Fat Boy

I got out fishing one more time on the Potomac chasing muskies. No muskies caught, no follows, and sore arms from chucking massive musky baits. But, I got a consolation prise, my personal best walleye on a 12" lure! It was the only gamefish that either my buddy or I caught all day, although he caught the biggest fallfish that I've ever seen. This walleye was 26" long, and although I've caught them that long before, this was by far the fattest one that I've ever caught, making it my personal best. Happy New Year everyone!

Yep, sure did...great year in 2011 for me. Here's hoping that we all have a great 2012!

Lee, good observation in one sense, it does look like one of those Susky islands, doesn't it? It's actually the Upper Potomac. Conditions are nice right now unless a lot of runoff from yesterday happens from the West and North. Clarity, 1-2'. Water temp, 38 degrees. The water was high, too much for floating but perfect for jets. I wonder how we would have done targeting walleyes all day. That eye was caught with a Magnum X-Rap speed reeling of all things! Who 'da thunk it? I get surprised at something each time I go. What an amazing fishery we have in Maryland! Anyone else fishing?

Not bass, but... Caught this guy yesterday... I was targeting them, only throwing musky stuff. I left the bass and walleye tackle at home. My arms and shoulders are sore today from lobbing all those giant lures all day, but managed to get one around noon. My buddy caught a nice walleye too. The river was in good shape, 38 degrees though. Water clarity about 2'. Here are the pics:

I've fished that section before, and up by the Power Plant it used to be much more full of water. I guess there's a breach there because last time I went in the spring it was really low up there. I wisht that they'd repair that section, but with funding an issue in the Fed, I doubt that it would happen. But, some of that water seeps down into the section that you fish. If you walk up there you'll notice that there's a little bit of current. That said, I'd bet that it's the lowest area around, so all of the water from the hunting area to the first ridge ends up there, plus, I'd say you're right about the springs. There's been water in that thing as long as I can remember. BTW, there's a good number of crappie in the canal there, but like the bass, hard to find so you have to put some time in. Most of them are small, but every now and then you get a good one. Based on the number of mosquito fish in there and tiny bluegills, there's no shortage of forage for them. I almost made a trip there on Sunday...one of my backup plans. I'd like to fish it again soon before it ices up. You game? On of my first blog posts was about that spot... my buddy and I witnessed two snapping turtles fighting in the middle of the canal, very cool, but so much for the losing turtle. They both drew blood. It was like UFC turtle night.

Thanks guys. I hear ya Sean, there's a lot of timber in the Canal at Dickerson. It's so friggin' bassy, everywhere, which in itself makes it difficult to fish. The vast amounts of rain this year though may help that place, keeping it full of water. I apologize for not giving my spot away...as you can see, I can't do it. Sorry. This spot is a fragile one. If I fish more popular locations, then I have no problem pointing that out. Once I was fishing there back in the day when this spot was by far the best fishing hole anywhere, and a few guys saw us fishing there and watched us for a while. It wasn't long that they were there fishing the spot out week after week. It's taken 15-20 years easy for it to even come close to what it used to be. The whole point of the post is that even during tough conditions, somewhere fish will bite if you put in the time to find those spots. Small plastic worms were the ticket for the bass, and the crappie hit pretty much anything that I threw as long as the size of the jig was right. If I had to apply the logic of where specifically to fish, the keys to finding fish here would apply anywhere really...sun shining down along rocky banks and deeper water, with woody cover as a key. Southern facing shorelines (North sides) get more sun all day, and that's a major key no matter where you fish. Finally, getting bites and making each one count can save your day. Bites can be few and far between this time of year. If you know that fish are there, take your time and work for that bite, and make it pay off. At the end of the day, you'll be surprised how many you've caught sometimes. Slow down this time of year...

