Maryland's Who's who!

[Bill Poch]

I hit up Middletown pond today for about 90 mins. Looks like the bass are spawning, I couldn't find any takers.

I'm going to hit up a creek near by. My brother was out Wed and he said it's really starting to pick up. I'm taking a friend that hasn't fished in years, so here's hoping we get into some fish and he thinks I actually know what I'm doing.

Might get up early and wade the Monocacy at Pinecliff on Sunday before a Bday party I have at noon.

[dcfdpipeman]

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.

Did you run into all the FLW tourney guys? I bet they were holding spots or plenty boats in the good bite areas

[Traveler2586]

Did you run into all the FLW tourney guys? I bet they were holding spots or plenty boats in the good bite areas

Ya, I saw some up in D.C. fishing the power plant and bridge pilings. I don't usually see too many tournament anglers in D.C. due to the "no wake shore to shore" zones like from the WW bridge to buoy 6, it's just too time consuming for what little you can get. I worked the power plant for 20-30 min. and just got one good size cat.

[TheKingFisher]

Hopefully this is a link to a video of the last ambush I saw before I left Black Hills this past Wednesday. So I don't force others to have to go back and read the post, largemouth bass were ambusing baitfish in the shallows. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink

[Fat Boy]

Very cool Kevin, thanks for sharing. That definitely would get my blood pumped. I'd love to toss a Senko right in front of that bucketmouth!

[Munkin]

Hopefully this is a link to a video of the last ambush I saw before I left Black Hills this past Wednesday. So I don't force others to have to go back and read the post, largemouth bass were ambusing baitfish in the shallows. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink

You need to throw a 4" Kinami flash in "Natural shad" weightless T-rigged into there and you will definately catch them.

Allen

[Basser714]

thanks for sharing the video. I have seen bass at BH just south of there, and on the C&O canal go into ambush mode right at my feet. I must say, they have always appeared unsuccessful. Those little bait fish are quick!

[JigMe]

Went to Loch Raven res. yesterday, and they are spawning for sure. I couldn't get anything to bite, but they are definitely on bed. Going to try again this weekend, and hopefully I can get a few. Well, fishing might be close for 2-3 weeks until they finish spawning.

[DewWhat]

Have never fished Loch Raven but I'm surprised they aren't almost done. I saw no signs of the spawn last week at Black Hills, but I did the weekend before.

[Fat Boy]

I fished BH with a buddy Dave on Saturday for about six hours. Sorry for the late report. I caught 15 bass of which four were dinks with the average about a pound and a half, with the biggest going 17". My buddy caught 17 with the smallest going 12", averaging two and a half pounds, with the biggest going at probably 18". He kicked my butt basically.

I felt like I was a dog chasing his tail all day. Every time I tried to get a reaction bite going, he was hauling bass in on finesse stuff and I'd "have" to change back to keep up. Things would slow, and I'd try that reaction bite again, and he'd hook up.

What worked? Nothing on the hardware although I had two soft hits/follows on a chatterbait. Soft plastics, 4 or 5" long, natural colors were the ticket...anything with a slow fall caught fish (Senkos, plastic worms, etc.). We were Texas rigging with light weight or no weight. The fish were cruising, not necessarily tight to cover. At times, bites came frequently while at others, especially later in the day, I struggled.

I kept hoping to see what Kevin I. filmed last week, but it didn't happen. I did see a decent bass take a dying bluegill off the top of the water. Also, one one of the dink bass that I hooked, something huge followed it up. I just caught a glimpse so I couldn't identify it, same with Dave. But we think that it could have been a tiger musky perhaps, or a huge bass, not sure which. Are there big cats in there too? I've never caught or seen them, but I'd imagine so.

Looking back, the numbers weren't all that bad. But man did we work for them.

Here are a couple pics:

This one was actually a double, the longer fish was his, the short fat one was mine...

[DewWhat]

Hey, FB, a buddy and I were fishing near you on Saturday at BH! We were in his boat. I remember the orange shirt of your buddy. We first saw you near the west side of the bridge, around noonish or so. Next time I will say hello. Sounds like you did a lot better than us! I was throwing Senkos most of the day but was just getting constant bites from sunnies. Also tried crankbaits (4 different ones), spinnerbaits, topwater and plastic worms. Plastics were the only thing working for us, too.

Might be out on BH tomorrow morning, not sure yet, we're trying to decide if we want to go there, Triadelphia, or maybe even Big Pool.

[basser89]

Hey All,

Happy Friday to everyone! It's been a while since I've been able to post. Just wanted to say, I'm still kickin. LOL! Haven't been out much lately, work has been CRAZY! Hopefully things will settle down some soon so I can get back out! Thanks for the PM Kevin! Hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend!!!

[Basser714]

I am going to kick back and throw some shrimp out into the upper Potomac this afternoon to try for some cats.

While side fishing for smallies, of course.

[KenLattimore]

Made it out to Black Hills today from 9:00 - 3:00. Spent the first 4 hours or so by the stick ups. Managed a couple a little over a foot or so. Bluegills are spawning everywhere so I was surprised there were no takers. I threw senkos, Rage Craws and Space Monkeys, and spinnerbaits. I saw some HUGE fish cruising but they weren't interested in anything I had to offer. I caught the other two over at the tubes, both around 15". Three of the four took a Space Monkey. This was my first time using it and just love the action they have! I'll definitely be using them more in the future.

I also got to try out my new setup. I went with a St. Croix Premier 7' MHF with a Shimano Saros 2500. I couldn't believe how sensitive the rod was, I could only imagine what a Avid or Elite must feel like! Glad to have been able to break it in with some fish.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe weekend!

