Maryland's Who's who!

[basser89]

Glad to hear everything is ok in your neck of the woods Tuckahoe!

Made it out my self for a little while myself. Popped over to Dam 4. The water was down from the 16' peak and wasn't as muddy as I expected but it was still far from crystal clear. Pitched a tube around in a few spots that I've had success in the past but no takers for me either.

[Fat Boy]

Been a while since I've been on here, sorry 'bout that. I'll post my latest fishing outing and after that a few pics from my trip with Rodger (Monocacy). Sorry to hear about your leg Kevin, any updates on your condition? Sounds like you guys had been doing pretty well up until Sandy hit. I lost power for four days and had some basement flooding to contend with, not fun. Now that clean up is over, I've been able to get out.

My buddy Howard and I decided to hit a Maryland Eastern Shore lake. My buddy Bob, who I bought my boat from, brought his son, to fish out of his Riverpro and me out of my boat. Our quarry, Esox niger, the chain pickerel (along with largemouth bass and crappie, or anything else that wanted to play).

A beautiful bluebird sky chilly day on Maryland's Eastern Shore:

The water temps were 44 degrees early in the morning, and the fish, which normally hold on woody or weedy cover, were not holding there. NNE winds blowing down the lake were pushing the warmer water toward the dam, and that's where the bait would be. Where there is bait, there are predators. So, after an hour of trying the usual blowdowns with some minor hits, we opted for a change.

Last year around this time, we found the same conditions and situation. Near mid afternoon after limited panfish success, we moved down lake to the deepest water and I tried to imitate a golden shiner with a gold Rat-L-Trap and wound up catching a 4 1/2 pound bass. We caught several bass and chainsides doing that the rest of the day, so I figured it would work again.

So, we moved down lake today and after a couple casts, I caught a 19 1/2" and 17" bass on back to back casts on my Rat-L-Trap. That would be the pattern for the day, crankbaits for the most part. Success came the trap, and a shallow diving Lure Jensen Speed Trap, and my trusty plastic worm. But my biggest fish came on the crankbaits. In addition to the two above, I finished with 18 bass, a chain pickerel and a crappie. My biggest fish after the ones above were 19 3/4", 18 1/2", 18", 17 3/4", and two 17" bass. The rest were between 12 and 15" long. My chain pickerel wasn't that big, but it did add me another species for the day.

Bob and his sone left early because his son, who is only 8 years old and a heckuva fisherman, got tuckered out around 2 PM. But, he managed to get his personal best bass (19") and big chain pickerel, another personal best. That boy was workin' that Rat-L-Trap to perfection, and did a great job fighting the fish. The only thing he doesn't do yet is hold the fish. But not too shabby for 6 years old. Bob caught a few nice pickerel too before leaving.

My first two:

Not long after that, another one:

Bob and Carson out of his Riverpro:

Bob holding Carson's nice sized chainside for him:

Bob holding Carson's bass:

Bob with a nice pickerel:

Another Rat-L-Trap fall bass:

[Fat Boy]

My pickerel, but fought hard:

Howard with a healthy pickerel caught on a chatterbait:

Here's a picture of the snakhead from my trip to the Tidal Potomac with Rodger (Monocacy):

Snakehead (before)

Snakehead (after)

Good fishing everyone. I was able to get out at BH before Sandy and caught some nice bass, all of them were in deeper water fished slow on the bottom. They weren't tight to wood, but nearby. I'd bet that they'll be in places like that the rest of the year now. But, several warm winter days in a row, you may find them where you find them in the spring where the wind piles up and the water is warm.

Here's Monocacy with a nice bass:

And here's one of my bass from that day too:

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Good looking fish, Fat Boy. Its been all about crankbaits for me the past couple of months as well. Bass and pickerel have been crushing them. Do you know the name of the Eastern Shore lake and the county its in? Im in Caroline county and just started fishing this past summer and Im looking for some other good bodys of water that are close to me.

[Fat Boy]

On 11/19/2012 at 12:26 AM, Tuckahoe Joe said:

Im in Caroline county and just started fishing this past summer and Im looking for some other good bodys of water that are close to me.

My advice to you is to fish each of the lakes close enough for you to make the trip worthwhile. As for the ones on the Eastern Shore, what I've found is that what works on one seems to work on the others too. Fish them like you do Tuckahoe, and you'll have great success. What we did the other day would most likely have happened on several of the lakes there.

Because of the nature of the internet, I won't give specifics on my spots. But that's half the fun, discovering them for yourself.

Another piece of advice, and you might know because your home lake is the same way, that often on warming days, you can find fish in the shallower water. Cold snaps drive them deep. If you plan a trip to any of the lakes in that link and need specific info on them, shoot me a PM and I'll help you as best that I can.

