Maryland's Who's who!

[Bill Poch]

Weekend is off to a great start, hit the upper potomac yesterday after work. Lost track of how many smallies we caught. Best part was the popper bite, some outstanding strikes.

Today off to black hills to hopefully find some willing largemouth.

What part of the upper Potomac do you fish. I'm planning on trying to wade up there Tuesday after work just off Keep Tryst road, just a little down river from Harpers Ferry

[BrianinMD]

Bill, we put in at Edwards Ferry, fished a little just downstream from the ramp but most of the time we ran up river just below Whites Ferry and drifted.

Had a pretty good day at Black Hills yesterday, fished with Hellbenderman, we both got a couple over 4 pounds and a few 3 pounders mixed in. Never really got on a hot bite but stayed consistant with bites throughout the day.

Doubt I will make it out today, need to get a few things done around the house. But hopefully at least one or two days after work this week I will get out.

[KenLattimore]

Made it out at Black Hills today from 6am-2pm. Started off throwing a Pop-R and caught four. After the sun came up I caught one on a finesse worm. My last fish came about 1pm on a jig. All in all a good day with six fish caught with three different lures. Pretty good for just starting bass fishing last year. Happy Father's Day to all!

[Bill Poch]

Bill, we put in at Edwards Ferry, fished a little just downstream from the ramp but most of the time we ran up river just below Whites Ferry and drifted.

Had a pretty good day at Black Hills yesterday, fished with Hellbenderman, we both got a couple over 4 pounds and a few 3 pounders mixed in. Never really got on a hot bite but stayed consistant with bites throughout the day.

Doubt I will make it out today, need to get a few things done around the house. But hopefully at least one or two days after work this week I will get out.

Thanks for the info. Is that area John boat friendly? My brothers and I have 14' John boat with 9.8HP outboard that we'll have water ready in a week or 2.

[BrianinMD]

Yes, but be very careful if its a prop motor. There are places the water gets shallow with large rocks. I see people out with prop motors there, just be careful.

[Fat Boy]

Made it out at Black Hills today from 6am-2pm. Started off throwing a Pop-R and caught four. After the sun came up I caught one on a finesse worm. My last fish came about 1pm on a jig. All in all a good day with six fish caught with three different lures. Pretty good for just starting bass fishing last year. Happy Father's Day to all!

Nice work Ken! Gotta love that topwater bite!

[Bill Poch]

Muskie in the upper Potomac.

My brothers and I are getting closer to getting our free Jon boat/trailer in the water and our madian voyage is going to be putting in up by Dam 4 on the Potomac. I've heard/read there are Muskie up there and I'd like to try and catch one. Any advice other than steel leaders, I've never fished for them before.

[basser89]

Muskie in the upper Potomac.

My brothers and I are getting closer to getting our free Jon boat/trailer in the water and our madian voyage is going to be putting in up by Dam 4 on the Potomac. I've heard/read there are Muskie up there and I'd like to try and catch one. Any advice other than steel leaders, I've never fished for them before.

Hey Bill,

You guys be EXTREMELY careful putting in at Dam 4 this time of year! I refuse to put my jon boat in there during the warmer months due to the big cruiser/party boats that have absolutely no regard for smaller vessels! The last time I attempted that, I was nearly thrown from my boat because some goofball decided to fly past me about 15 yards or so away from me.

I have a good bit of experience with the muskies up in that area of the river so I can give you some info. I'll PM you later on this evening with any info I can provide.

I was able to sneak out last evening after work for a few hours. I hit Black Hills. Action was SLOW! I managed a small perch on a lipless crank and 1 largemouth on a grape colored plastic worm. The highlight of the evening was having some boater with absolutely NO regard for shoreline anglers that decided to stop straight out in front of me and fish for a few minutes without saying a word to me at all. It wasn't like a was hidden from his sight or anything like that, he even watched me make a cast (past where he pulled into) about a minute before he rolled up on me. I will never understand the mentality of people like this.

