Maryland's Who's who!

[GaryH]

2 hours ago, Jeremy M said:

Hi all,

I'm fishing Conowingo Reservoir next weekend in a tournament. I've never fished there so any advice would be appreciated. (Plus, I'm a relative newbie to fishing with artificial lures.) I'm a co-angler so I won't have control on locations, but would welcome any recommendations on lures and techniques.

Thanks!

-Jeremy

 

For smallmouth rocky edges along the main reservoir and creek mouths. Their main prey is crayfish so I would drop shot a cray or Ned rig a cray. Crank baits should work also.

They also have largemouths in the reservoir. Hit some of the shallows with soft plastics on a T-rig. Good luck ?

 

[Jeremy M]

On 10/14/2021 at 5:09 PM, GaryH said:

 

For smallmouth rocky edges along the main reservoir and creek mouths. Their main prey is crayfish so I would drop shot a cray or Ned rig a cray. Crank baits should work also.

They also have largemouths in the reservoir. Hit some of the shallows with soft plastics on a T-rig. Good luck ?

 

 

Thank you sir!

[Logan S]

Its that time of year again  

 

FOBA is an easy-going club without any participation commitments/requirements, pick and choose whatever you'd like to fish.  Boater and Co-Angler divisions and membership is always open for both.  

 

Monthly club meetings are now on Zoom and the first one for 2022 is on January 5th.  FOBA tournaments are good mix of fun and competition with relatively low costs.  Anyone interested in learning more feel free to post or PM me.  We have several other members that post here on BR too.  

 

[Munkin]

On 9/23/2021 at 12:51 AM, newbiedmv said:

Correction: Chain Pickerel.

Question:

30-40 years ago they put a ban on liberty reservoir due to Zebra Mussels. From what I remember if your boat went in that lake that's the ONLY WATER it could go  in.

I'm near Mt. Airy, can you now fish that lake then take it to blackhills, Potomac, etc?

 

You are correct about Liberty, it requires a special permit. You can then only use the boat at Liberty, Tridelphia, and I forget the third place. 

 

Allen 

[fishwizzard]

I went to Anglers today and found that they have really upped their bass tackle selection.   Or rather, they have really upped their selection of bass tackle that can be used to target snakeheads.  Lots of different topwater, chatters, and swimjigs.  They even have a fair amount of JDM stuff as well, even some of the various JDM saltwater plastics.  

 

I walked out of there with some Perch Pounders and the smallest little frog I have ever seen.  It weighs a little under 3/16oz so I think I can use it on my lightest popper combo. 

[Junger]

That little guy kills them in the grassy stretches of the C&O. Bend the hooks up just a smidge, the hook gap is pretty laughable.

[fishwizzard]

5 hours ago, Junger said:

That little guy kills them in the grassy stretches of the C&O. Bend the hooks up just a smidge, the hook gap is pretty laughable.

 

I had wondered if your small-frog fever had progressed this far.  And yea, the hook gap is hilariously small and I am going to bend them up before I fish it.  

[hokiehunter373]

Anybody getting out on this somehow 70 degree February day?? What's getting bit right now

[Junger]

Work finally slowed down, and I was able to smoke a cigar and hike the C&O last Wednesday and Today at Swain's Lock. Water is low, just a trickle north of the Swains Lock, and low below it as well. The white shallow jerkbait has been the hot lure, I even caught two new species for me in the canal, a decent yellow perch and a big channel catfish. The spring peepers are out too, and one of the LMB had a frog leg sticking out of it's gullet. About a dozen 2lb cookie cutters, and lost a couple bigger ones before I changed out the crappy Rapala hooks.

 

 

[fishwizzard]

Hit some ponds yesterday and had a good bit of success. These are the biggest two, both came from the same Windblown bank maybe four hours apart. 
 

 

Still cannot figure out how to rotate photos though. 

[fishwizzard]

I also feel compelled to admit that yesterday I also fell into a creek up to my chest.  It's easily my first "past the knee" involuntary dunking in like five years.  It was the classic thing where the bank just crumbles under your weight, but I compounded it by grabbing for a dead tree, which proceeded to fall over on me. 

 

I will say that I am pleased that my instincts kicked in and my combo never even got damp, I shot my arm straight up and saved it from any water contact.  

[Junger]

For the shad fishing crew: I went to Fletchers last Friday 3/18 at 9AM around Gordon's rock. Lots of people fishing, no catching. The water seemed to be a little stained/muddy from the rain on Thursday. Water temps seemed to be good, high enough for shad to run. I stuck around for 2 hours and didn't get any hits, and didn't see anyone else get hit. Maybe next week and the shad will start to heat up, I plan to get out there a couple times and I'll report back.

