Maryland- Liberty Res. Loch Raven Res. Patapsco River

[.dsaavedra.]

i'm going to UMBC in the fall and it looks like these are the three major fisheries nearby. any tips on fishing them?

[JigMe]

Liberty can be hard to fish without a boat. I am a non-boater, and have fished at liberty few time with no luck or I just suck at finding a good spot to fish. Never fished lock raven or patapsco, so can't help you there.

If you want some easy fishing from the bank, since you are a college student so I am assuming you are fishing from shore (I could be wrong). You can try centennial lake, lake elkhorn, and Jackson Pond. Not many people knows about Jackson pond, but it has good quality bass in it. For lake elkhorn, I just started fishing it last year and it is stocked with bass during the fall. But the size of the bass is not that great, the biggest I have ever pulled out is no more than 3lb. Then, centennial lake is over fished and bass fishing can be tough. But you can still catch them, just have to found out how they want it. Hopefully that helps.

P.S. I am currently enrolled at UMBC as well for my master. GOOD school, tons of hawt girls...

[.dsaavedra.]

thats good to know (about the girls that is  ;D)

so how far away are these other ponds? i'll probably be fishing from shore but if i could get off campus housing i might be able to use a pontoon if i can afford one and have somewhere to keep it. i might rent boats too, idk.

[JigMe]

The pond is 15 mins away from UMBC.

You can rent a boat at centennial lake if you are interested.

[R1Peacock]

I grew up in the area and use to fish the Patapsco River several times a week. Using small Rebel crankbaits such as the Wee Frog or a simple Chartruese Twistertail should result in a 50 fish day with no problem. The fish in the Patapsco are not that big. If you catch a 16 inch Smallmouth consider it a trophy. Most will be in the 10-12 inch range. There are sections of the river that you can have to yourself if you don't mind driving a short distance.

I use to fish the Rt. 40 bridge to Ellicott City Section when I was young and had it all to myself. You can park at a church near Rockwell Ave and Westchester Ave and walk a short distance through the woods to the river. I now have a boat and either fish the Upper Bay or Potomac. I have not fished the Patapsco for many years. Each year I say I'm going to swing by my old neighborhood but I never find the time.

Most of the river in that section is knee deep with a few deeper pools. The only warning I will give is pay attention to the weather. The river can rise quickly after a storm and remain high for several days. --- Good Luck

[JigMe]

R1peacok, if you ever decided to fish patapsco river please let me know. I have been to patapsco valley state park for company picnic, and went down to that bridge at route 40 but didn't had a chance to fish. The water is very shallow near the bridge, where were you fishing for small mouth?

[R1Peacock]

Lee,

If your at the Rt. 40 bridge you will need to walk south about 100 yards or so before the river opens up into deeper pools.  This depends of course on rainfall.  In addition if they have not already I know there were plans to dismantle the old dam some time in late 2009 or 2010.  This will also impact the river flow in the immediate area.  The smallmouth are river fish and it doesn't take much to hold fish in an area.  The water is mostly knee deep with a few areas deeper.  You can walk the railroad tracks south and look for an area that looks good.  You can also park in Ellicott City and walk north.  If you park at the church and walk through the park you can enter the river at several places.

Contact me direct and I can talk to you more about several locations.  Take a look at Bing Maps.  The best areas that I fished when I was young ran parallel with Westchester Avenue from about Rest Avenue to about St. Johnsbury.  In that stretch there is an area we use to call Sandy Point.  South of Sandy Point is an area that is waist deep for about 100 yards.

r1peacock@aol.com

[pew739]

Loch raven is the best bass fishing in maryland. They also have really good norther pike fishing. Get a used jon boat and trolling motor and just store it there, it will be worth every penny.

[Smiths.R]

I will second the Loch Raven thought...it is JAMMED with bass.  If you can't catch bass at Loch Raven, you need a new hobbie.  I fish the Loch 4 or 5 times a week.  I just got a kayak, but previously, I always fished from shore.  It's a huge reservoir, so plenty of places to hit too.  You can rent a canoe for like 15 bucks, so if you want to float, you can do that too. 

[pew739]

Do you have any parts of the res that work out better for you then others? I dont want to steal all of your fishing spots,I am just still figuring out the banks spots.

[Smiths.R]

The only place I would say to stay away from really is on Loch Raven Drive.  There are always people there...lots of little kids just throwing stuff in the water, dogs barking and splashing.  Almost anywhere else is great.  There is a parking spot just before the Dulaney Valley Bridge.  Both sides of the street are great. 

[ichigo]

loch raven is one of my favorite fishing spot second to potomac because you can rent boat there 25 bucks for all day and i caught my pb lmb of 10.5 in loch raven resrvior i like to fish there may but i maybe fish there 3rd or 4rd week of april

[.dsaavedra.]

this is encouraging

so you can store a jon boat at the reservoir? i have a jon boat and trolling motor here at home. but i probably won't take it to school to store it there.

[Smiths.R]

You can keep a boat there, but there is a fee involved.  I'm not so sure how much.

I was at the Loch today.  I had two fish go after a worm, but I couldn't hold back.  I tried to set the hook to early.  They tapped at it for like 10 seconds.  Water is warmer than I thought it was.  After this week, I'm going to start looking for beds.