After hooking a dozen, the bite kind of slowed at that spot, but they didn’t turn off. I decided to see if the sun warming the cliffs may activate some bass, so I tossed my worm to a likely spot along the cliff, not moving my feet from my crappie spot, and hooked into my first bass of the day, not big, but a start! I caught two more bass on back to back casts working parallel to shore, the drop off to the deepest water in the area. The sun was shining down on that drop nicely, warming things up a bit. Later I moved back where I had my first bite that I missed, at the big blow down. It was a good bite, and that fish bested me. I wanted revenge. I worked the same spot thoroughly and just when I was about to give up, I hooked this 18” bass. It bit in exactly the same spot as the one that I missed earlier…revenge achieved: Here's a couple more. It’s funny, as the afternoon moved on, the fish seemed to get less active. The evening bite really didn’t happen. The bass shut down and so did the crappie, although I did manage to catch one last nice one along with a big rock bass. When I hooked the rocky, I was sure it was a crappie at first, but to my surprise, add another species: This rock bass thought he was a crappie, fought much harder than most rock bass do. I could have really padded my numbers with the bluegills, they were still active later in the afternoon. Along the rocks, the sun had them pretty active, and had I scaled down my lures and targeted them it could have been a fish every cast. I opted for bigger baits for the crappie and focused on the deeper water where they were hitting. I still managed to catch 15 of these: I finished with 11 largemouth, 1 rock bass, 15 bluegills, and 16 fat crappie (the smallest was 10”, biggest about 14”). These patterns will work until ice up, and once the ice is out too. As I walked back, I realized how lucky I was to have everything come together, and to get my butt outside and away from home. Not bad for bluebird skies and the cold temps we've been having...

As fall nears, winter approaches along with ice fishing season, my urge to fish remains, so I hit the open water for a mixed bag. We're experiencing flood conditions in my area, so finding anything that would bite would be a chore. So, I took a solo trip yesterday. I wasn’t sure how good it would be with the river being so high and muddy, but I figured I’d make a spot change if it didn’t work out to a local lake where bluegills are easily caught near the dam this time of year as my back up plan. It started slow as ice lined the shoreline as late as 10 AM when I arrived at the spot. I might have been there 15 minutes sooner if it didn’t take so long to scrape the friggin’ frost off the windows and I seemed to hit every stop light red. Maybe it wasn’t in the cards for me to fish, but I had to find out, plus, I couldn’t stand to sit and watch another Redskins game. When I arrived, the water was stained from the recent rains. Hopefully the sediment would settle down some before reaching the deeper areas. But, as I arrived to the deeper section, I noticed that the water was still stained. Not bad, but not exactly the best cold water color that I’m used to. I left my reaction baits at home, bringing my finesse bass rod and a panfish rod. Hopefully, with the bright sun, the fish would be able to find my presentations. I went straight to a big blow down where I’ve been getting a lot of fish the past couple trips. After an hour with one good bite on a plastic worm, and one small hit, I began to question staying or not. I moved down to a fallen tree in the deepest water and decided to give that a try for the panfish. I had caught a few crappie on plastic worms there throughout the fall, so I figured it would be a good place to try. If it didn’t pan out, I'd begin implementation of my backup plan. On my first cast, I landed this nice long white crappie, on a BPS tube jig under a weighted bobber, about 18” deep. After that fish, I was ready to commit my day to stay and fish this place out. For perspective, I measured my shoe at 13” when I got home. The very next cast, I set the hook on this beauty, a fat black crappie showing that they too can reach a nice size. I caught three more on my next five casts, all of them over 12” long. I noticed some parasites in the mouth of a few of them, so I played doctor and used my forceps to remove them. I figured that they were nice enough to make my day so I’d return some sort of favor to them in addition to releasing them. After getting bit, while fighting them, I was giggling like a little boy. It was just like the good ol’ days at this spot! Here’s another shot of that same fish. I bet any tube would have worked, but the gold flake chartreuse tail seemed perfect given the water clarity issue. I landed another huge one that was bigger than these, and my pic didn’t turn out. It’s on my camera, but when I share it the email generated shows that the picture is not readable. I tried sharing it on photobucket, but so far it hasn’t shown up. Oh well, technology is awesome, but not perfect. I’ll go back some day and catch it again…I’m sure there are some bigger ones in there!

