Looking for tips on Maryland (Moco) fishing

[dreamingthoughawake]

Hey everyone! I'm starting fishing after giving it a break for a while but haven't had much luck. 

I've tried most of the lakes around Moco, Needwood, Seneca, clopper and the Columbia lakes  ect but have never had a bite. I've only managed to catch 1 or 2 on the Monocacy and Potomac up by Dargens Bend. I have a inflatable kayak but had trouble padding for long on the potomac because it just seemed rough for anything without a motor and took me forever to paddle a short distance but I caught a fat cat on a crank. 

 

Any tips ? 

 

I heard Dickerson power plan is ok but can't figure out where to park. I tried bank fishing from the mouth of the Potomac where it meets monocacy last Sept but that seems extremely shallow and muddy bank so not sure how far I should go up. I've heard really good things about monocacy but can't seem to figure out where the fish are. 

 

Haven't tried the 2 Baltimore reservoirs yet just cause I can't bring my Yak there .

[Junger]

Needwood is heavily pressured, but if your inflatable kayak will get you to spots bank fishing can't access, such as the bluff walls on the far side, you should get some fish. It's not too big for you to paddle around too. What are you throwing? A small paddletail always works there as a search bait, or a craw along laydowns.  In the spring, I see lots of bass staging for spawning around this area: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PEtDGRkCo4ur6Y5U8 Lots of large boulders and sunken wood. Be prepared to lose some lures.

 

Little Seneca Lake is huge, and if you're in an inflatable and there's wind fetch, it'll take you forever to paddle back. Lake Whetstone is a little lake out by Lakeforest Mall, a perfect size for an inflatable too. I used to fish there with my kids and walk along the pathway and I would see kayakers in there. There are some quality bass in there.

 

Here are some previous threads for MD/MoCo fishing spots, good luck and post your fishing reports here: 

 

 

 

[JeepFisher]

  On 3/15/2025 at 11:06 PM, dreamingthoughawake said:

Hey everyone! I'm starting fishing after giving it a break for a while but haven't had much luck. 

I've tried most of the lakes around Moco, Needwood, Seneca, clopper and the Columbia lakes  ect but have never had a bite. I've only managed to catch 1 or 2 on the Monocacy and Potomac up by Dargens Bend. I have a inflatable kayak but had trouble padding for long on the potomac because it just seemed rough for anything without a motor and took me forever to paddle a short distance but I caught a fat cat on a crank. 

 

Any tips ? 

 

I heard Dickerson power plan is ok but can't figure out where to park. I tried bank fishing from the mouth of the Potomac where it meets monocacy last Sept but that seems extremely shallow and muddy bank so not sure how far I should go up. I've heard really good things about monocacy but can't seem to figure out where the fish are. 

 

Haven't tried the 2 Baltimore reservoirs yet just cause I can't bring my Yak there .

Expand  

Junger gave a lot of good info... 

Depending on how far you like to travel, the Eastern shore is perfect for inflatable fishing - lots of mill ponds and smaller lakes.  I can give you some recommendations if you are up for traveling that far.  Closer to you, I've mainly fished the WSSC reservoirs and you could paddle those as long as the wind isn't bad, especially in the coves (keeping in mind safety first - life jacket, tether to your board and your important equipment) - it can get deep fast (I've lost a very nice rigged fishing pole about 45 ft down LOL). 

Lake Elkhorn and Kittamaquandi are doable in the spring, but once summer gets going, the algae/grasses are unbearable to get through, even with their attempts at cleaning it out.  I haven't fished Elkhorn as much recently, but they basically will hang around under any overhanging trees and any water drainage into the lake.

[Logan S]

If you ever decide you'd like to see local and regional lakes/rivers from a bass boat, you can check out best and largest bass club in the region, which is also based in MoCo (I'm only slightly biased 😉).

 

It might seem like a lot, but it's actually pretty easy going...And you hop in with experienced local anglers in their boats.  