[Fat Boy]

And Joe, here's another tip...use Google Maps satellite imaging to check the lake out. You can find the shallow and deep spots most of the time and sometimes find good stands of cover. Mapquest satellite works well too. This is great homework when trying a new spot.

Also, and you might know this from Tuckahoe, that often good fishing is below the dam, particularly in winter. It's the same on the other lakes on the Eastern Shore too. Most of them have some shore fishing spots, but the dams are generally some of the best. Try the creeks too. In winter, the deeper holes will give you some good perch and pickerel fishing.

When planning your first trip to a lake, if shore fishing especially, map out several spots as back up plans (other lakes nearby, creek access points, bridges, marinas) because you may find good fishing at several spots. Then, next time you go you can focus on one at a time. That's how I learned most of my spots over there. A small boat is great, but you really can catch fish all winter long over there from shore.

Oh yeah, and you're close enough to fish Delaware too. I wouldn't overlook their ponds.

[basser89]

Good to see you're still getting out Kevin! Nice write up as always! So how did the snakehead taste?

Haven't been out for a while now. Hopefully, I can get out soon. The withdraws are killin me. LOL!

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Thanks for the link and the tips, Fat Boy. Can't afford a boat right now so Im shorebound but it hasn't really been a problem for me. Thinking about going out Thursday morning if the weathers good. Maybe Ill try one of the new lakes.

[Fat Boy]

Thanks Sean. The snakehead was delicious, but I lost half of it and half a rockfish from Sandy power outages. I'll have to do my part and go down and kill some more snakeheads and stock my freezer again.

Joe, good luck. I'll look forward to your reports. I also fished most of those lakes and ponds from shore prior to buying my boat. We caught a lot of fish over the years. You will too.

[wv]

Happy Late Thanksgiving. I posted Thursday but it didn't post. We got out a little Thanksgiving Day. River was crystal clear and a little too fast for us. My son spotted two spinnerbaits in a tree. Found a long bamboo branch somebody discarded and got them both down. One was a double-bladed Strike King ...looked brand new. One blade was silver and larger the other small blade was gold colored. Both were smooth. The was non-marked, red and a little rusted on the hooks. We don't use spinnerbaits much ...I'm guessing the Strike King is probably a decent one. It was kinda good to find some equipment ...we're better at losing than finding. Also kinda good to see we're not the only people throwing stuff in trees. Hope everyone was able to be thankful for something. Keep catchin' em and take care all. We're probably done until next year unless we hit the watm-water at Willismsport or less likely Dickerson.

[basser89]

Good to hear you and your son got out again wv! While not my #1 favorite, the Strike King spinnerbaits are very good IMO. Definitely a good find for sure!

Like wv, I made it out for a few hours on thanksgiving as well. I hit Dickerson. Made it there by first light and fished until 10:30'ish. Levels weren't quite where I was hoping for but hit the discharge area and managed on tiny dink smallie on a Strike King Rocket Shad. LOL! Went up and fished the canal for a while but only managed a pair of bumps there. Not sure when I'll be able to get back out again. Shouldn't be done for the year yet. Hoping for 1 or 2 more outings.

[Fat Boy]

If we have open water, the fish should bite somewhere. On lakes for largemouth in our area, here's my approach for winter fishing:

1. Find the deepest spot on the lake and fish really slow on the bottom. Use finess worms (drop shotting is good), jigs, or tubes.
   
2. Find a spot along the Northern shoreline where the sun beats down. On Indian summer days, when the winds blow from a Southerly direction, and if there is cover there with deep water nearby, those can be hot spots. You may catch good numbers or maybe a big one. Those Southern winds will pile up the warmest water there. I’d toss the same lures, small T-rigged worms, jigs or tubes, but a Rat-L-Trap, spinnerbait or chatterbait might be good choices too, especially the spinnerbait. Nothing fancy, a white tandem spinnerbait with a white trailer will do nicely.
   

For river smallmouth, find the deep slack holes with current breaks nearby. Fish tubes slow or hard jerkbaits worked very slow with long pauses.

[Fat Boy]

• Oh yeah, and tidal water is always good, but look for deeper holes where fish don't have to fight the tides as much.
  

[Traveler2586]

If we have open water, the fish should bite somewhere. On lakes for largemouth in our area, here's my approach for winter fishing:

1. Find the deepest spot on the lake and fish really slow on the bottom. Use finess worms (drop shotting is good), jigs, or tubes.
   