[Logan S]

The big fish showed up at BH yesterday....FOBA hosted it's first derby of the season there with 15 boats/teams launching and there were five fish over 5lbs weighed in and every boat that caught fish had at least a 3lb+ fish.  My and my partner had 16-0 and only managed 4th place ?.  Definitely not easy, sort of feast or famine...But I think a lot of that can be attributed to the wind-tunnel and sleet conditions. 

 

These tournaments are semi-open, meaning anyone is welcome as long as they are paired up with a FOBA member (can be boater or co-angler).  We had several guests in this one. We'll have two more in August, if anyone is interested in checking it out you can send me a PM....We had several guests in this one.  

 

 

This was our biggest, 5-3.

[Junger]

The shad run is here, not thiccc, but running pretty good. Hit up Occoquan Run on Friday morning and got about 42 hickories, no americans. First fish of the day was a 26" striper with a fat belly on a spoon, that was fun on an ultralight with 6lb test. Water temps stayed at 52 all morning, but the bite really picked up when the sun came out from the clouds. The spoon worked like a jerkbait deeper in the water was the ticket.

[Munkin]

On 3/27/2022 at 5:40 PM, Logan S said:

The big fish showed up at BH yesterday....FOBA hosted it's first derby of the season there with 15 boats/teams launching and there were five fish over 5lbs weighed in and every boat that caught fish had at least a 3lb+ fish.  My and my partner had 16-0 and only managed 4th place ?.  Definitely not easy, sort of feast or famine...But I think a lot of that can be attributed to the wind-tunnel and sleet conditions. 

 

These tournaments are semi-open, meaning anyone is welcome as long as they are paired up with a FOBA member (can be boater or co-angler).  We had several guests in this one. We'll have two more in August, if anyone is interested in checking it out you can send me a PM....We had several guests in this one.  

 

 

This was our biggest, 5-3.

 

What happens to BrianinMD?

 

Allen

[Logan S]

17 hours ago, Munkin said:

 

What happens to BrianinMD?

 

Allen

He's still around, he sold his boat but still fishes with FOBA as a co-angler.  

[Junger]

Made it out for a quick hike at Swain's before Easter dinner. I was really surprised by the water level, it's the highest I've ever seen it. The last time I went in March, it was really low. But the water was really muddy, probably due to the influx of rain water and the Swain lock being open, there was a lot of fast moving water. I started with a spinnerbait, and caught the biggest on it, and then I lost it and caught several more small guys on a paddle tail and small jointed swimbait. If I had a redo I woulda just thrown the spinnerbait where there was wood, and the chatterbait in open water.

 

[Tomfry2022]

Newbie here.

 

Here are pictures of fish from last year and a few from 2022. 

 

Nice to see some pond fish. All these were caught in and around Conowingo reservoir.

 

Walleye released

 

[url=https://ibb.co/Jj9H6Hh][img]https://i.ibb.co/Mkm7w7X/PXL-20220227-212855591.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/ZJ72mtZ][img]https://i.ibb.co/YWw0ZYr/PXL-20211008-221255953.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/0QZcPVb][img]https://i.ibb.co/7bVX7Nm/PXL-20211002-181508496.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/6YbwHsY][img]https://i.ibb.co/gyw9Sgy/PXL-20210718-215944011.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://ibb.co/FJyz26z][img]https://i.ibb.co/CvYQgBQ/PXL-20201228-202643159.jpg[/img][/url]

[Glenn]

Just post the url for the jpg instead.  Leave all the HTML out.

[Tomfry2022]

https://ibb.co/Jj9H6Hh

 

https://ibb.co/ZJ72mtZ

 

https://ibb.co/0QZcPVb

 

https://ibb.co/6YbwHsY

 

https://ibb.co/FJyz26

 

 

Here's to hoping the pics work. Had a great year. Realized the first smallmouth is a pa fish and not md but it's pretty. All others MD in the Conowingo area.

[James Henty]

7 hours ago, Tomfry2022 said:

https://ibb.co/Jj9H6Hh

 

https://ibb.co/ZJ72mtZ

 

https://ibb.co/0QZcPVb

 

https://ibb.co/6YbwHsY

 

https://ibb.co/FJyz26

 

 

Here's to hoping the pics work. Had a great year. Realized the first smallmouth is a pa fish and not md but it's pretty. All others MD in the Conowingo area.

Backdrop on the PA smallmouth is beautiful. Nice fish too. Boat or shore mainly?

[Tomfry2022]

On 4/20/2022 at 2:53 PM, James Henty said:

Backdrop on the PA smallmouth is beautiful. Nice fish too. Boat or shore mainly?

Both.

 

I have a jon with a small outboards on it I use all over 

 

Some friends have bass boats that I tag along with on the big water.