7.25 lb. is a big fish anywhere much less the UP. Big largemouth are in there more than most people would think. Most people target smallies, and when that happens you'll mostly get smallies. Yeah, the population of smallies far exceeds largemouth numbers, but the quality of the largemouth is quite good when you find them. Your bass was probably in transition to a preferable habitat feeding on it's way. I've only caught one largemouth in strong current like that, a four pounder on the Doah while smallie fishing, an eddy along a log jam against a bridge, in a spot that you'd think smallies would prefer better. I caught it on a plastic worm, my only LM of the day. That said, you can target big largemouth by using bigger spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jerkbaits and skirted jigs by fishing likely largemouth holding spots. Plastic worms and Senkos can be hot too. You may not get twenty LM bass in a day, but you can get as many as a dozen, some pigs. Plus, most smallies hitting those large lures will be big as well. How do you target big largemouth in a smallmouth river? Slack water. Deep is better but don't overlook shallow slack water in the summer. Shade is most important, and if there is wood, so much the better. Creek mouths also will hold them. If you're targeting them, you have to think outside the SM box. Shorelines on both sides of the river have plenty of holding spots for the most part. The slack areas behind large grassy islands are also good spots for LM, especially if there is any woody cover around. Another thing, slower sections of river have more LM than the faster pocket water. Creek mouths can also hold some nice largemouth. Most people fishing for smallies aren't using baits that largemouth prefer, but once in a while they'll catch a few. Also, normally, when smallie fishing, the spots that don't look good for smallies are where the LM are. I've put together some nice limits on both smallies and largemouth in certain sections of the upper river tossing big spinnerbaits when that bite is hot. I actually found out by accident, coming out of the river from wading to leave the river and spooked a massive largemouth. At first I thought it was a fluke, then, a few weeks later did the same thing at another spot. The type of water that they were holding in didn't look like a good fishing spot. It was shallow, but shady, silty with sticks, leaves and wood along the bottom, and most importantly, very slow current there. A boat is better, but you may find some when fishing the shore or wading. Unfortunately, the nasty places that you might avoid wading through (mucky bottoms, silty, fallen trees and such) are where the largemouth hang out. Fishing from shore is possible, but you have to avoid overhanging trees, brush, and watch out for slippery steep muddy banks.

Oh yeah, Sean, ask your contact if they are planning on stocking more tigers in BH if you get a chance to talk to him again. I heard a rumor that they might resume that program (not sure where'd they be getting their fish though).

Brian, that's a nice UP bucketmouth you got there. Looks like you might have found one of my spots, LOL. There are some real pigs in the river, if you target them, you'll find more of them. They hold a lot shallower than people think in a moving body of water especially during the summer. Shade is the key I've found. In my opinion, it's one of the UP's best kept secrets! And, guess what? I've caught some decent ones in the UP as far up river as Hancock.

Thanks Sean!

Slayn, tiger muskies don't breed because they're sterile, so they must be from the last class of fish that were stocked. I heard from another source that they may begin stocking tiger muskies again. If I hear a confirmation, then I'll post it here. Nothing official yet though.

Slayn, the warmwater fishing area is a good choice for winter fishing, and a good option for shore anglers. I recommend getting a warm pair of chest waders for two reasons, to access good fishing spots easier and also to protect you from the elements. The banks are pretty muddy and slippery, so any protection that you have is well worth it whether or not you actually wade or not. The fish activity greatly increases when the warm water discharge is greater and it's affect on the fish extends for miles down river. That said, when the discharge isn't as great, the fishing might be slower but fish can still be had. There's a wide variety of species to target as the area is a great spot for winter catfishing, but also bass and panfish with lures and/or bait can be caught on a regular basis. There are hot spots each year, but some of them change because, of course, river deposits change. The ones that are effective year after year are where obvious river ledges occur with deep water behind them. You can't go wrong fishing tubes and grubs for smallies, but really, just about any lure can work at various times depending on the conditions. As far as bass go, in addition to some fine smallie action, good size largemouth can be found in the more slack areas. If you're 10 minutes away, it's worth fishing it. Me? I used to fish there on a regular basis, but haven't in recent years simply because I'm also an avid ice fisherman, and during those times I'm usually on the ice somewhere in Western Maryland or PA. Also, here are some pics from Tuesday's trip for your enjoyment. The hot lure for the bass and pickerel for me was a gold Rat-L-Trap for me this time, imitating the big golden shiners that the big fish feed on in this particular lake. Wow, do the fish hammer that lure! First, some scenery shots: Some pickerel: Largemouth...the first one pictured was 20" and weight four pounds even: Howard with a crappie...gotta have some pannie pics

