Black Hill Regional Park Boyds, MD

[rondef]

I was talking to my Toyota Service Advisor in Gaitherburg, MD a fellow bass fisherman. He stated that I should try fishing at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds, MD. Has anyone fished here? What can you tell me about this lake? How is the fishing at this lake? What have you caught in this lake? I see that the lake has large mouth bass and tiger musky. He gave it a 10 on a 1-10 scale. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Tight Lines,

Ron

[basser89]

Hey Ron,

I work 10 minutes from the lake so I usually hit the lake at lunch time from shore. Not sure what the guy had told you about the lake so I'll start you with some of the basics.

The lake is 505 acre, electric only (if you have a boat) reservior that provides water for DC. The lake is filled with hydrilla and some timber in some of the coves. Deepest part that I have graphed on the fish finder was around 65'. The visitor's center in the park does (or at least used to) have maps of the lake. The are largemouths and tiger musky but it also holds crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish. The best bass I've landed from there this year is the 5lb 5oz largemouth in my avatar, but I have seen a 6lb 1oz caught and have seen a few in the 7-8lb range. The spawn is usually in full swing right around the beginning of May. It can be a tough place to fish, the water can get pretty clear (I've seen visibility down to about 12-13'). I'd give the lake about an 8 out of 10.

How's that for starters? It's just a little bit off the top of my head. If you have any specific questions, let us know.

[Munkin]

Everything Basser89 said is true about that place. For me that place is either a 0 or 8 depending on the day? You are either catching a lot or nothing.

Allen

[rondef]

Are there a lot of good access points casting from the shore?  I figure that the bass will be hitting crankbaits as I am having great success using them in Virginia.  What are the Tiger Muskie hitting?  I would not mind catching one since I have never caught a tiger muskie before.

[rondef]

Any MD folks interested in fishing this lake on Saturday? If so I will drive up from Woodbridge, VA.

[Munkin]

Any MD folks interested in fishing this lake on Saturday? If so I will drive up from Woodbridge, VA.

Sorry but both boats are winterized and I already have made other plans. In the spring if you are interested I usually fish by myself and could meet you there?

Allen

[basser89]

I'm still running my boat but I had made plans already to hit the Potomac with my fishing partner. There are a few other anglers on here that fish there too. You may be in luck yet if one of them can meet up with you! The lake is closed to boats on Dec. 15th through Feb. but you can fish from shore all year long (as long as there's no ice obviously). I didn't get a chance to fish it on the boat this year so in the spring, you're more than welcome to join me as well (or maybe we could try a group outing). If you make it this weekend, good luck!

[rondef]

Sean and Allen,

Thanks for the invite for the boat trip on Black Hill Lake, I will definitely take you up on that offer. The same holds true down here, if either of you want to try fishing down here (Northern, VA in the spring just let me know. We can take my boat out to a number of different places.

Ron

[Bob StClair]

The lake was a mistake from the start..  I watched the lake fill up and actually drove my 4wd into the bottom of it before it was filled..  It filled quickly. There where 2 ponds on the lot that already had good bass in them, Not enough to stock the lake.  I knew a girl who was a park ranger and she filled me in on the mistakes.

They where supposed to stock blugill and during their spawn, were supposed to stock alot of fingerling bass. BUT  They waited 2 months for some reason and the Blugills thrived.  When the fingerling bass were introduced the blugill fry were to bid for them to eat. 

Worse yet they were both competing for the same food source . There where schools of 10-12 inch bass

schooling around the lake.  It was unbalanced. So fix #1 was to add shiners  and make the creel limit 10 bass under 12" and 1 over #15"

Then they added sterile Tiger Muskie to thin out the overabundance of small bass.  Being sterile most if not all the musky are gone.  

Some fisherman stocked the lake with crappie and they do well but there is not enough food to go around.

They need to put in small shad or herring, or the best Golden shiners. The lake would really take off! 

Its a shame as it is a great late that was severely mismanaged.  GOLDEN SHINERS!  Bob

[Logan S]

This is my new favorite feature of the forum -->   

 

There's been golden shiners in the lake for as long as I've been fishing it, which is about 20 years now.  I doubt shad would survive in the lake, it's too small for them.  I've always thought it was managed fine and it was a good lake to bass fish.  There was period a few years back where I'd put it in the conversation of the best bass fisheries in the region....But that doesn't last forever and it tapered off.  