2. Find a spot along the Northern shoreline where the sun beats down. On Indian summer days, when the winds blow from a Southerly direction, and if there is cover there with deep water nearby, those can be hot spots. You may catch good numbers or maybe a big one. Those Southern winds will pile up the warmest water there. I’d toss the same lures, small T-rigged worms, jigs or tubes, but a Rat-L-Trap, spinner bait or chatter bait might be good choices too, especially the spinner bait. Nothing fancy, a white tandem spinner bait with a white trailer will do nicely.
   

For river smallmouth, find the deep slack holes with current breaks nearby. Fish tubes slow or hard jerkbaits worked very slow with long pauses.

• Oh yeah, and tidal water is always good, but look for deeper holes where fish don't have to fight the tides as much.
  

X2 on all points. in tidal waters, also look for deep holes with some kind of structure in it that the fish can move around depending on tide direction. Also, some small bays, coves, inlets have the same sun/south wind effects as lakes/ponds, but a nearby channel can suck the warm water away on an out going tide.

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Hey guys. What kind of luck have you been having with bass lately? The last few weeks Ive been able to catch trout and pickerel but the bass bite seems to have really died off. I usually fish cranks and spinnerbaits. Next time I go out Im gonna go with soft plastics and fish them real slow. How have you all been doing?

[Traveler2586]

MD DNR Compass system; anyone here used it yet? What do you think of it?

I see you now have to register on Compass and get an six digit ID number, called DNRid, to buy fishing licenses, park passes, and boat registration whether you do it through the mail or on-line.

On the up side of this I just qualified for my Consolidated Seniors license.

[basser89]

MD DNR Compass system; anyone here used it yet? What do you think of it?

I see you now have to register on Compass and get an six digit ID number, called DNRid, to buy fishing licenses, park passes, and boat registration whether you do it through the mail or on-line.

On the up side of this I just qualified for my Consolidated Seniors license.

Eric,

I hadn't heard of this until just now. I'll have to look into this. Thanks for the heads up!

Tuckahoe,

I usually do a fair amount of spinnerbait and crankbait fishing myself. This time of year, unless I'm fishing one of the warm water discharge areas, I'm slowing down a lot with soft plastics and jigs. I did get out for a little while on tuesday when the temps hit 70 and tried swimjigs to see if anything was active, no luck for me.

[basser89]

Merry Christmas to all my fellow MD anglers and all anglers around the world! May your stocking be filled with lures and rods and reels under the tree!

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Merry Christmas to you too Basser89! Merry Christmas Maryland!

[wv]

Merry Christmas to all my fellow MD anglers and all anglers around the world! May your stocking be filled with lures and rods and reels under the tree!

Merry Christmas to you and everyone here. We haven't been out lately. Probably get out MD Non-Res licenses soon.

[Fat Boy]

MD DNR Compass system; anyone here used it yet? What do you think of it?

I see you now have to register on Compass and get an six digit ID number, called DNRid, to buy fishing licenses, park passes, and boat registration whether you do it through the mail or on-line.

On the up side of this I just qualified for my Consolidated Seniors license.

Trav...I found it pretty easy. The cool thing is that there are multiple ways to log in, so you don't have to have a great memory...that works for me since I can't remember anyth....

...what were we talkin' about again?

[Traveler2586]

Trav...I found it pretty easy. The cool thing is that there are multiple ways to log in, so you don't have to have a great memory...that works for me since I can't remember anyth....

...what were we talkin' about again?

The real problem is the DNR it requiring too much personal info when it's not required. Why do they need your SSN as ID when they also ask for your Driver License Number. DNR reports your SSN is required by MD law so you have to submit. The S.S. Administration states your number should not be used as an ID like it so often is.

Also, if what I read is correct, a contractor firm is holding your info in their system while they manage COMPASS for the DNR, but DNR will not tell you anything about them. If that data bank gets hit by hackers your personal ID is gone!

[Fat Boy]

Good points, well taken. The DL should be good enough. Maybe they need the SSN for the saltwater registry stuff?

[Traveler2586]

Good points, well taken. The DL should be good enough. Maybe they need the SSN for the saltwater registry stuff?

Nope, fresh water, salt water, boat registry, park pass,,,, it's all based on the same personal data.

Problem is, like the young woman two doors down from me, when you loose your identity it takes a lot of time off of work to go to banks, courthouses, etc. to cancel or close all accounts, and she had a hard time proving who she was; she was frustrated to tears at several places. Someone you never met can wipe you out, as they did her.

[Fat Boy]

I agree, that's a huge problem. I've had similar issues that I had to straighten out...huge pain. I was fortunate that I didn't lose more than I did. I luckily caught it early on before it got out of hand. I don't know why they need all that info. It's easier to vote than it is to fish!