Ponds near Silver Spring

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a good spot for teaching a few people how to fly fish on Sunday, and hopefully catch a few fish in the process. My friends are in Silver Spring and we won't have a whole lot of time, otherwise I would take them brookie fishing in the mountains. Anyone willing to recommend a good sunfish/bass pond in that area? Nicely mowed banks are a plus for the casting practice. Size of fish is not important, but numbers and accessibility from the bank are important.

This will be a one-time thing, a good friend of mine who is a novice fly angler will be in town and her friend wants to learn how to fly fish too.

Regards,
Andrew

[namfos]

You could try the pond at Wheaton Regional Park. I've no Idea how it fishes, I do know they drained it a few years back to get rid of snakeheads.

Also there's a couple of ponds at the Olney Manor Recreational Park farther out Georgia Ave

You could check Lake Artemisia in Indian Creek Park just north of College Park Airport

Mark

[James Ovelmen]

I like to fish Pine lake in Wheaton Regional Park. It is not great fishing, but there are some nice bass and lots of stunted bluegills. I have also found big schools of crappie certain times of the year. Just watch out for joggers when u cast!

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Thanks for the replies! Looking colder than initially predicted, but still going to give it a shot.

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Got out to Olney Manor and got some casting practice in. Did not see a fish, but abandoned sunfish spawning beds everywhere tell me it was the cold weather that was to blame. Guides were icing up by 3 pm. My friend brought 3 of her friends out to try fly fishing for the first time, which is pretty awesome!

[namfos]

Chick magnet! ;-) Thanks for the intel on sunfish at Olney Manor. I'm not sure if DNR still stocks, but ages ago I took my youngest there for a fishing tournament for grammar schoolers. Didn't catch jack with corn - should have brought Powerbaits. ;-)

Mark

[Andrew Sarcinello]

Haha! I'll say this - my interests are currently not with any of those 4, but fly fishing is a hell of a conversation topic. Trick is to have pictures of native brook trout handy. If they were caught below a waterfall that you also have a picture of, even better!

I used to be a guide for an outdoor program in college. Overall, I'd say more ladies than guys signed up for the fly fishing outings. And they were usually better casters too.

[namfos]

See the other post here about casting competitions. 

Mark