37 replies to this topic

[basscrusher]

hmph basscrusher so you are saying i should stay away from the ashburn lakes?!

I would never flat out tell someone "stay out" when it isn't my own property, but I personally wouldn't want to get caught in that predicament. Especially when those lakes are mostly full of small (12" and under) bass. I have fished them before as a guest of a resident. Also, not scenic. Totally surrounded by condos and/or McMansions.

Try Brittle. Its been tough for me, but I have caught some quality bass (2 pound range). A guy I know catches nice walleye from there, although I haven't been able to dial in on the walleye yet. Walleye are notorious night feeders, and Brittle has a very nice covered dock which would be great for night fishing. There is some access for most of the shoreline around the lake, albeit partly on wooded paths.

[JSPOONE]

^^ yeh thats the last thing i need to have on my record since i just got off probation 8 months ago lol. im trying to legal fish for now then mayb enter that area lol

[pdalto8662]

If that small pond is the you're talking about I fish there all the time. Right where belmont ridge meets northstar blvd make a right and there is a pond behind the office building there. The gate locks at like 8 so be careful but I park outside the gate and have no problems noone has ever said anything and its for the parks and recreation anyways. On the weekends the gate is open all night ( I fished till midnight one night there) Some good bass in there but alot of snot grass so I usually fish texas rig or topwater. On the backside of the pond there is a dirt trail marked with orange flags that will take you down to the backside of the reservoir only a 5 min hike. Hit me up if you want to meet.

[Yinzyaker]

I have tried alot of these smaller lakes that everyone is talking about, Royal, Brittle, Braddock, Huntsman, Mercer and even Burke lake. Personally I have pulled some fish out of all of them but have never had a great day of fishing where I caught more than 1-2 fish when fishing from shore. I have had some luck at Mercer fishing out of my Kayak, but it is not the most accessible place. I think they are all to pressured and over fished. I concentrated on smaller lakes like this over the past 2 years or so. Now I have been hitting bigger water like the Potomac and have been having alot more luck. I have never fished lake Fredrick in Front Royal, if I decide to make that drive to fish I would be fishing one place the Doah. I have fished the Occoquan a few times this year but have not had great success, But I might have to give it another try.

[shimmy]

Beaverdam can be forgiving from shore. Just put on a 3-5 inch senko or a texas rigged 6-7 inch worm. From shore, cast to the outer weed edge. I can't guarentee you'll catch big ones but you will catch several 2-3 pounders. A little mepps spinner like a #0 or #1 can be fun out there from shore as well. As stated, your chances of a 4+ are going to be best accessible from a boat. One area i rarely see shore fisherman venture off to but has a ton of fish is to the right of the launch ramp (old launch, not off hope road). So if you are facing the lake and are standing on the ramp, instead of going left, go right and fish that cove and as far down as you can (100 yards or so). A ton of 2-3 pounders cruise that area with the occasional big fish, it is worth wading in the water to fish it. Going left is terrible fishing for several hundred yards. Matter of fact, i wouldn't even shore fish to the left of the ramp. I would fish that cove on the right of the ramp or go to the dam and fish that rock ledge with a small jerkbait, small senko type bait, or carolina rig of sorts. The last point before the dam also has a small cove that has a few bass as well. I think anywhere else is a waste of time from shore on that side of the lake as a shore fisherman accessible.

If you are fishing the hope road launch area, i have much better luck there shallow. I would hit the ramp and go right and fish the shore line all the way to the far right cove a few hundred yards away. The outer weed edges there have big bass and many 2-3 pound bass. The first cove with many big rocks has a ton of 1-2 pound bass. Put on a KVD 1.5 or 2.5 and catch a ton of bass. I do not have any luck with spinnerbaits out there. Used to be phenomenal bait out there but only catch a few and not that big (when fishing shallow). So, i'd fish that crankbait in addition to the baits i mentioned. I don't really start catching them till i get to the cove. Then hit the point and then the other cove. It is only a few hundred yards of fishing but i would just go back and forth here. I would not try anywhere else from shore since you are going to reduce your chances drastically. So, if i were shore fishing, try these. The people i have taken out who are terrible fisherman (only gone 1-2 times in their life) have caught over 5 in a few hours on all the spots i have mentioned. All spots are shore accessible. With this lake, your best chances of catching fish is retracing your spots over and over again. The fish are ALWAYS moving out there and rarely bunker down. Busy bees. Let me know how this works.

[Bigbarge50]

You think mercer is over pressured? I am not sure I have ever had more than one other person fishing when I have been fishing there and I have never seen more than one boat on there. I think the long walk makes a lot of people steer clear and it does not seem like a lot of people in the apartment complex up at the dam do a lot of fishing.

I think these smaller bodies are more affected by the weather and pressure changes, hence the difficulty sometimes fishing them.

[JSPOONE]

Yeh ur are talking about reservoir rd right shimmy? And I know there is a cove to the right of the ramp.


But on another note I have broke my personal best twice this week in a matter of a day apart. So I've had a lot of bass with good size quality and quantity. caught a 3 pounder out of a little pond off of 29. And caught a 4 pounder at lake Braddock today around 1 that crushed my white spinner bait and even straightened my spinner such a hog

[Yinzyaker]

You think mercer is over pressured? I am not sure I have ever had more than one other person fishing when I have been fishing there and I have never seen more than one boat on there. I think the long walk makes a lot of people steer clear and it does not seem like a lot of people in the apartment complex up at the dam do a lot of fishing.

I think these smaller bodies are more affected by the weather and pressure changes, hence the difficulty sometimes fishing them.

I don't think it is pressured in the same way as some place like Burke Lake is. In that their are always a ton of people fishing from it. That is what got me to fish their in the first place. But it is not that big of a body of water and if you have 3-4 people fishing from shore along the stumps, which I have deffinately seen more than once. And another 3-4 fishing from other spots around the lake including the dam then that is pretty good pressure on a small body of water. Its not like that happens every day but I think that is not uncommon on a weekend. I think the fish get used to seeing the same presentations in the same spots everyone fishes which causes it to be tougher to catch fish. Honestly all of this talk about the place makes me want to go try it out again this weekend. Its been a while since I took the yak out their, I might have to give it a try.