 

 

On 4/20/2022 at 7:42 AM, Tomfry2022 said:

https://ibb.co/Jj9H6Hh

 

https://ibb.co/ZJ72mtZ

 

https://ibb.co/0QZcPVb

 

https://ibb.co/6YbwHsY

 

https://ibb.co/FJyz26

Perch in buddy's bass boat

On 4/20/2022 at 7:42 AM, Tomfry2022 said:

 

Here's to hoping the pics work. Had a great year. Realized the first smallmouth is a pa fish and not md but it's pretty. All others MD in the Conowingo area.

You can tell a good number were from shore here too

 

Crappie on the jon

[Junger]

Had a long stretch in May where I spent most of my time doing yardwork and playing golf before the heat became brutal, but I finally got the line wet a few times and figured I'd post a report.

 

Mattawoman Creek - Went there in late May and the water temps were in the upper 70's. The water was really muddy and stained since the hydrilla hasn't really come up to filter it. Got a few LMB on paddletails, nothing on topwater. Went there last Friday after a stretch of warm days no heavy rains and the water is starting to be clear and I can see the hydrilla coming up now. Got some LMB on frogs and poppers, and a couple snakehead too.

 

Took a mid-week hike on the canal a few days ago before some storms and was hoping to get some frog bites. That plan kind of worked out. I threw a pompadour jr in the open water sections and got one small bass to hit. Then I started to hit some duckweed pockets with a popping frog and got a nice largie.

Came to a section where a newly fallen tree and duckweed had accumulated there. This was a primo spot, I threw the frog and it got blasted at least 6 times. One LMB spit the frog and was a 5lber+. If I wasn't getting eaten alive by the mosquitos I would have stayed longer....but I forgot my bugspray and was getting bitten through my clothes, and neck gator. They were even biting me doing a normal pace walk back...I literally had to walk like those Olympic speed walkers do to keep them off.

 

I hit Black Hills for the first time this year, just for a quick trip to get my oldest son on some crappie. We found a small school and caught about a dozen throwbacks before he had enough, so I trolled a little further up the creek to the rock pile wall. I had tied on a Spro 40 rat, and really wanted to get something on it. Threw to the corner over some wood and thought I had snagged some emerging hydrilla....nope, it was a big LMB. She measured 21", and was missing an eye. Weird bite, no explosion on the rat, and really no fight to the boat...spawning must have really taken a toll on her, so I got her back in quick after a pick and measurement. Got a few more 1lb'ers on a popper before we had to get home for dinner.

 

Black Hills, Mattawoman, and Occoquan are my usual haunts, but I plan to hit some other spots on the Lower Potomac this year as well.

[Jeremy M]

On 6/12/2022 at 10:36 PM, Junger said:

Had a long stretch in May where I spent most of my time doing yardwork and playing golf before the heat became brutal, but I finally got the line wet a few times and figured I'd post a report.

 

Mattawoman Creek - Went there in late May and the water temps were in the upper 70's. The water was really muddy and stained since the hydrilla hasn't really come up to filter it. Got a few LMB on paddletails, nothing on topwater. Went there last Friday after a stretch of warm days no heavy rains and the water is starting to be clear and I can see the hydrilla coming up now. Got some LMB on frogs and poppers, and a couple snakehead too.

 

Took a mid-week hike on the canal a few days ago before some storms and was hoping to get some frog bites. That plan kind of worked out. I threw a pompadour jr in the open water sections and got one small bass to hit. Then I started to hit some duckweed pockets with a popping frog and got a nice largie.

Came to a section where a newly fallen tree and duckweed had accumulated there. This was a primo spot, I threw the frog and it got blasted at least 6 times. One LMB spit the frog and was a 5lber+. If I wasn't getting eaten alive by the mosquitos I would have stayed longer....but I forgot my bugspray and was getting bitten through my clothes, and neck gator. They were even biting me doing a normal pace walk back...I literally had to walk like those Olympic speed walkers do to keep them off.

 

I hit Black Hills for the first time this year, just for a quick trip to get my oldest son on some crappie. We found a small school and caught about a dozen throwbacks before he had enough, so I trolled a little further up the creek to the rock pile wall. I had tied on a Spro 40 rat, and really wanted to get something on it. Threw to the corner over some wood and thought I had snagged some emerging hydrilla....nope, it was a big LMB. She measured 21", and was missing an eye. Weird bite, no explosion on the rat, and really no fight to the boat...spawning must have really taken a toll on her, so I got her back in quick after a pick and measurement. Got a few more 1lb'ers on a popper before we had to get home for dinner.

 

Black Hills, Mattawoman, and Occoquan are my usual haunts, but I plan to hit some other spots on the Lower Potomac this year as well.

Nice catches! Besides frogs, what are your top lures when walking the canal?

[Junger]

14 hours ago, Jeremy M said:

Nice catches! Besides frogs, what are your top lures when walking the canal?

 

Poppers along the weed edges, spinnerbaits before the weeds emerge or in sections there's not a lot of weeds.