Peter, I wish that I had known when I saw you where the panfish action was...hindsight is 20/20 though. Prior to your arrival, I was really trying to figure them out so that you could get into them. Our chatterbaits picked up three fish and five hits combined, out of probably a thousand casts...not a good bite percentage. I guess the ice on my window was a big clue that things might be tough. Still, it was such a pretty day. It was good to meet you and your daughter, and that made it worthwhile for us to be on the water. Sorry to hear about your motor. That can be fixed, but the repair to your daughter's fishing ego was huge given your restraint, guaranteeing that she'll go out with you again and again. She was so proud to be out there with you! Fishing was tough, much tougher than I expected. Did you all make your softball game?

Clayton, the Oak pier has some nice smallies and largemouth. I've made trips up your way for salmon, steelhead, browns, etc. and have tied on a spinnerbait, crankbait or plastic worm and caught bass as late as November. I'd bet with the right wind and some warmer temps later in the year you could catch them. Pitch around the weeds and around those rocks...you'll find some nice bass now and then especially on warmer days. If the trout or salmon weren't biting, I'd try for bass and did pretty well, on several occasions. Sometimes you'll see them cruising around too, especially the smallmouth.

My buddy Howard and I hit BH yesterday. Fishing was tough, much tougher than I expected. It seemed as if the best spots were where the wind piled up the water, but we couldn't seem to put together a decent pattern on the bass. They were spread out, and just when you thought you wouldn't get any more. It was like there was some lake rule, no more than one or two bass per spot! Howard finished with 11 bass, and I got seven, nothing big and most were dinks, but we got a few keepers. We tried for panfish at a few spots and each landed some small crappie, some bluegills and other sunnies, and even a couple small yellow perch. How long have they been in there? It was my understanding that they weren't desirable with the BH ecosystem. Did they finally stock them or was that the work of a bucket biologist? Anyway, here are a few pics: Beautiful day: Lake resident: A couple of the Howard's fish: My only decent bass of the day, an 18"er:

Chain pickerel: This one of Howard's pickerel had battle scars on it, perhaps an osprey survivor? And the sixth species of the day, a big golden shiner, bait Too bad there weren't muskies in here LOL.

Bass: Crappie...wish we got more of these though: Yellow perch:

Fished a different Eastern Shore pond on Monday. We had it all to ourselves. Here's my report: Howard and I took off work yesterday and hit one of our favorite Eastern Shore ponds. We had it all to ourselves, all day long. Yesterday was a typical day for us on that lake. You seem to work hard for your fish, but at the end of the day you look at your numbers and it turns out to be a pretty daggone good day of fishing. I caught 16 fat bluegills (the smallest one is pictured below, some were so big that they were deformed), 14 yellow perch with some of them fairly nice, 19 chain pickerel with several of them between 20 and 23” long, one fat three pound (weighed on the nose at three even), two medium sized but fat crappie, and one golden shiner to give me six species caught in one day for a total of 53 fish on the day. There were times where we struggled to catch fish at our usual hot spots on the lake, but we found fish at places where we normally don’t catch them. Howard had similar numbers including also a three pound largemouth, and he lost another good bass that tossed his lure right back at him on an acrobatic leap near the boat. The hot lure for the pickerel and bass was once again the white chatterbait, followed by a perch color Bagley’s floating minnow, and a green pumpkin plastic worm. The worm also caught several of the larger yellow perch. The rest of the panfish were caught on Kalin’s Triple Threat grubs in the lemon meringue color. The biggest disappointment on the day was that we couldn’t locate the big school of crappie that we normally do, and the bass fishing shut down around 10 AM when the front moved through. The good news was that the pickerel and perch fishing turned out to be pretty hot especially at the end of the afternoon. Another thing to note, I increased my line size for worm fishing with Nanofil to the 8 pound test, moving my 6 pound test (two pound diameter) line to my panfish set up. So far, the results are good for both. I was able to toss the ultralight panfish jig (1/48 oz.) for good distance without any effort, further than when using 4 pound fluorocarbon line. The fish didn’t seem to be line shy whatsoever. In summary, we had a real fun day on the water. Here are some pics: Scenery shots: Howard loadin' up the chatterbait: Big bluegills, the one in my hand was the smallest one that I caught all day: More pics coming in the next few posts...

