John Diamond

Similar was the Potomac and Monocacy, floods in 2018 I think it was really wrecked both rivers. At some point DNR put in 50k smallmouth fingerlings to attempt and revive it. 2020 it was still pretty down, but towards the end the Monocacy picked up a little. 2021 it had rebounded nicely as did it's tribs. Too bad we had huge floods again though - 30 foot flood one of the times.

I love wading, nothing beats being in a river in the middle of Summer, but I stick to smaller, slow moving rivers that are not too deep and at low summertime flows. As a kid I probably cheated death more than a handful of times wading the Susquehanna below Conowingo dam, and getting swept down river because they opened the turbines and I couldn't see the flashing red light.

You could probably wade some areas of it there, I personally haven't so maybe others could speak. It does seem pretty deep, but there might be some spots that aren't too bad. The river does, most of the time, have a very swift and strong current, I would only do it if the river is really, really low in dead of summer. The areas I fish in it (Point of Rocks to Whites Ferry) I wouldn't wade most times. Too strong of current and where it is shallow enough, a lot of foot entrapment potential.

I personally have never found a specific time that they bite, but definitely once the sun sets, that's when they've stopped, at least for me.

Always have had my best success in moving current behind boulders, especially if there's a good hole gouged out from the current. With less current, rocky shorelines have been productive as well. Some of that depends on the size of the river too. If it's a few hundred feet wide, this matters more. If it's 50 feet wide, not as much, just have to find a spot that has some depth and structure, and cast around it.

From that photo, I'd go 20 inches, 4 lbs. Looks pretty similar to one I caught this summer, maybe a bit bigger.

And honestly given how surly they can be when trying to remove the hooks, I don't always mind when they throw it after giving me a good fight. Kinda does me a favor

I use a 14 ft aluminum with a 25 jet drive. The North and South Forks are pretty small rivers, but there is some decent current at times, but I've only kayaked around there before. Mostly I spend time on the Potomac and Monocacy rivers with my jet boat. You're probably not gonna want to be on a plane in 3 inches of water on any river, unless you've got one of those 100k battle armor jet boats with the tunnel hulls. You'll hit a rock for sure, and it will destroy your boat or worse. The only time I'm running on a plane is when I know the water is deep and I've been there before. If you hit a rock with a bass tracker in a river at planing speed, that thing is toast. So the boat with the 48hp jet drive sounds like your best bet for what you want to do, hands down. You'll have more then enough power. I had my 250 buddy on mine at Deep Creek Lake this fall and we had no trouble speeding around the lake at 25 or so mph on plane, in wind. At 16 ft, that boat would be small and light enough to drag over gravel bars - and believe me you will need to on those rivers and most around the area, especially in the Summer months. You'll also need to be prepared to be able to raise the drive from time to time to clear rocks and gravel from the drive intake grate. A 48hp motor is pretty heavy. My 25 is heavy, and I wound up with a sports hernia that I'm still slowly recovering from(hopefully avoiding surgery) when I had to pull that thing up from inside the boat. I'm going to build a pulley system this year, you might consider the same. Those jet drives usually get clogged at the absolute worst times, like when you're going up a shallow gravel bar with a ton of current, and start sucking up crap, then you have no power and you're drifting back down the river.

Anything you can work slow until the water warms up. I fish rivers, and I prefer small crankbaits that suspend. Sometimes spinners do the trick if you can crank them slow enough. I do have a secret weapon I've been working on though, just getting it perfected now. It knocked them out last Summer and Fall, will see how they do in the Spring.

Yup, it's a Monocacy tributary at the upper end. It's roughly 30 miles long or so. The place I fish at is restricted access, but there are probably some other spots down below Emmitsburg that are pretty good. It's also got a couple of big tributaries of it's own (Middle Creek and Flat Run) that might hold fish, not sure.

That lure will definitely work. I have something similar I made myself (though it's a hard bait) and it's been really good. I'm hoping to hit POR Wednesday, but the weather looks like trash now. Fished Tom's Creek yesterday for about 40 minutes at lunch time, and caught five 8-12 inch bass(2 largemouth, 3 smallmouth). This warm spell is getting them active.

I agree with those saying they'll hit them any time. Something about crawfish makes bass both angry and hungry. Of course you can throw a keychain with a hook on it when a bass is hungry and it'll hit it.

Spinners and shallow, smaller cranks work really well in that river. I used to fish the Hollofield section at the bottom of the River Ridge trail, usually no issues with swimmers, and always caught lots of bass, some between 1-2 lbs. I think the section you're targeting has a bit more pressure on it because it's easier to access and often choked with waders/swimmers and people leaving trash(mostly baby diapers) all over the place. This time of year it should have less of that though.

Sure thing, I'll probably post something once I get the lure kinks worked out. It's still very much a WIP, some balancing issues yet.

I always start off with what I think is going to catch the biggest fish. If it's evening, definitely a big topwater jitterbug or hulapopper in a quiet pond. In a river, a large crankbait suitable for the depth. If nothing hits, I start going a little smaller, or a little deeper. If nothing hits after that, I throw inline spinners, and if nothing hits after that I go home because the bite is off.