[KenLattimore]

I was able to sneak out last evening after work for a few hours. I hit Black Hills. Action was SLOW! I managed a small perch on a lipless crank and 1 largemouth on a grape colored plastic worm. The highlight of the evening was having some boater with absolutely NO regard for shoreline anglers that decided to stop straight out in front of me and fish for a few minutes without saying a word to me at all. It wasn't like a was hidden from his sight or anything like that, he even watched me make a cast (past where he pulled into) about a minute before he rolled up on me. I will never understand the mentality of people like this.

Hey Sean! Glad to see you made it out yesterday. I plan on getting back out this weekend, most likely early Sunday morning to do a little topwater. Sorry to hear about your experience with that boater. Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago except this boater was even worse because he insisted on going back forth, repeatedly stopping in front of me! I was temped to yell something but decided it wasn't worth the trouble, besides the couple of fish I pulled out while he caught nothing spoke volumes.

[basser89]

Yeah Ken,

That was something else. I was fishing the stick ups when I first saw the boat enter the cove from the main lake side, I sorta anticipated that happening so I grabbed my gear and headed back around the point. It was clearly obvious that both goofballs in the boat were extremely inexperienced because when I saw them come around the point of the stick ups no more than 10 minutes after I left to head back there. There is no way they could have covered 1/10 of the stick ups effectively in the time they had to fish it and come past the point. It just burns me up that when I have my boat out (or even fishing from shore), I do my best to give shore bound anglers and other boaters who are already fishing a spot the common courtesy of staying away from their spot. I guess that's too much to ask from some people.

I won't be out for a while so good luck this weekend Ken and anyone else that's able to get out!

[Basser714]

Saturday night I yak'd from Nolands down to the Mouth of Monocacy. Everyone got at least 5 smallies - the biggest only a pound at most. But its the most action I have seen on the river in some time. At dark, we shored up and went for cats. We only got one small cat in 2 hours though. It was great overall.

+1 on hating rude folks squatting on your hole. Do you think they even realize you are casting dangerously close to their boat?

[basser89]

Glad to see you got some smallie action in Basser714!

Like I mentioned, the guy clearly saw me and made a comment on the tackle bag I had with me. When he was about 20-25 yards away from me, I made a cast so he could clearly see the area I was attempting to fish. Oh well. It happens. All I can do is laugh about it now. LOL!

[Fat Boy]

Sean, maybe you should pack some huge musky lures and toss his way...maybe he'll think twice before and "errant" cast with #7 trebles on an 8 oz. lure smack him upside his head!!!! Actually, the best justice is catching a fish in front of them while they beat the water with nothing to show for it.

[basser89]

Sean, maybe you should pack some huge musky lures and toss his way...maybe he'll think twice before and "errant" cast with #7 trebles on an 8 oz. lure smack him upside his head!!!! Actually, the best justice is catching a fish in front of them while they beat the water with nothing to show for it.

LOL Kevin! I've thought that many many times! And I do have several larger musky baits that would fit the bill for just such an occurrence.

The one bass I did catch that night, I caught right where they were throwing. Since they were set in KVD mode (boat speed wise only), they were way gone before that happened.

[KenLattimore]

Glad to see you got some smallie action in Basser714!

Like I mentioned, the guy clearly saw me and made a comment on the tackle bag I had with me. When he was about 20-25 yards away from me, I made a cast so he could clearly see the area I was attempting to fish. Oh well. It happens. All I can do is laugh about it now. LOL!

Sean, maybe you should pack some huge musky lures and toss his way...maybe he'll think twice before and "errant" cast with #7 trebles on an 8 oz. lure smack him upside his head!!!! Actually, the best justice is catching a fish in front of them while they beat the water with nothing to show for it.

I will admit that one day down by the stick ups as I got to my spot there was a botater there and I casted in what I thought was the opposite direction of where he was going. He gave me the evil eye and realizing my mistake I apologized and let him know I thought he was casting in the opposite direction. He told he was there for the past 15-20 minutes, so I apologized again. This went on for two more exchanges with me apologizing until I finally told him I that I was only going to say sorry but so many times and if there was a problem he should do something about it. H eleft after that last comment. I actually felt bad, but I wasn't going to apologize over and over again.

