Tons of Pickerel in a New Pond

I went to the lake today, but it only took a little while for me to figure out that it wasn't going to be very productive. But instead of heading home I decided to spend some time at I pond I have fished twice before but never had any success with. I didn't even know what species live there. It didn't take me more than a couple of minutes today to figure out that pretty much the only thing eating were pickerel, and hundreds of them! They were pushing small schools of bait and slamming them in terrific splashy bursts. I had only two tippet sizes, 4x and 5x, and one leader, so I knew I was going to loose a lot of flies but I just couldn't resist. I actually caught more that bit me off, and as it turns out there are some quite nice pickerel in this pond!

These fish were fighting today... they jumped more than any pickerel I have ever done battle with, and they all gave the new rod a good workout.

When I watched a quite sizable fish smash the Woolly Bugger and take off I was pretty much bracing for the moment when it would gnaw through my 5x (yes, I opted for the lighter tippet). After a minute though I realized it was hook just right. Moments later I was holding a very nice Chain Pickerel. I love these fish so much!

This was one of those outings that had me talking to myself. It was so exciting and productive. Out of 23 takes I landed 19 pickerel. That;s pretty impressive for a pond that I once though had no fish in it!