Maryland's Who's who!

[Bill Poch]

Made it out for a couple of hours (12:30-2:30) at Black Hills. Started for the first hour by the tubes for nothing and went over by the stick ups for the last hour. Managed three fish, one at about 16-17" and two other small ones. All on a Rage Craw.

I need to start paying attention to what you guys look like. I think I saw and talked to you over at the tubes. I was there with my little girl trying to catch her some bluegills and sneak in some fishing for myself. Saw one bass guarding the nest and he wasn't interested in anything I threw. He did hit one plastic worm but grabbed it by the tail below the hook and ran with it. If he would have grabbed it head 1st I would have caught him.

[KenLattimore]

I need to start paying attention to what you guys look like. I think I saw and talked to you over at the tubes. I was there with my little girl trying to catch her some bluegills and sneak in some fishing for myself. Saw one bass guarding the nest and he wasn't interested in anything I threw. He did hit one plastic worm but grabbed it by the tail below the hook and ran with it. If he would have grabbed it head 1st I would have caught him.

Hey Bill. That was me! I didn't even think about you being someone from the boards. Great to see you and your little girl out enjoying the day fishing. I tried to entice that bass with the craw but all he did was look at it.

[dcfdpipeman]

Wow, that makes 3 of us fishing BH today. We fished late, from 1130 til 330pm today. My daugter did well getting about 4 fish. Lot's of boats out there today, I had a Bass Tracker with black lettering.

She got this nice 2.5lb on her own, 1" worm, bobber and red hook jig. It was nice to see her "struggle" bringing this in, the expressions were priceless.

Normally she doesn't mind holding fish but this one "scared" her.

Another fish for her:

I ended up with 2 bass, under 3lbs and some good hits. But I had to manage the Royal Carribean Cruise because ever hour there is a seating for lunch with my daughter, then the activities outside of fishing. But hey, wouldn't miss it for the world.

[Fat Boy]

Excellent report Peter.

But hey, wouldn't miss it for the world.

I can't think of a better way to bond than to spend time outdoors with your daughter. You have a great attitude, and seem like you're enjoying every moment. Next thing you know, she'll be winning women's bass tourneys!!!!

[Bill Poch]

Anybody ever fish the Potomac from the Lander boat access area? I'm curious as to if this part of the river is wadable.

[Basser714]

I have been up to Lander 2 times but shored it. On those days, it seemed the current was too rough to wade across. I didn't see anyone wading at all but to be honest, it may have even been to cold to wade. I cant remember when I was there - maybe late spring. But you can certainly get wet if you want. I went left as we were driving up to the launch - maybe 100m in.

I too went to BH this weekend on the eastern arm and ran into a Crapper who said he pulled in a 10 pound bass that destroyed a little crappie he was bringing in. I assume he guessed the weight. I did get a light tap tap super heavy line that I think was a turtle. He never got near the surface and was heavy. He got hung up among all the wood just in front of me. I gave him time to free himself, tried my tricks, and I ended up breaking the line trying to pull it free. I hate those.

Does anyone else think BH is more active in 12, over last year? Last year seemed slow to me but am not that great a FM that I can say with certainty.

[DewWhat]

Bill: As I'm from Hagerstown, and am not very familiar with the parts of the Upper Potomac down here in Frederick and Montgomery County, I bought a great book that details all the wading spots from Harpers Ferry the whole way to DC. I can look some info up tonight if you want.

I fished BH for two hours Saturday morning and had no luck with bass. I fished the area from the boat ramp riprap around to the left. Guess the spawn and the super moon probably didn't help, but I don't know beans about that lake. My first take is it's not an easy one to fish from shore.

[Fat Boy]

It's like anywhere else Dew, you can have good days or bad days. There are some spots better than others, and I'd try different access areas of the lake and hike a bit to get away from the crowds. Find cover, and you'll find fish, find structure, and you'll find fish. When it gets weedy, find places where you can effectively fish the weed edges (deeper areas). And fish lures that won't hang up and are cheap (spinnerbaits/buzzers/topwater or plastics). Part of the fun of learning a new lake is to explore. You will find some spots that other people may not know about except for a few anglers that know the lake inside out. The good thing about BH is that most of the shoreline is public, although there are spots where access is limited because of trees, etc. where you can't get a cast in. But there are other places that you can hike to that have plenty of room. Use Google Maps and zoom in to help you find access and structure.

[Bill Poch]

Bill: As I'm from Hagerstown, and am not very familiar with the parts of the Upper Potomac down here in Frederick and Montgomery County, I bought a great book that details all the wading spots from Harpers Ferry the whole way to DC. I can look some info up tonight if you want.

