Maryland's Who's who!

[basser89]

Welcome aboard evanj! I have to get down and fish the stretch you're talking about sometime! I keep hearing good things about that stretch but never seem to make it there.

Hey Brian, caught one and lost one at Black Hills today at lunch. Jerkbaits! 

[evanj]

thanks guys! i went back today had a good amount of bites and only caught 5  . i think the water is moving a little too fast for shore fishing. i just couldnt get the senko to sink enough i guess, and it must have been drifting right by the fish. after not having much luck i packed my things and drove to the power plant at dickerson and walkedfor about 30 mins and couldn't find the warm water area? i parked at the parking lot at the park, walked towards the river on that trail and headed upstream but turned around after a while.. on my way back some HUGE fish were jumping and boiling probably 10 feet offshore and making gigantic wakes.. catfish? muskie? i put on a chug bug for laughs and didn't get a strike (not surprised) but is there a better place to park? or walk? i was quite confused :-?

[evanj]

basser89 those are some huge largemouths, did those come out of black hills?

[basser89]

thanks guys! i went back today had a good amount of bites and only caught 5 . i think the water is moving a little too fast for shore fishing. i just couldnt get the senko to sink enough i guess, and it must have been drifting right by the fish. after not having much luck i packed my things and drove to the power plant at dickerson and walkedfor about 30 mins and couldn't find the warm water area? i parked at the parking lot at the park, walked towards the river on that trail and headed upstream but turned around after a while.. on my way back some HUGE fish were jumping and boiling probably 10 feet offshore and making gigantic wakes.. catfish? muskie? i put on a chug bug for laughs and didn't get a strike (not surprised) but is there a better place to park? or walk? i was quite confused :-?

Hey evan, I was fishing at PEPCO in Dickerson the other weekend and was catching smallies (nothing big) on stick baits. Not sure if you've fished there before but there was a decent amount of current that day. I added a small bullet weight to get the bait down. Think I was using a 1/16oz or 1/8oz weight. That was enough to do the trick!

I'm not aware of many if any muskies that far down on the Potomac but it is possible. I know there's a small population that's started working their way south. The largest population of muskies (documented by DNR) is in Washington county. MskSlyr and I go out after them from time to time with some success. If I had to take a guess on what was boiling, I'd guess either walleye or maybe even carp.

The bass in my avatar is my PB. I caught it back in the spring at Black Hills. She went 6lbs 9oz. The 2 bookends in my signature also came from Black Hills in years past. The middle pic was my previous PB that I caught in a small pond here in Washington county.

[basser89]

Sorry! After reading your post a little closer.... I do know there are muskies around Dickerson. Not a large population but they are in there. I'd still guess what you were seeing were either walleye or carp though. 2 ways to find the discharge area at Dickerson are either go straight down the path you took and head up stream. You'll probably walk about 15, maybe 20 minutes up through. Its an easier walk if you take the toe path up there! Its about a 10 minute walk up the toe path before you hook a left into the woods and come out at the lower end of the discharge channel. There's a small sign nailed to a tree. The easiest way to tell you is walk up through until you start seeing a fence on the opposite side of the canal (by the way, there are largemouths in the canal). Once you see the fence, start looking for the sign. Warning though, it can be wet and muddy just after you get down off the toe path! Be careful walking through there right now. They do allow hunting in there and I've heard several shots that were real far away! I wouldn't wear much brown this time of year around there!!! 

[BrianinMD]

Basser, I was debating Black Hills or Dickerson on sunday but decided Dickerson.

Evan, the discharge is a pretty good ways up. But about half way up it starts to pick up, well at least in colder weather. Right now it should be decent the whole way up. Hardest part is just finding places to fish thru the trees.

Oddly enough I bet the ones you saw rolling were catfish. I keep seeing them do it there for some reason. Caught a 25in catfish after casting into an area it was happening.

[Hellbenderman]

Went to Black Hills past Sunday. Fished shallow from about 2 - 4:30, at which time I started to fish the same deep water pattern I was fishing in July/August/Sept and caught a 4lb and three 2lbs by six. I caught nothing fishing shallow. The more things change, the more they stay the same! Also saw Buffleheads, Rudy Ducks, Coots and a lone Widgeon.

[evanj]

Basser, yeah i'll try the toepath next time. first im going to try fishing the canal if i see any good looking structure or a hole. is it better to fish the warm water in the current? or where the current tapers off? hopefully this rain won't do much to the river i'm planning on going to pointy rocks tomorrow. and yeah i saw a bunch of bucks when i was walking around near the river, i will be wearing some bright colors! and i have no clue how to catch fish that big at black hills, i've never had much luck there except for some that topped 16 inches.

