Zeebyrd

Without power here in Jessup. I'm running the house on a generator. Surprisingly FIOS is up and running. I would imagine a lot of people are without power and internet access and wont be responding too soon.

I have a Coleman Scanoe. I have a Humminbird PiranhaMAX 160PT that came with the external transducer. I used the fish finder a total of three times and something nicked the external tranducer cable to the point of being beyond repair. From the start, I had a hard time keeping the transducer attached with the suction cup that I was told would hold on to anything and would be difficult to remove. Wrong. It wouldn't stay attached to my Scanoe for more than 15 minutes (polyethylene hull). I had to keep reattaching it time and time again. I later talked to someone who had the same problem and he said he made an attachment to his boat or canoe (can't remember which) out of plexiglas as that is the only thing he could get the suction cup to stay attached to. Once the cable was nicked, I replaced it with the Humminbird XP 9 20 T Puck Transducer. This mounts inside the hull of the canoe. It comes with a slow cure epoxy to permanently attach it to the hull. However, since I am not sure if this will be my only boat, I use a putty that I found laying around the house to mount it temporarily and it works quite well. You just have to keep the area around the puck clear so that nothing knocks the putty and puck out of place. The Puck Transducer has a temperature probe, that can be mounted to the transom with small "clamps" that are included so it extends into the water. I am not always concerned about water temps - and if I am, I manually lower it into the water. To me, its just another cable that can get nicked by whatever did in the last transducer. According to what I have read, reading through the hull is not as accurate as if the transducer were in the water. It seems to work o.k. on a lake that I frequent. However, when I was on the Potomac River this past weekend, I had mixed results. At one location, which was fairly weed/grass free, I got excellent results (the water was clear enough for me to compare finder readings to what I could see). On another location of the Potomac, there was so much weed/grass that I was not getting accurate readings. I am not sure if it would have done any better if it had been an in-water transducer. The weeds/grass were very thick and probably caused the inaccurate readings. I hope this helps a little. Laura (aka Zeebyrd)

I think I am going to start doing some shoreline fishing along the Potomac. I tried Williamsport with the canoe, but had no luck. My fish finder even came up with no fish. Are there any power plants along the Potomac that are still operating? I am looking for some good cold weather spots. DNR told me there was a good number of largemouth in Blair's Valley Lake, but they weren't of the best physical quality. I'll go back there with my canoe. In fact, here's a quote from an email reply I got from them: "Largemouth bass were found to be abundant however dominated by smaller individuals in poor physical condition. Trapping efforts were last conducted in 2009 to determine panfish populations. Sunfish and black crappie were found to be abundant and should be attractive to anglers." Next purchase is a jon boat with electric motor - easier to use on the river. But, while I was out on the Potomac at Point of Rocks over the weekend (day after I went to Williamsport), I had to rescue a stranded boater by giving him my spare paddle as his prop had gotten tangled up in the water grasses (so wondering about the issue of prop tangling with grasses...). Either that, or the motor just gave out. He had a young kid and dog with him - and ONE old and flattened pfd cushion that was laying on the bottom of the boat that looked like it wouldn't have helped anyone.

Thank you all for the welcomes! I hope to get as addicted as possible.

Hi everyone, I am from Jessup, MD (not behind bars though!). I have been fishing Centennial Lake in Columbia lately. I am thinking of driving out to Williamsport to take my canoe out on the river. Any suggestions or advice for that area? How are the boat ramps out that way? I have been out to Big Pool, Cunningham Falls Lake, and Blair's Valley Lake. I guess Blair's Valley Lake hasn't been all that great lately. Loaded with hydrilla. A DNR rep told me they recently stocked with 150 tiger muskie 18 to a pound, so they have some growing to do. Laura (aka Zeebyrd)

Hi everyone! Somewhat recent addict to bass fishing in Maryland. I had been fly fishing for trout for the past couple of years. Now I am fishing for bass. Latest spot for fishing has been Centennial Lake in Columbia, MD. Looking to start on the Potomac with my canoe. Laura - aka Zeebyrd (not sure why my cat's photo is up there - I guess I need to change it to a nice bass pic!)