[Fat Boy]

Glad to see you back Sean, good report Ken. Dew, sure, next time you see me give me a holler.

Went to BH again today, fished with my buddy Howard out of his crawdad from about 1 PM until sunset. We started off slow, Howard with 5 bass on a plastic worm and I got one decent one on a Baby Brush Hog. I did fish some big baits targeting tiger musky for a good amount of time, but no follows or hits. At one point we trolled for a little while and the only action that I had was snagging and losing my musky spinnerbait in a submerged tree. Try breaking off 80 lb. Suffix 832, it ain't easy while trying not to sink a crawdad! My buddy Howard caught a huge yellow perch trolling a spinnerbait for muskies...pretty funny.

Around 3 PM or so things began to pick up. I switched to a plastic worm and began to pick up some decent fish. Again, they weren't necessarily on wood, instead cruising and feeding along the first drop off, but we did find a few on the wood. I got one on a chatterbait at the end of the day, the only fish on hardware. Howard finished with a dozen and I got into a zone and wound up with 21 total (19 on the plastic worm). Only 5 were dinks, the rest were between 15 and 18" long. Some were fat, and some were spawned out with obvious bedding wounds. I think that for the most part, they are done but there may be a few males still protecting beds, although I didn't see any of them. I'm wondering if some are bedding deeper because that water is still pretty clear.

There were a lot of boats out there today.

Here are a few couple pics, but my 18" one didn't turn out. I'm ready to buy a real camera and stop using my Droid. The Droid is OK, but not reliable.

The perch that thought he was a musky:

Howard with a decent bass:

Here's one with the black spot syndrome covering the tail:

Howard with another good one:

Takin' the shoes off, kickin' back, ketchin' bass:

Spunky largemouth:

[JigMe]

Went to my local lake this morning, and picked up 9 bass from 6am-10am. Most of them were under a lb, and this is the biggest one I have picked up today. Looks like a 2lber, maybe.

Most of them were caught on weightless senkos, and zoom trick worms. But I caught the biggest one today using a Northstar swim Jig/zoom grub.

[Fat Boy]

Nice fish Lee, sounds like a fun action filled morning!

[Fat Boy]

I was throwing Senkos most of the day but was just getting constant bites from sunnies.

3

Ya know, that's also what happened to me. It's annoying. The green sunfish, perch and crappie will drive you nuts. What I found is that if put it right on the bank, then the panfish would peck at your lure like crazy. If I placed my cast deeper on the drop off, it happened less. Not to say that some bass weren't high on the bank, some were, but most were deeper.

[Bill Poch]

3

Ya know, that's also what happened to me. It's annoying. The green sunfish, perch and crappie will drive you nuts. What I found is that if put it right on the bank, then the panfish would peck at your lure like crazy. If I placed my cast deeper on the drop off, it happened less. Not to say that some bass weren't high on the bank, some were, but most were deeper.

I know how you feel. I've been throwing a 4" zoom lizard in my creek and the bluegills can't stay off the thing. I actually caught 2 blue's that were no more than 5" long with the entire lizard gone but it's head.

[JigMe]

I know how you feel. I've been throwing a 4" zoom lizard in my creek and the bluegills can't stay off the thing. I actually caught 2 blue's that were no more than 5" long with the entire lizard gone but it's head.

Had the same problems with bluegills, or perch trying to get a piece of my plastics. But now, I have upgraded to a larger bait. Bluegills are leaving me alone, and catching better quality fish but less bites.

[wv]

Looks like everyone enjoying some success here. We got out to Greenbrier State Park last Sunday. I caught three LM...biggest being about a 1 1/2 pounds. All three caught on a Yum Money Craw in June Bug color. No signs of spawn there. We might get out today but not sure where. Hope everybody keep's catchin' em.

[Bill Poch]

While fishing the creek today, I came across a Large Mouth bass protecting it's bed. I was able to put the underwater video camera right next to the bed and record her.

I ran my bait by her a few times to see if I could catch her even though I already caught her before thinking about video taking. At the 3:50 mark you can see my bait go by and a blue gill come and and grab it.

Not the most exciting thing you'll ever see, but I think it's pretty cool.

[Munkin]

The hotter it gets the deeper the bass will be at Black Hills. They will be shallow in the morning but when the sun is out only dinks and panfish are shallow from my experience.

Something I have observed here is from the pics is those catching spawning fish are fishing the main lake. Bass spawn in waves starting from the backs of the coves then outward onto the main lake. Fish in the main lake spawn last because it is the last to warm up.

Allen

[Fat Boy]

Allen, I think that they're done now for the most part and in post spawn mode, and we're finding willing bass closer to areas where we usually find them in early summer. I didn't see any on beds at all last time out. It's possible that there could be some still bedding along the deep SC channel or toward the dam though, we didn't venture over there.

[Fat Boy]

Also, it could be that there are bass bedding, but too deep to see. I've heard that clearer water and heavy fishing pressure will do that...and we all know that those conditions occur at Black Hills !

The hotter it gets the deeper the bass will be at Black Hills. They will be shallow in the morning but when the sun is out only dinks and panfish are shallow from my experience.

I meant to say for all you guys new to fishing BH, Allen's advice here couldn't be more true. It's a golden rule at that lake, and many other reservoirs in the area too. Find the thermocline, and you'll find fish especially if there's a weed line, structure, cover, or all three. Another way to do that is if you catch a good fish, remember how deep it was or where it was, and duplicate that everywhere else that you go on the lake, look for similar spots.