[Fat Boy]

Ken, it sounds to me like he was frustrated by not catching fish and taking it out on you, maybe even getting more out of a confrontation with you than the joy of fishing itself. For cryin' out loud, he's in a boat and there are so many good spots that shore anglers can't get to that he could fish...assuming he's talented enough to find them LOL

You did OK. A man can only take so much! Plus, it sounds to me that you were more than accomodating.

[Bill Poch]

Finally got out to Point of Rocks last night. Went up there with my bro last night for some fishing. I caught 15 smallmouths.

The river gauge said it was 1.34 feet a point of rocks, and it was extremely wadable. We got in on the VA side at the boat ramp and were able to wade all the way over to the MD side. The MD side has more deeper holes and rock ledges where the fish are at. I caught ½ of them on a 3” power grub on a 1/8 oz jig head. The other ½ and biggest was caught on 4" lizards. They were crushing the lizards.

I wish I was able to get a picture of the biggest, but just as I was reaching down to pick him up out of the water, he shook off. He was a good 16” if not bigger.

These fish are so much stronger than the ones in the Monocacy. They also jump more. The 1st one I caught leaped out of the water a good foot and ½. It was awesome. So as long as the river is near 1.5 I’ll be going to point of rocks for now.

Oh yea, don’t speed on 15, had a state trooper going the other way turn around to pull me over for doing 73 in a 55. I was just going with traffic and not even paying attention. He was cool though, said my record was clean and I should take it to court, which is a no brain er.

[basser89]

Bill, that's always a fun time fishing for smallies! Bummer on not getting a pic on the big one. I had that happen to me once several years ago when I had landed what was definitely a new PB for me. I had her in my hand on a belly hold (mouth full of a jerkbait) when she shook free of my hand, hit the rocks and somehow popped free from the hooks. Still wish I could have put her on the scale! LOL!

[Sean MD]

Hey guys, finally found my way over to the NE section of the forums. Glad to see a bunch of members in the area. I live in Elkridge (about 10 mins from BPS) and fish wherever I can. I've been heading out to the Monocacy pretty much every week since the water has been warming up and have had good luck, but no real size yet. Caught my biggest of the year last thursday at the Daniels section of the Patapsco. Only about 2 lbs but nice to get on the board. I fish mainly from my kayak both with spinning gear and my fly rod and wade whenever possible. Best of luck to you guys and I'll definitely have to check out this section frequently now that I know about it.

[basser89]

Welcome to THE boards Sean! A lot of the guys on this thread seem to be from frederick, washington and montgomery county locations but the intent of me starting this thread was to give everyone from MD a place to go to meet, ask questions about our local waters and share our experiences. Definitely come back often! The more the merrier!

[JigMe]

Welcome Sean. I am also from Howard County, and fish local lakes often.

[wv]

Finally got out to Point of Rocks last night. Went up there with my bro last night for some fishing. I caught 15 smallmouths.

The river gauge said it was 1.34 feet a point of rocks, and it was extremely wadable. We got in on the VA side at the boat ramp and were able to wade all the way over to the MD side. The MD side has more deeper holes and rock ledges where the fish are at. I caught ½ of them on a 3” power grub on a 1/8 oz jig head. The other ½ and biggest was caught on 4" lizards. They were crushing the lizards.

I wish I was able to get a picture of the biggest, but just as I was reaching down to pick him up out of the water, he shook off. He was a good 16” if not bigger.

These fish are so much stronger than the ones in the Monocacy. They also jump more. The 1st one I caught leaped out of the water a good foot and ½. It was awesome. So as long as the river is near 1.5 I’ll be going to point of rocks for now.

Oh yea, don’t speed on 15, had a state trooper going the other way turn around to pull me over for doing 73 in a 55. I was just going with traffic and not even paying attention. He was cool though, said my record was clean and I should take it to court, which is a no brain er.