Hi everyone. Sorry but I can't make it after all tomorrow. My daughters college fast pitch team is having a tournament tomorrow, and this will be her first time pitching in a game since she had back surgery. It was cancelled from 10/2 and rescheduled for this weekend. I didn't know until Thursday. I hope y'all tear them up though, catch a few for me. If we have another GTG, I'd love to meet y'all.

I need to retract my last statement. If we do it on the 16th, then I can make it. I got my weekends mixed up. I think that I should be OK any weekend after that too.

Congrats on the boat Brian! I can't make it on the 16th, unless I get home early enough to meet up with everyone later in the afternoon. I made a mistake, thinking that the get together was off or moved to a different date, and made plans with my wife...dumb thing to do, I know. But, spending time with her may buy me future fishing time... ...plus, well, I'm still in love with her If it's a different day, then I'll make sure to free up time to make it.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. My work has been busy this time of year and my free time this past two weeks has been pretty much consumed by resting up for work the next day, so I haven't been on the PC much. I've been checking the posts briefly to keep up though. Any other weekends good for you Sean, everyone? Oh yeah, before I forget, I live in Montgomery County, so if the residency is an issue, that helps a little. I can throw a rock and hit Frederick County (well, assuming my arm is still strong as it used to be) I'm not worried about the fishing in BH in October or even November. The lake traffic tens to settle down a bit. Fall is generally good, and even on cold front days the bass still seem to hit. Weather could be an issue though, but the bass should be willing. I could be in for a spring trip too. Here's another thought, what about meeting up at a restaurant or something, maybe breakfast before fishing or dinner afterwards rather than renting a pavilion? I was thinking maybe Golden Corral or something cheap like that, or Buffalo Wild Wings maybe?

Hey Marylanders and folks local to the Washington DC Metropolitain area, this coming Saturday, September 24th, is National Hunting and Fishing Day. To celebrate this annual event, the Rockville Chapter of the Izaak Walton League is holding an open house type of event that is free to the public, with lots of fun activities for family, including kids, and friends. I'll be there too with a booth displaying some of my fossil collection along with a station for kids and adults to sort through some material that I brought back from North Carolina to look for micro shark teeth and other micro fossils. I'll be giving away a small sample of shark teeth to the kids that visit my booth too. So, please come and have a good time! Below is the press release: Izaak Walton League of America-Rockville Chapter NATIONAL HUNTING & FISHING DAY CELEBRATION Germantown, MD -- The members of the Izaak Walton League of America-Rockville Chapter will be sponsoring a Celebration of National Hunting & Fishing Day, Saturday, September 24, 2011. Open to the public, this FREE event will run from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm at the IWLA-Rockville Chapter located at 18301 Waring Station Road, Germantown, MD 20874. A few of the fun and challenging hands on activities you can try will be archery, trap shooting, fly-fishing, canoeing and kayaking. There will also be opportunities to learn about many conservation efforts such as wood duck nest boxes, Save Our Streams monitoring, deer management, hunter safety and recycling at home and in the community. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland National Park and Planning Commission, Montgomery County Government Department of Solid Waste, Maryland Deer Management Association, Trout Unlimited and other sportsman’s and conservation groups will also have exhibits. There will be displays of hunting and fishing equipment and demonstrations of outdoor skills. Kids, don’t forget to check out the junior archery, fishing derby, BB and black powder demonstrations. For more information about the event planned for Germantown, contact Theresa Daly, NH&F Day Coordinator, 301-972-1645. As the official home to National Hunting and Fishing Day, Wonders of Wildlife is the only hunting and fishing-focused facility that’s both affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. National Hunting and Fishing Day, formalized by Congress in 1971, was created by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to celebrate conservation successes of hunters and anglers. From shopping center exhibits to statewide expos, millions of citizens have learned to appreciate America’s sportsman-based system of conservation funding. That system now generates more than $1.7 billion per year, benefiting all who appreciate wildlife and wild places. National Hunting and Fishing Day is observed on the fourth Saturday of every September.