Carolina Bays can be hidden fishing lakes, like Lake Drummond

[Flatwater]

Every year I try to take a trip to lake Drummond. It is a Carolina Bay that is the largest natural lake in Virginia. The water is black and gets very hot, it is also very acidic making most fish blind after a few years. Their is one fish that thrives in these conditions and that is the Flier. These little fish fight as hard as fish 3 times there size and are very aggressive hitting almost anything. I try to fish for crappie but kept losing my jig or minnows, I thought these crappie were the smartest fish on the planet. No that was not the case it was these fliers attaching everything I threw at them. I down sized and had a ball with the flyrod. I think I have a 5 wt 10 foot rod and these feisty guys will bend it double.
This is a very difficult lake to get to as it is a 5 mile paddle against a 1-2 mph current to a berm, then you carry over and up into a canal that leads to the lake. It is 11 miles around the lake then 5 miles back to the boat ramp on the dismal swamp canal. If the wind is over 10 mph the shallow lake can become very rough, 20mph SW wind and it will swamp about any jon boat as the chop can get to 3 feet with a short distance between waves. This is the most beautiful lake in Virginia as the water surface acts like a mirror reflecting the sky. There are ancient cypress trees that are over 10 feet across at the base but only 30 feet or so high, storms keep breaking them off.

[ifish4redd]

Great story,Great picsBlind fish?

[Barnacle Bill]

Great!!!

[jackie53]

"WOW" great pic,s beautiful pic,s great camera work.The pic's make you feel like you are their on the water!!!!!! I think I even got a strike!!!!!

[Percidae_Papermouth]

Great Photos! Isnt there an access road? I have a friend that bass fishes there and he has seen several 2+ lbers pulled from there. He goes the day before gets a slip and a key to the gate. Ive never fished drummond but have heard it was a crater formed by an astroid and that the rainfall drains away instead of into the lake due to the heave of the ground upon impact. Is this correct?

[TapOut64]

The water is black and gets very hot, it is also very acidic making most fish blind after a few years.

Blind fish? Curious to know where you heard this.

[inlovewithsurfin]

great writeup and amazing pictures! i am definately going to make a trip out there soon!

this may be a dumb question but what is a "flier" fish? looks similar to a brim... do you eat it?

[Corker]

Fliers are one of the smaller members of the sunfish family.

[GETTHE NET]

Papermouth, i dont think there r any bass in there but i know there are 2 pound plus speckles in there. Ive had my hands on some of them. They r still in there.

[Flatwater]

Great Photos! Isnt there an access road? I have a friend that bass fishes there and he has seen several 2+ lbers pulled from there. He goes the day before gets a slip and a key to the gate. Ive never fished drummond but have heard it was a crater formed by an astroid and that the rainfall drains away instead of into the lake due to the heave of the ground upon impact. Is this correct?

That is why I keep trying to find them. Like Back Bay something happened and killed off the fish. I was told prior to the place being a wildlife refuge they stocked the place regularly. Nobody knows how lake Drummond was formed, I think fire and burned out peat makes the most common sense. With the fires we had last year.
They will give you a day pass to ride back to the lake, but they will not let you launch a boat. Water flows into the lake from canals on the west and north and out of the lake east and south, mostly east as the lake level is controlled by the army corp. by opening gates in the dam/berm. You can camp on the army corp. land and many folks do. If you ever do catch an older fish it has white eyes so they must be blind. There are huge bowfin in the lake and are great fun to catch.You can also walk/bike to the lake on the washington ditch rd, 5 miles, there is a dock there and in summer it looks like carp rolling near shore. I have seen as many as 20-30 canoes kayaks on the lake.