 

The massive development in the area has slammed the lake in the past year or two, plus the COVID crowds this year. We call it 'Yak Hills' now ....It's completely overrun with kayaks.  If it wasn't so close to me and easy to get quick trips in, I'd likely write it off these days.

[Munkin]

3 hours ago, Logan S said:

This is my new favorite feature of the forum -->   

 

We call it 'Yak Hills' now ....It's completely overrun with kayaks.  

 

Noticed that as well, my favorite though is that tour boat or whatever it is that drives around the lake. That a** rolled by me 10' away in front of the Game Warden. I yelled at the operator and when the Game Warden approached he said he witnessed it and would talk to the guy.

 

Allen 

[Munkin]

[Junger]

4 hours ago, Logan S said:

There's been golden shiners in the lake for as long as I've been fishing it, which is about 20 years now.  I doubt shad would survive in the lake, it's too small for them.  I've always thought it was managed fine and it was a good lake to bass fish.  There was period a few years back where I'd put it in the conversation of the best bass fisheries in the region....But that doesn't last forever and it tapered off.  

 

The massive development in the area has slammed the lake in the past year or two, plus the COVID crowds this year. We call it 'Yak Hills' now ....It's completely overrun with kayaks.  If it wasn't so close to me and easy to get quick trips in, I'd likely write it off these days.

 

There are lots of gizzard shad in Widewater, I think they survive because of the deep holes when it gets hot. I see thousands of them in the early spring in the shallow area by lock. They would probably be OK in Black Hills too, lots of vegetation and deep sections for the summer heat.

 

And yeah, way more kayaks and recreational watercraft (sailboats too!) than bass boats during these times. The boat dock can be a clusterF because they like to blow up their yaks on the ramp, or they're chit-chatting while there are 2-3 boats ready to put in or take out. I've only fished there once in two years...I'd rather drive an hour away to fish the Potomac.

 

[Logan S]

39 minutes ago, Junger said:

There are lots of gizzard shad in Widewater, I think they survive because of the deep holes when it gets hot. I see thousands of them in the early spring in the shallow area by lock. They would probably be OK in Black Hills too, lots of vegetation and deep sections for the summer heat.

I was actually talking about cold weather...Seems like they start dying off when ice starts forming and BH freezes frequently in the winter.  I just think it's a bit too small and doesn't have the inflow/outflow and structure that a 'real' lake has where they would survive/replenish...It's more like an overgrown pond.  Not a biologist though so this is just me shooting the s**t on based on what I've seen . 

[Junger]

2 hours ago, Logan S said:

I was actually talking about cold weather...Seems like they start dying off when ice starts forming and BH freezes frequently in the winter.  I just think it's a bit too small and doesn't have the inflow/outflow and structure that a 'real' lake has where they would survive/replenish...It's more like an overgrown pond.  Not a biologist though so this is just me shooting the s**t on based on what I've seen . 

 

I find gizzard shad in the most unusual places, there are some semi-shallow ponds in NJ that have them, deepest being about 10 feet. Here is a little park I take my kids to and I fish when visiting my in-laws in NJ: https://goo.gl/maps/sdxjbu4WdTmfoXn6A There are LMB, bluegill, crappie, american eel, gizzard shad, channel cats, and they even stock it with rainbows in the spring. How they fit into this pond...I have no idea.

 

I even found them in parts of the creek down from Lake Needwood in the fall/spring. I have no idea where they go in the summer, but I presume they swim up Rock Creek from deeper sections up here to spawn.

 

Not sure if they're viable in BH or what the impact would be, but they're definitely a resilient shad species...but they smell to high heaven. I hate them worse than blue cats.

[JeepFisher]

I fished there this year as part of Kayak tournament and a couple other times besides that.  Landed my first snakehead there, so that was cool.  I need some more experience in general and on that lake to figure them out.  I found some hanging around laydowns but nothing of real size.  Had some competitors crush them in deeper water though.