Leonards Mill Pond

Leonards Mill Pond is a small, stump-filled millpond just north of Salisbury, with a county park, ramp and visitor center at the spillway. DNR manages it for largemouth bass and bluegill under a protected slot limit and calls the fishing for both excellent; crappie, yellow perch and chain pickerel round it out. It's only about 30 acres and no more than 8 feet deep.

When to fish

• Spring: April is a prime month for the Salisbury-area mill ponds, with bass and panfish both biting.
• Summer: once the lily pads are up, bass take frogs and buzzbaits around them.
• Year-round: bass, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch and pickerel, and the ramp is open all year.

Where to fish

• The stump fields in both forks, especially the deeper south fork.
• Downed timber and the piers and bulkheads along the private shoreline (fish them from a boat).
• The small shore area at the ramp.

How to fish it

• Bass: spinnerbaits, stick worms and weightless swimbaits around the stumps, then frogs and buzzbaits once the pads are up. Release bass inside the protected slot.
• Panfish: tiny jigs tipped with grass shrimp or a piece of worm.

Getting there

Leonards Mill Park is on US 13 just north of Salisbury, with a ramp and trailer parking by the spillway (no permit, no horsepower limit). To reach the main pond you pass under a low bridge that boats with T-tops or high consoles may not clear. You need a Maryland nontidal fishing license.