I got the skunk off the yak with my first pickerel from deep creek!

Over the next 2 hours I caught a few more pickerel and got my personal best from the yak at 22.5"!

Before I went in for breakfast I got a small yellow perch which was a first for me on the Hobie. During the afternoon we went for a hike to swallow falls state park which was an easy 2 mile hike only about 15 minutes away from Deep Creek.

Later in the day four of us headed out on our kayaks for a late afternoon peddle and paddle and I couldn't help but cast a line in for about 30 minutes. This time I was throwing a 4 inch pumpkinseed tube on a weighted tube hook. I was able to hook into a few more pickerel and then I got a bite that felt different from all the rest, it didn't feel huge, just different. As soon as I saw it close to the yak I knew it was a good sized yellow perch. I brought it aboard for a quick picture and then released the 12.5" perch.

The next morning was daylight savings time and I took advantage of sleeping in a little bit but still getting a few hours of fishing in before packing up to leave. My biggest pickerel was 21" which is a pretty solid sized pickerel after usually catching smaller ones in the Severn. I really wish I had more time to explore other areas of lake and target different species. I never tried the medium depth ledges and mainly stayed towards shorelines in 10'-4' of water. Target species for next trip are walleye, more perch, and hopefully a pike! We'll be staying at the house again for a week in June so I'm sure the bass will be in the shallows and I'll have to find some new patterns!