Thanks! It's still in prototype form, but getting closer. I've got clear resin versions printed out now that I'm testing and painting, tweaking things here and there. The rubber parts are replaceable, held in with tiny screws. Still experimenting with air pockets, ballast, and lip configurations. I've got another version that is 50% larger too. I'll pm you

It was called Forest Hill Tackle shop. Was located on Old Jarrettsville Pike in Forest Hill initially from 75-80, then moved to Rock Spring until it closed in 83. Yup, that's the same Hayward Putnam. He was a notorious character in those days, and one of the best story tellers around. Those guys all seemed larger than life to me.

Stumbled across this sight looking for info on the Potomac boat launches, glad I found it! I've been bass fishing since the mid 70's, when my father opened a tackle shop(was a popular hangout for all the local fishermen, hunters, cops, and a cat named Spooky, as well as fishing legends like Lefty Kreh and Hayward Putnam). My father went on to be an outdoor writer for various publications after the store closed. I have fished for them in just about every way possible, many times with flies and lures I crafted myself, and have been so very fortunate to have fished with guys like Lefty. I spent many Summers fishing farm ponds, wading rivers, and when I could drive, scrounging up change for gas money for me and my friends to venture further. Six years ago I moved to Western Maryland, right along the Monocacy River, and the Potomac and Shenandoah within 20 minutes drive. Total heaven for a bass addict as myself. I love wet wading in the Summer and also have a 14ft Lowes Roostertail with a 25 hp jet drive Mercury that I use on the Potomac and Monocacy when the conditions permit.

Oh sorry, just saw this post. Yeah, that's public land there(and very unpopulated), and there is a parking lot with some paths that go to both above and below the bridge. I think the lot is blocked off though at the moment, or at least limited because of the bridge construction going on. Wading up I've had some success there. The river is fairly deep in spots, I remember being up to my chest much of the time, and being a little wary of stepping into something deeper, at least on the eastern shoreline. There's some good rockpiles on that shore and tree falls at times. There's also that rocky beach right above the bridge but I think that gets a lot of fishing pressure. If you keep wading up river, there are some excellent boulder piles with deeper holes that I've caught many bass in.

I've been using black 8 lb braid this year, after losing a 3-4 lb fish on 4lb mono last year because of the stretchiness and not getting a good hook set and being able to keep him from throwing the lure on one of it's many jumps. I don't use a leader, and I use a size 0 snap swivel(because I frequently change lures, and I really don't think the fish care, heck they like shiny spinners, right?). I was pretty close to switching to 6lb mono until this weekend due to the slow season, but after crushing it all morning yesterday, I'm kind of torn. Last year fishing for largemouth with Senkos I was told by a pro guide that I was fishing with to ditch the braid and swivel (but then I proceeded to out fish him that day). On one hand I love the tightness of the braid, and the feel, but the fouling and knots are absolutely the worst when they happen(usually on a missed strike). I'm probably still going to switch back to mono, but I just wonder if the fish actually care? My experience is that bass will pretty much eat most anything that hits the water does the line's visibility really matter that much?

Though, there still is something to a hot summer day, at some old farm pond, catching tons of largemouth and bluegills. When I was a kid, I probably spent every day I could doing that. Me and my friends would scour the entire county for new farm ponds to try out. Caught my PB in a farm pond. Then I started wet wading the Susquehanna down below Conowingo Dam in the Summer low flows, and catching tank smallmouths, and that was kind of the end of my farm pond era, lol.

My Monocacy River drought is over...well it wasn't really a drought, but just "off" compared to a few years ago the past two seasons. Took my daughter who was visiting from out of town, and we waded about a mile or so stretch of the upper river, starting at around 7:30 am. It was chilly, there was fog on the river(love that), and it started off pretty slow at first. I had her throwing a Teeny Wee Rebel Crawfish the whole time, and I started off with spinner baits just to see if anything at all was hitting, seems like my plan lately. Then I switched to using a custom made (by me) crawfish crankbait that I've been developing for a few weeks. We were in a deep, moving hole, and it seemed like the perfect spot to try it. Boom - first cast, caught a 14 inch fallfish. Few casts later, bigger boom, caught nice sized smallmouth, biggest one I've gotten on that river in two years, guessing around 18-20 inches, maybe 3 lbs or so. After that we moved up the river, they stopped hitting the bigger crawfish, so I switched to spinners and Teeny Wee Rebel Crawfish, and between the two of us we caught over 50 fish (maybe 1/2 were smallies, most in the 6-12 inch range). Many of the fish were right at the edge of the river in the rocks and grass, but once the bite was on in full swing they were attacking from everywhere. After the bite stopped, we headed out. All in all a great morning on the river!

I have had a lot of luck throwing bone colored(aka, unpainted resin) small crankbaits when the river is muddy after a rain, during daylight. I've never had much luck at night at all.

I love both, but smallmouth for me is the most enjoyable because I love being on rivers. Either boating, or wet wading, there's just nothing like hearing the rush of the water, the cicadas singing, and not a soul for miles in total solitude.

Tom's Creek largemouth on lunchbreak