Maryland's Who's who!

[J P]

Thats a nice bag Nate. Didn't know Big Pool had a ramp- is it good? What are the boating rules?

[BrianinMD]

Big Pool has a gravel ramp, its not to bad unless the water is low. The only restriction is its electric motor only, not big enough for gas motors. It does have some bigger bass in it, just have to figure out where they are hiding.

[nastynate]

basically everything BeianinMD said. The lake is low now but had no problems launching or loading the boat, but then again i dont know how low big pool gets. Its looked to be about 3 to 5 foot lower then my earlyer visit this year.

[basser89]

J P, Tridelphia was one of the spots I've wanted to hit this year but it doesn't appear that's going to happen.

BMBass, Nice catch! What set up are you using with the frogs?

Sorry to hear about your loss Ken!

Kevin I, That heat has been killer! Lipless cranks might not be the best in the backwash area right now. Grass is really coming up as you probably saw. I'd recommend top water, spinnerbaits and plastics in the backwash area right now.

Great post Nate! I really miss Big Pool!

I made it out saturday morning. Wanted something different than my usual spots at Black Hills so decided to give the canal at PEPCO a shot. Didn't do too bad, managed 7 with my biggest going 3-2 on the scale. Mine came on a Strike King Frog, Rage Tail Toads and Sweet Beavers. The best part of the outing was when I "shot" myself with a worm weight. LOL! I got stuck on a laydown and tried pulling it free. When it let go, that weight shot straight across the canal and nailed me in the thigh. Oddly enough, the bottom of the weight hit me square and instantly that spot was deep red but didn't puncture the skin! Now I have a 2" diameter bruise around the spot. LOL!

[BMBass]

Thanks Sean, right now I only have spinning rods..it doesnt work as good as a baitcaster does with frogs. Ill prob pick up a nice baitcast setup next week.

I went out again today for a few hours, I ordered a few new hand poured worms from this company in IL. http://www.draginbai...orms/vibe-worm/

Didnt hook into any hoggs, but I managed to catch 6 around this size.

[KenLattimore]

Thanks Sean!

Kevin (KingFisher) and I did manage to get out early Saturday morning at Black Hills from 6-10am over by the stickups. We didn't do too bad- I managed 3 and Kevin got 2. All were nice sized fish with the biggest going 3lbs 5oz on a scale- I would have sworn it weighed more given how long it was, estimated 19-20". The article Bass Resource has on removing the hook on gut hooked fish came in handy, as Kevin and I sucessfully removed hooks from two gut hooked fish who seemed to swim away fine.

[Collin Baker]

Hey everybody! My name's Collin, and I'm down in the PG County, College Park area. As such, I mostly fish the little ponds around there like Lake Artemesia, which is proving to be a test of determination: I can see the fish feeding, but can't reach them from shore! Anyone have any secret tips for this place in summer? Also, I think I may have seen a snakehead in Lake Artemesia last evening. Any tips on hunting these invasive beasts?

[basser89]

Hi Colin, Welcome to THE boards!

I'm not familiar with your waters but help us help you! What rod, reel, line and baits are you using? This will give us some idea on what you may be able to do to reach some of those bass.

As for the snakeheads, while they haven't reached the waters I fish, I can tell you they'll hit practically anything from what I've read. Spinnerbaits seem to be a popular choice for them.

Hopefully others can chime in as well to offer some more suggestions.

[BMBass]

Went out this morning. Threw a spinnerbait.

[BrianinMD]

Welcome Colin, unfortunately I don't know anything about that lake either. But with the heat of summer, unless its first thing in the morning or around sunset I doubt they are bass feeding that you are seeing. Most likely panfish, see them all the time at Black Hills right at the surface in 40 feet of water. For the bass, try to find spots that have a drop off to deeper water, a dropoff with structure is perfect.

I haven't heard anything about snakehead from there, if it is any moving bait will work. Spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits work. They are rather aggressive feeders.

Nice bass BMBass, spinnerbaits is one of the techniques I need to get better at. I am more of a finesse person, I know what will surprise Basser89.....

[BMBass]

Went out to a local spot this afternoon. I was getting ready to pack it up and call it a day.....Wham, I caught this chunk!

[basser89]

Nice job BMBass!

Couldn't pass up the weather conditions so hit Black Hills at lunch today. Managed a 2 pounder on a Tiki Stick back around the corner from the stick ups. Wish I would have had more time than just an hour but I'll take what I can get!

[Bill Poch]

Been out on vacation last week, so I hit my creek last night. Got a 2 pounder and this nice 3 pounder on a top water popper

[basser89]

Nice Bill!

