basser89

Wasn't bad today. I was by myself on the upper end on the boat ramp side. Saw 3 guys across the lake and 1 boat and one kayak on the water.

I've lucked out for the most part, haven't lost much there this year but visits have been fewer than I wanted. I did get to wet some line this morning. Hit Cunningham Falls from 7-11. Managed 5, nothing big either. Saw a few dinks protecting a couple areas but nothing more than that. Caught 4 on a Red Eye Shad and the other came on a Yum Dinger. Given the conditions, I thought I could have caught a few on a spinnerbait, but no luck on them.

I was able to hit black hills for a few hours th is morning too. Checked the temp about 9am and got 60. I couldn't put the puzzle together this morning. Got blanked.

SPEED, I was suppsosed to hit BH with Brian yesterday. Not sure when I'll be able to hit there again. :-/

Shoot! Sorry about that Bill! I saw the sign t he other day when I was there and completely forgot about posting about that. They have that every year about this time. I learnes about that the hard way one year when I tried taking the boat there and couldn't get in.

Had to go to Germantown today so brought some gear along and hit Black Hills for a couple hours. Action was slow until the clouds luck Iightened up. Managed one that went 2-12 on a lipless crank. I had 2 others.come off during the fight. Later I the evening, traffic was horrible so I popped back over for another short outing. Managed a 3 pounder on another lipless crank. I did check the temps, it was 51 today. Anyone else been out lately?

On the boat, I do use my fishfinder but while I'm shore fishing I picked up a cheap pool thermometer for wal mart. Probably not dead On accurate but gives me a good idea on the range.

For spinnerbaits, my line of choice is Sufix Siege in 17# and for my lipless cranks, I'm using 14# Siege.

I've called in sick just to go fishing by myself. Heck, I've called off work because we were having a snow storm, grabbed the gear and hit the warm waters. Had the place all to myself. LOL

Very cool! I've had the opportunity to fish with several members here in MD and PA and have made some good friends doing so. It's one of many reasons why I've been here for so long!

Picasso use to make a red shad color spinnerbait where the "red" wasn't red but more of a orangish/pink color that I would LOVE to see them bring back!

Welcome to THE boards FisherHuntress! What are some good fish to learn with? Depends who you ask. Me personally, I primarily fish for bass. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with fishing for bluegill, walleye, catfish or whatever else. Bass are just want I enjoy fishing for the most. Hey Bill, I know we talked a bit last fall so we'll have to see if we can set something up. Baker park definitely works for me. It's close so don't have to worry about spending $90 in gas. LOL! I was out checking out some places to work around Frederick and wound up over by the wal mart over on 26 and noticed there's a decent sized body of water between wal mart and the monocacy (there are soccer fields there as well). Not sure if it's an actual pond or a rain collection area or what. Has anyone around Frederick ever attempted to fish there? Curious if there's actually fish in it.

Oops. Guess I forgot to proof read that one. Ok, how about CARP!

That's just about right around the corner from me! LOL! Its a shame I won't be able to do it! Had to get away from the pc/job hunt for a while this afternoon so popped over to Baker park to fish the pond. Water color there was good, hardly any stain to it at all. Took a few rods to figure out what they wanted. Turns out, they were on a lipless crank bite. Managed 3, the best going about 2 1/2 pounds. I was getting ready to leave and made that all famous "one more cast" and hooked into a HOG! Turned out, that hog was about a 10 pound crap. Hooked it right outside the mouth. LOL! Fun way to end the outing.

If most of the dams are in need of repair, I hope the state has learned a thing or 2 from Opossum and what's happened at Meadow Grounds so far. I'd hate to see all the lakes take as long to be refilled as Opossum. SPEED, I heard there were some monsters in there. I hope it makes it back to that status. Seeing that place drained, it looks like it'll be fun to fish.

The sun factor makes sense, especially this time of year. I've noticed that in the past on many outings as well. The only time that sticks out that doesn't follow suit is back in March of 2009. Landed my PB that day on a lunchtime outing at Black Hills. Being limited to shore fishing, I'd say my average size is in the 14" range. I do manage some better bass throughout the season though. My PB, that I mentioned above, was 6-9 and I have seen bigger but haven't landed or hooked up with those. Last year my best came in September was 5 even and I do catch them in the 3-4lb range from time to time.

Well shoot! I was thinking about hitting the river this morning until I checked the levels. I opted for Black Hills instead. The water was stained at best. LOL! I managed one 15 incher on a white Chatterbait. Surprisingly, that bass hit close to the shoreline in about 2-3'. Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in and didn't have another bite.

I'm on board with BrettD said. I believe it may be an anti-reverse issue. I've had this issue with one of my baitcasters in the past. VERY frustrating!

I have my daughter this weekend so won't be doing much fishing. I may make an early morning outing and hit the river somewhere before I pick her up. Bill, let us know how you do! I was in Germantown for a little while this morning and did get to pop over to Black Hills just to check the water out. The backwash area down by the boat ramp was very stained/muddy looking, obviously the main lake looked better. If the backwash area is any sign, the area back around the stick ups is probably in the same condition. I would venture a guess the upper end of the ten mile creek arm is the same as well. ****** One other note about Black Hills. You CAN NOT get to Black Hills off 355! They have the road closed right at the 270 bridge but you can still get to the park off of 121. They have the road blocked off right after the park road. If I read the sign correctly, they'll reopen the road sometime in April. ******* Best of luck hitting the ponds in PA Nate!

There's a boat ramp just down from the mouth of the conococheague. That would probably be the easiest spot to put in. If you're comfortable doing it, there is a dirt path that people drive on that leads from the boat ramp over to the mouth. You could drive over and drop your kayak off (I wouldn't leave my vehicle parked there) and park back in a parking spot. Warning though, I've walked that before and there is broken glass along there.

The best advice I can give you is read the articles on the site. I think you could gain a better understanding by starting with the Seasonal Fishing Articles. To me, it sounds like you're comparing apples to oranges. Conditions/success that you had 2 1/2 years ago in September are not the same conditions/success you had last week. Upper 90's vs 60-63, bass are going to react differently (and yes, the 60-63 temps do fall into the range for largemouths to spawn). I don't know all the factors so I can't say for sure they were actually spawning while you were there.

I was fishing right on the rip rap wall just below the dam (on the MD side). I have fished right where the canal comes in to the Potomac before, it's a little tough to fish right there now with the current water levels. I've also had success right below the island on the "sandy" section of the bank. I didn't make it down that far yesterday.

Hey jenga, I wish I could give you some insight but I haven't fished that area. What I did want to let you know that IF you don't get any responses on this thread, check out the MD Who's Who thread. There are a few anglers on there that do fish that part of the Potomac and I'm sure they would be willing to help you out!

Got to wet some line yesterday morning. Decided to see how the action was at dam 4. I got there literally within minutes of day break. LOL! I was a little taken back to see 3 boats launching as I walked down to the rip rap. Took some time to figure out there were active fish in the area I was fishing. Turned out, those active fish were walleye. I only managed 3 but they were decent. The smallest was about 15" while the biggest (and the one I caught first) was around 20-22". The first 2 came on an X-Rap while the 3rd came on a Bomber Fat-A crank. I was able to sneak over to Williamsport for a short stay (no luck there). I talked to one of the guys fishing the canal briefly. He told me that some of the fish from the lower section of the canal were put in the upper section. Sadly, he also told me that he seen at least 100 fish laying in the lower section that they did nothing with while they finished draining that section.