I'd love to know the name of the book

[DewWhat]

Thanks FB, I know I have a ton to learn about the lake. I'll keep going, seems to be the best option in this area.

Bill: You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982396252/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

[Fat Boy]

Thanks FB, I know I have a ton to learn about the lake. I'll keep going, seems to be the best option in this area.

Don't give up on it because the fishing can be awesome, and there are some real pigs in there. Think of each trip as a learning experience. If you're not getting the result that you want, try something else. If you know that fish are there, it's often a change in presentation or color. If you aren't sure about fish being there, try a different spot, either a local change (like a deeper spot) or a big change (a different part of the lake), etc. There are no secret spots on the lake from shore, so for every area, there should be a trail to get you along a fishable shoreline.

You can't go wrong with plastics of some sort, so if hard baits aren't producing, go with plastics. Have some for different presentations (surface film like flukes, slow sinking like Senko style baits, plastic worms of varying lengths used with matching hooks - and vary the weight from no weight, to not much weight, to more weight to get the lure to the fish either suspended or on the bottom, wherever you think they are). For this lake, the vast majority of the time the natural colors will work nicely, although all black can be very good too. If the fish are aggressive, go bigger, if they're finicky, try a 4" worm. Tube jigs also work well, and I like to Texas rig them, but whatever works for you so that you can fish into the cover and not hang up. Everyone has their favorite brands, so I won't go there. That's my approach for catching numbers of bass.

Now, if you're after that one big bite on that one big fish, think big baits, and expect to get skunked once in a while, but when you do get bit, it will be a good fish. So, what I try to do is achieve a balance for having fun and catching numbers while also looking for big fish. During prime bites or when it's good, I'll catch a few then go to a bigger bait to try for a big fish. Now, of course, if I'm having a lot of fun catching decent ones, I will just have fun and keep on doing it. It all depends on the mood of the fish and my mood.

Bottom line is, BH is a good lake...and well worth figuring it out.

[dcfdpipeman]

FB has some real good info on BH. My daughter caught all her bass on 1" greenie/white worm with a curly tail, 1/8oz jig head and bobber. I set the depth to about 3' and she was nailing them. 2lb and a 2.5lb bass along with smaller fish.

Me, I was using plastics all too big and didn't catch half the fish. I should have adjusted and used a finese worm or something smaller.

[KenLattimore]

FB has some real good info on BH. My daughter caught all her bass on 1" greenie/white worm with a curly tail, 1/8oz jig head and bobber. I set the depth to about 3' and she was nailing them. 2lb and a 2.5lb bass along with smaller fish.

Me, I was using plastics all too big and didn't catch half the fish. I should have adjusted and used a finese worm or something smaller.

Hey dcfd,

Loved the pictures of you and daughter out fishing! My oldest is 12, and definitely never going fishing. My youngest is two, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll be coming out with me. I arealdy have her watching fishing shows and she gets excited when they land a fish so there's hope for me!

[Bill Poch]

Looks like I'll be heading out on the Bay on my Uncle's boat this Sat for some big strippers. This is the 1st year I've been able to go and he knows what he's doing. A 30" fish on his boat is considered small and his biggest is a 51 1/2" monster. I hope to have some great pics to share when I get back.

[BrianinMD]

Nice trip Bill, should have a great day for it.

I may get out for half of Sunday, have to see how things work out. If I do I am sure it will be BH since its so close and my next tourney is there on June 9th.

[KenLattimore]

I'm probably heading out to BH on Saturday morning, since Mother's Day is ruled out. I'm planning on getting out a little before sunrise and fish until noon or so. Headed down to the stick ups and may try some topwater until the sun rises.

[KenLattimore]

I'm probably heading out to BH on Saturday morning, since Mother's Day is ruled out. I'm planning on getting out a little before sunrise and fish until noon or so. Headed down to the stick ups and may try some topwater until the sun rises.

Hey guys,

I wanted to see if anyone has gone down to the C&O Canal at Dickerson this season yet. I gave some thought to going there on Saturday, but given my limited time to go fishing I'm a little reluctant. If anyone has been there yet or heard anything please let me know.

Thanks!

Ken

[dcfdpipeman]

Hey dcfd,

Loved the pictures of you and daughter out fishing! My oldest is 12, and definitely never going fishing. My youngest is two, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll be coming out with me. I arealdy have her watching fishing shows and she gets excited when they land a fish so there's hope for me!