 

www.fishonbassanglers.com

 

The rest of the MD crew has given you solid info, can't add much to it.

[dreamingthoughawake]

  On 3/16/2025 at 1:42 PM, Junger said:

Needwood is heavily pressured, but if your inflatable kayak will get you to spots bank fishing can't access, such as the bluff walls on the far side, you should get some fish. It's not too big for you to paddle around too. What are you throwing? A small paddletail always works there as a search bait, or a craw along laydowns.  In the spring, I see lots of bass staging for spawning around this area: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PEtDGRkCo4ur6Y5U8 Lots of large boulders and sunken wood. Be prepared to lose some lures.

 

Little Seneca Lake is huge, and if you're in an inflatable and there's wind fetch, it'll take you forever to paddle back. Lake Whetstone is a little lake out by Lakeforest Mall, a perfect size for an inflatable too. I used to fish there with my kids and walk along the pathway and I would see kayakers in there. There are some quality bass in there.

 

Here are some previous threads for MD/MoCo fishing spots, good luck and post your fishing reports here: 

 

 

 

Expand  

Thanks , I'll def check out the other posts. Just tried Rocky Gorge for the 1st time , seems no one I talked to coming back had any luck at all even the big bass boats. Big shad die off but still no bites.  I managed 2  - 3lb bass on a tiny pond lake last week and that's been my PB in this area. 

I'm throwing a number of diff lures, I have 3 rods , so I usually put a topwater / crank on one and paddletail and need rig s on the others . I'm trying to learn to fish hard jerkbaits right now because guys slay on the Monocacy with those I have seen. I def got blown around Seneca the one time I put my kayak in there, it is a huge lake so didn't go very far . Paddling is hard work lol don't have the space for a motor/battery though like I see most other people have added. 

[dreamingthoughawake]

  On 3/16/2025 at 4:45 PM, JeepFisher said:

Junger gave a lot of good info... 

Depending on how far you like to travel, the Eastern shore is perfect for inflatable fishing - lots of mill ponds and smaller lakes.  I can give you some recommendations if you are up for traveling that far.  Closer to you, I've mainly fished the WSSC reservoirs and you could paddle those as long as the wind isn't bad, especially in the coves (keeping in mind safety first - life jacket, tether to your board and your important equipment) - it can get deep fast (I've lost a very nice rigged fishing pole about 45 ft down LOL). 

Lake Elkhorn and Kittamaquandi are doable in the spring, but once summer gets going, the algae/grasses are unbearable to get through, even with their attempts at cleaning it out.  I haven't fished Elkhorn as much recently, but they basically will hang around under any overhanging trees and any water drainage into the lake.

Expand  

Id be up for trying eastern shore. It's about a hour from me if I pay the toll road depending on how far across the water it is. I've never tried fishing there. Are these all public water? 

I just tried the Wssc Rocky Gorge yesterday and had no luck. Didn't seem like anyone else caught anything. It's pretty low and I heard they are talking about dredging it again. What's your setup for securing your rods? I've tried a few different things, right now I added rings to my handles where I can flip on a pool noodle on a teather line but with multiple rods that gets kinda hard to manage with all the Paracord laying there. I have 1 yak attack rod holder that should keep the rod secure but the others are just in reg rod holders on my crate. 

 

The Colombia lakes have all not done well for me even before the weeds, too pressured I guess. Mainly dinks from what I've seen caught there. Seems you need a motor to get anywhere good on the Potomac. I've had success there off Dargens Bend boat ramp but it was pretty close to the ramp since I'm paddling the yak and can't really go too far. I think I'll try out Landers dock area next time I'm out there. 

[Junger]

@dreamingthoughawake If you want to catch fish in huge numbers, the shad run on the Potomac is happening right now. I went on Monday and caught over 20 big shad, mostly American shad in just over 2 hours on a pretty bad tide. I even had a double up of American shad, thought I had a catfish or carp on because of how heavy it was.