Brian, yeah i figured it was farther up, it was just taking so long for me to get there and the sun was practically all the way down and it was getting dark so i just turned around. i fished spots that looked like they had some hope but i didn't even get a bite. i guessed they weren't letting any wayer out.t :-?

i've actually been fishing twice this week in the creek that comes out of the dam at black hills. there's rainbow trout there, and i got a big one about 15 or more inches long, i have to measure it on my rod(made a mark on my rod), and two small ones on a spinner, and the big one was FAT too! and this pond in the kentlands catching some largemouths on senkos, and i managed to get one that was about 15.

[basser89]

Basser, yeah i'll try the toepath next time. first im going to try fishing the canal if i see any good looking structure or a hole. is it better to fish the warm water in the current? or where the current tapers off? hopefully this rain won't do much to the river i'm planning on going to pointy rocks tomorrow. and yeah i saw a bunch of bucks when i was walking around near the river, i will be wearing some bright colors! and i have no clue how to catch fish that big at black hills, i've never had much luck there except for some that topped 16 inches.

Brian, yeah i figured it was farther up, it was just taking so long for me to get there and the sun was practically all the way down and it was getting dark so i just turned around. i fished spots that looked like they had some hope but i didn't even get a bite. i guessed they weren't letting any wayer out.t :-?

i've actually been fishing twice this week in the creek that comes out of the dam at black hills. there's rainbow trout there, and i got a big one about 15 or more inches long, i have to measure it on my rod(made a mark on my rod), and two small ones on a spinner, and the big one was FAT too! and this pond in the kentlands catching some largemouths on senkos, and i managed to get one that was about 15.

I hit the discharge sunday but struck out there. The entire time I was there they never ran the warm water.  >  I did double check and the path to go down to the discharge is straight across where the fence on the opposite side of the canal starts. There's plenty of cover in the canal! I managed one small keeper out of there on a 1/4oz jig with a baby paca craw trailer.

I'll admit, most of my big girls I've caught at Black Hills have come in the spring during the prespawn but if you look back through and read hellbenderman's posts on this thread, he gives some great insight on where and how to catch the big ones!

[basser89]

I posted this in the outings section too but figured I'd share it here with you guys too!

Only had a little time to get out today so I hit the Potomac at dam 4. I fished my usual spots below the dam without any luck. So I decided to head up above the dam before it was time to go. Found a decent little spot and started working a Berkley hand pour worm but no takers. So I picked up my jerkbait rod and started fan casting the area. I wasn't having much luck so I figured only a few more casts and I was going to take off. On the next cast, BANG! She hit only a few yards from shore! The fight was short but she managed to take some drag before I pulled her in! Measured 18" and weighed 3lbs 5oz on my Berkley scale which is a new PB for smallies for me! Here's a pic.

[BrianinMD]

Nice one basser....I am jealous....

[evanj]

WOW that is a nice smallmouth! i love how the fish have a lot of fight in them in the river. the tail on that fish is huge too, which is something i've noticed different between smallmouth and largemouth which is odd. i haven't gotten a chance to get out to the river lately i was skeptical from the water levels rising and high flows... i've just been fishing this pond near my house and the fish hardly fight at all unless you reel them in slowly.

dam 4... is that in williamsport? one of these days i want to go up to walleye country and try for some of those.. i haven't ever caught one and i want to see how much of a fight they have to offer. have you ever hooked into one of those?

[zero]

my name is tyler and i am from baltimore age 17 and my mom and i has been fishing loch raven resrvior all the times and thats place where i got 10.5 lb bass

[basser89]

Thanks Brian!

dam 4... is that in williamsport? one of these days i want to go up to walleye country and try for some of those.. i haven't ever caught one and i want to see how much of a fight they have to offer. have you ever hooked into one of those?

evanj,

Dam 4 is down stream of Williamsport. It takes me about 15 minutes or so to get there from where I live.

I've caught a few walleye. I've managed to catch them between Williamsport down to the warm water discharge area at Dickerson. Personally, I don't think they fight really hard overall. My PB is a 24 incher but I can't comment on that fight since I was fishing for musky at the time. I pretty much brought her straight in to the boat. LOL!

zero,

That's a great PB you have there! I'd love to see a pic sometime!

[MDbassinmike]

It's been a long time since I posted here.  Just haven't taken the time.  Here is a couple of fish I caught over the Thanksgiving Holiday while I was visiting down in Georgia.  The Stripers (16LBs and 17Lbs) are landlocked and the bass (4LBs) is a Spotted Bass, which you won't find too many of here in Maryland.