Thanks Ken, I do feel lucy about her liking fishing. Especially when she catches a "whale" (in her words)... I think it might be time to upgrade her rod/reel. She is past the "push button", now uses trigger with closed bail reel case. But her rod is a not all that great for a 2lb bass.

[Bill Poch]

Made it out Sat on my Uncle's boat in Solomon's Island for some strippers. He said it's been a pretty slow lately but the guy is one of the most knowledgeable fisher man I know. So we ended up 1 short on our limit 5 fish for 6 people on the boat. He out fished a few charter boats in his Marina which he seems to do all the time. There were 2 charter's that came back with combined 1 fish.

This is also my 1st time fishing for strippers in the bay and it sure won't be my last. All 5 fish were about 30 - 32" Enjoy. . .

[wv]

Lots of great reports...glad to see veryone having successes. Before last week I worked 18 of 21 days and 152 hours. Glad that's over. We got out last Sunday. We caught 4 LM at Sharpsburg biggest being 141/2 inches. Went to Middletown...I had a couple nice hits but no fish. We saw no signs of spawn...I'm guessing it's over. We stopped at the Potomac near Shepherdstown. River wasn't high but was moving and a little cloudy. I had two nice stikes on a 4-inch Yum Dinger but no fish. We did several fish jumping especially near dark. Also saw some noisy large balck birds...my friend at work said cormorants...I thought they were only down south. I guess they were in for roost. I understand they eat fish - I guess that meant we had a good spot. We might head out today sometime. Hope evrybody keeps catching some fish.

[TheKingFisher]

I've been out a few times lately and have lost a few good ones (a couple brutes lost due to butterfingers) and landed a few ok ones.

Today I went to BH over by the stickups near the beaver dam and the largemouth bass were going nuts ambushing baitfish in the shallows. I hooked up with one by swimming a craw near the surface but as soon as it hit I got hung up in cover. There was a lot of stuff on the surface in the shallows and you could almost follow them as they made trails in the debris as they were hunting and when they boiled up they'd create a clearing and I could see some big shadows under the surface. Add to that when they went in for the kill often there were fins flying everywhere. The bass were leaping over cover and everything to get those bait fish! What a thrill!

Hopefully this is a link to a video of the last ambush I saw before I left.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aLC63S_aOsJeCuH3cC2HnBuQspP_UHFPnxRswqs7lnY?feat=directlink

[KenLattimore]

I've been out a few times lately and have lost a few good ones (a couple brutes lost due to butterfingers) and landed a few ok ones.

Today I went to BH over by the stickups near the beaver dam and the largemouth bass were going nuts ambushing baitfish in the shallows. I hooked up with one by swimming a craw near the surface but as soon as it hit I got hung up in cover. There was a lot of stuff on the surface in the shallows and you could almost follow them as they made trails in the debris as they were hunting and when they boiled up they'd create a clearing and I could see some big shadows under the surface. Add to that when they went in for the kill often there were fins flying everywhere. The bass were leaping over cover and everything to get those bait fish! What a thrill!

Man that sounds awesome! I can't get out this weekend since the wife will be working but almost defintely next weekend. I'm going to try to get out of work today though at 5:00 though to get to the lake by 6:00 and get an hour or so of fishing in. From what you described maybe throwing a spinnerbait or fluke would be effective...

[Fat Boy]

Cool report Kevin!

Ken, it sounds like a great time to toss a buzzbait too, or if you need something weedless, a fluke! Man, I haven't been out much lately...been chompin' at the bit to get out after work, but have had to work late amongst other things that demand my time

[KenLattimore]

So I managed to get out today for a little over an hour. I didn't catch anything, but did see a big commotion near the shore. Looked like a bass chasing something right up to the bank. I did catch a bluegill a little smaller than my hand on a spinnerbait and had the bright idea to liveline it. I threw it over by the beaver lodge and all of a sudden it started to run for its life and jumping out the water. It was eventually eaten but I was unable to set the hook. It felt like a good amount of weight. Pretty exciting. It reminded me of live lining bunker for bluefish and stripers.

[Traveler2586]

Went out on the Mattawoman yesterday. I let the wind carry me over an area of submerged weed and came across a large catfish holding tight in the weeds. Just for fun, I put a black & blue jig with a b&b Rage Craw right in front of his face - even bumped his nose - and he wasn't interested. That was my day - Mattawoman 1, me 0.

At times the water was glass smooth. I worked an eddie at Ft. Washington created by the incoming tide and all I got was a sludge ring on my boat hull. Still, it was a good day on the river.