Hey guys, finally found my way over to the NE section of the forums. Glad to see a bunch of members in the area. I live in Elkridge (about 10 mins from BPS) and fish wherever I can. I've been heading out to the Monocacy pretty much every week since the water has been warming up and have had good luck, but no real size yet. Caught my biggest of the year last thursday at the Daniels section of the Patapsco. Only about 2 lbs but nice to get on the board. I fish mainly from my kayak both with spinning gear and my fly rod and wade whenever possible. Best of luck to you guys and I'll definitely have to check out this section frequently now that I know about it.

Welcome to THE boards Sean! A lot of the guys on this thread seem to be from frederick, washington and montgomery county locations but the intent of me starting this thread was to give everyone from MD a place to go to meet, ask questions about our local waters and share our experiences. Definitely come back often! The more the merrier!

Got some replies, a short report and a question in order. SeanMD - welcome to this group...I say it all the time and mean it each time...you've found a great group of fishermen and people. They ven let people not from Maryland chime in and it's apprecited. We got out last Sunday. Tried Middletown Pond...water was too dark. Tried Dam #4...too crowded...and then hit our usual spot near Rumsey Bridge. Water was a little low but in good condition. My son had a few hits but no fish. I got three - one on a Yum Money Craw in dark blue and two on a Tiny Torpedo. Two smallies - biggest being about 12 inches and another about 8 inches...they both left the water three or four times each. Funniest being a 4 inch blugill taking the TT...it got all three rear trebles in it's small mouth...what a chore unhooking him...he survived it though. One thing I've noticed this year is that the smallies we're catching a a little bigger than past years and are quite stout. My question is about posting with your cell phone. I just got an Android smartphone(right now it's smarter than me)and would like to post with it. Problem is I don't see how to do it without Facebook or Twitter. I've got Facebook but would like to post info here not there. Any and all help would be appreciated. Hope everybody keeps catching 'em. Also enjoyed Bill's report from Point of Rocks.

[sean_steiner]

My name is also Sean, live in montgomery county in Germantown. Private ponds are the best places in my area to catch big largemouth, as they aren't as wary. My biggest was almost 9 pounds in a privately owned pond. In this area, I fish seneca creek and the potomac by pennyfield lock. You'd be suprised at the size of some of the largemouth I've pulled out of seneca creek, probably wash-downs that have actually stayed to breed. Also, the sucker run is very productive, and they fight very hard. For the potomac near me by pennyfield, look under the star grass for bass. There are also huge numbers of catfish in huge sizes here for the catfisher, I once caught a 22 pound channel while throwing in a small spoon for bass. I have a house in west virginia by great cacapon, and for smallmouth nothing surpasses the cacapon. I've caught a couple smallies there slightly over 20 inches. It's the perfect habitat, relatively swift moving water with lots of riffles. 90% of the creek has a rocky bottom, perfect smallie habitat. I've had 50+ smallie days there multiple times, not counting all the sunfish and catfish I bring in. It's a very clean and beautiful river. My favorite place however is canada, specifically northwestern and north-central ontario. If you want to experience smallmouth bass fishing where you rarely catch fish below fifteen inches, this is the place to go. Also, they aren't wary at all and will take literally anything you throw in the water, no matter what the size. The only problem is getting the lure in their field of view. It's a much different experience from smallmouth fishing down here. The biggest smallmouth I've ever caught up there was a 25 incher, he even pulled our motor boat for a short time. I also love fishing for pike, nothing puts up more of a fight. The biggest of those I've caught was a fat 47 incher, I have a scar on my arm from that pike. Walleye are my second favorite, behind smallies. They aren't fighters until they get over 24 inches, but they make great eating. The larger ones are a good fight, and I've caught many over 14 pounds in Canada. If you are a smallmouth fanatic, I'd suggest taking a trip to a remote lodge that offers very good smallmouth fishing. You'll be amazed how you can catch smallmouth over twenty inches with every cast, and how aggressive they are. It's not like the smallie fishing here.

[nastynate]

Got tierd of fishing the potomac.We need a little rain. Took the drive to the mighty susquehanna to try are luck. That was the best decision i ever made. First fish of the day was me new PB smallmouth.

[basser89]

Welcome to THE boards Sean! If memory is right, that makes 3 of us on here now. And 2 of us in Germantown. LOL!