I thought you might also like seeing a 7.5LB Pig I caught on a frog on the Potomac in the early Fall...

I am planning to make a trip to Dam 4 soon to see if I can get some Walleye.  I have heard they stack up below the dam during the winter.  Can anyone confirm that?

[basser89]

Nice fish Mike! Good to see you back on here!

One of my friends and I were just talking about the walleye at dam 4 this morning. I've caught a few below the dam but they're usually few and far between. I did catch one about a month or so ago on a jerkbait right up at the dam but that was the only one. My friend is a lot more knowledgeable with walleyes than I am and he's never had any success there at all. Not saying they're not in there, it could be just timing on our part. I do have another area down from dam 4 that I get into some decent ones from time to time.

[MskSlyr]

Hey Mike,

I would have to agree with basser that I believe our timing is off but I do know they stack up there to a certain extent in conjunction with several species of baitfish and their migration to this area. I personally as well as basser seem to find more stacked up on heavy ledges close to deeper water on the potomac.

[MDbassinmike]

I have a 17' BassTracker with a 50 hp Suzuki prop motor.  Is it safe to put this boat in above Dam 4?  And how far will I be able to run up stream?  Is there any other "safe" water above Dam 4 for a prop engine?

[basser89]

Hey Mike,

If you Google map Potomac River Dam 4, you'll go straight to it. I've made it up to the horseshoe section of the river up above the boat ramp in my 16' jon boat with an 18hp outboard with no problems. This time of year, you won't have to worry about the big cruisers and jet skiers (I won't even think about going there in warmer weather with my boat). For most of that stretch, you're looking at running in about 15-18' (if memory serves me right). Once you start getting up closer to the horseshoe, it does get shallower but not to the point that you'll bust up a prop, from what I remember.

The next boat ramp up river from Dam 4 is at Williamsport. For all my fishing on the river up here, I track the levels on this guage: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?01613000   If the levels are above 3.5', I don't have a problem running my outboard up from Williamsport. Once the levels get lower than that 3.5', I've had to either idle up through or switch over to the trolling motor to keep going. The next ramp up that I know of is Four Locks which is above Dam 5. I haven't had a chance to fish up there on the boat yet so can say much about it. Hope this helps!

Any idea on when you're looking to fish up this way?

[MDbassinmike]

Hey Basser89, thanks for the information.  I was going to try week after next sometime, I think?  I need to confirm that though.

What do you think the the water temp is right now, and do you think that the Smallmouth will still be biting tubes?  My mounted depthfinders on my boat don't work (I wonder if Santa will bring me one?)  I do have a portable unit that works though.

Would you like to join me?

[MDbassinmike]

Basser89...I tried the link in your post and it didn't work?

[wv]

Nice fish Basser89. I am sure our paths didn't cross, but my son and I were at Taylor's Landing that same day around noon. We were looking to shore fish burt river was moving a little too fast and a little high for us. We did me a guy(maybe a poster?). He showed us pictures of two large muskies caught the day before near Shephersdstown. He was very helpful giving us some info on fishing the river. I'm not an expert on river, but above Dam #4 I believe the water is fairly deep maybe to Falling Waters area. In summer I agree with Basser89 a lot of recreation types on water around that area. I think area above Dam#5 is deep too around Four locks area from what I hear. Good luck to you guys. I am really surprised at the amount of fishing done this time of year. On a side note, I would still like to try Power Plant at Williamsport...if I can find a way to it.

[basser89]

Thanks wv. No, I didn't make it that far down from dam 4 so it definitely wasn't me.

Mike, I should have known you were going to ask me the temps! LOL! Forgot my thermometer yesterday. Might pop out for a little today and I'll be sure to let you know. Not sure why the link didn't work?  :-?  Try it this way, Google waterdata.usgs. Then select Maryland, a MD map will pop up. I'm using the Hancock gauge which is a turquoise dot right at the thinest part of the state. Shoot me a PM on when you're going to come up this way and I'll make sure I don't have any conflicts. I've caught smallies on tubes when the water temps were down around 35, so I'd say you're safe to throw tubes.

[basser89]

Hit dam 4 again today for a few hours. I did manage to get a temp with my cheapo thermometer. It read somewhere between 46-47. No luck, was throwing jerkbaits, tubes, 4" worm and stick baits.

[BrianinMD]

If all goes well, will hit Dickerson on Friday about noon. If it doesn't rain to much on Wednesday, and they flow some water the smallies should be good. If no water is flowing it will be good exercise.....