I tell you what, the popper is one of my least productive baits (I actually threw one today for a little while, LOL). I have them, I use them when I believe its "popper weather" and I just rarely get bit on them.

[Bill Poch]

I have no idea what "popper weather" is but before I went on vacation I was at the creek and for the heck of it put on a mini torpedo and tore it up until I caught a tree with it. I only had 1 of those. Need to get some more. So last night I worked up the creek with a 4" zoom lizard which never seems to let me down, and then came back down the creek with my popper.

It's pretty crazy, I fished the creek with my brother last year and I don't think either of us caught a largemouth, all smallies. This year, there seems to be a ton of largemouth in there. The creek is a feeder creek into the Monocacy river that flows out of Liberty reservoir. We've managed to pin point some pretty hot spots around Spring Ridge that hold some nice fish. In the 2 years we've been fishing it, we've only seen maybe 3 or 4 people fishing down there, and never in any of the "hot" spots.

[BMBass]

Got these 2 this afternoon..

[basser89]

I have no idea what "popper weather" is but before I went on vacation I was at the creek and for the heck of it put on a mini torpedo and tore it up until I caught a tree with it. I only had 1 of those. Need to get some more. So last night I worked up the creek with a 4" zoom lizard which never seems to let me down, and then came back down the creek with my popper.

Bill, maybe popper weather wasn't the right phrase, guess a better term would be conditions. I like to see a slight ripple on the water, no chop or smooth as grass, and low light or overcast typically. Hence the reasoning I took the poppers along yesterday.

Lucked out and made it out at lunch again today. Decided to take the same gear I took yesterday, the worm rod for the tiki sticks and the top water rod for poppers. Decided to start with the popper and had one blow up on it but couldn't connect with it. Switched to the tiki sticks for a slower presentation but had no luck there. With a few minutes to go, switched back to the popper. On my very last cast, I hooked up with another on the end of a long cast but was able to stick that one. Nothing major but one in the 1 1/2lb range. I was using a 3 pop/pause cadence to trigger that one into hitting.

Keep up the good work BMBass!

[wv]

Sorry to have not posted much lately. We haven't been out any in a long time. When I had time it was bad weather...when weather was good...no time. Hope to get out soon somewhere. This has been a pretty crappy year for us other than a time on Potomac when we caught some smallies and some with decent size. Ponds we ususally fish were real slow and the river has been up and down for us too. Should have made it to Black Hills...that seems to be the place. Just wanted to check in and let everyone we're still around just not much to report. Hope evrybody has successful trips.

[BMBass]

Just picked up 2 new baitcasting reels. I had one when I was a kid (11 or 12 years old) d**n thing frustrated me and i never thought of using one since. I purchased the Abu Garcia Black Max 2 6.4:1 ratio and 4+1 bearing system. I also purchased a Okuma Krios 7.3:1 ratio and 5+1 bearing system. I need to buy rods for them both, any suggestions?

[basser89]

Good to see you're still around WV! I can relate on the weather not cooperating.

BMBass, are you looking for multi-purpose rods or are you thinking more technique specific?

[sprirobass]

Hi guys,

Just joined this forum and glad there are a lot of discussions about Black Hills where I do most of my fishing. BH has been good for me this year. I managed landing good quality ones (18"-21"+ range) especially early morning and during night fishing. But sometimes I wish I have more hook ups during my trip. Most trip I only catches one. I guess it's still better than getting skunked.

I see you guys mentioned the stick ups a lot. I'll try that spot next time.

Has anyone tried Lake Churchill/BH from Wynnfield Rd before? Any opinion?

Thanks for all the info.

[BMBass]

Hey Sean, I want to get a rod thats good for texas rig/jigs and a rod thats good for swim/jerk baits.

[basser89]

Welcome to THE boards sprirobass! Lake Churchill is a private lake. I've walked around that lake before and there are signs all around stating no fishing. I do fish Black Hills on Wynnfield Road on occasion. If you fish the rip rap section, keep an eye out for snakes, they tend to hang out in the rocks.

BMBass, My t-rig rod is a 7' MH power Fast action rod. For jerkbaits, I like a 6'6" MH power Fast action rod. I'll add, the jerkbait rod does have a softer tip to help to not pull the treble hooks out. I don't throw many jigs and very rarely swimbaits. Hopefully, other will chime in as well to help out.

[Hellbenderman]

...shhhhh...i'm hunting wabbits.

[basser89]

...shhhhh...i'm hunting wabbits.

No, no, no! Wrong board Chris! Good to see you on the boards!