Tuckahoe Joe

I'd have to go with some sort of stick bait such as a Senko, Yum Dinger or BPS Sticko. If the water is stained or muddy, go with black. If the water is clear, go with something with watermelon or pumpkin in the name like green pumpkin or watermelon red flake. My personal preference is the Yum Dinger. The GYCB Senko seems to have a little more wiggle to it but the Yum Dinger is way more durable. I can get at least 2-3 fish out of one Dinger where as a Senko is usually killed after just 1. Texas rig it (without a weight), cast it out (preferably to some sort of cover), let it sink on a slack line, and let it sit. Hop it once or twice and let it sit again. Hop, sit, hop, sit, etc, etc, etc... Or you could just reel it in really really slow. Most people will say to hop it but in all honesty, 90% of my stick bait fish have come from slowly reeling it. If you think your fishing too slow, slow down even more. You might also try whacky rigging it. Basically, you just hook the worm right through the middle. The hook is exposed so you'll probably get hung up more but the worm will have more action. I've had more snags than luck this way but I know a lot of guys swear by it. I saw a picture of a weedless whacky rig the other day (kind of a whacky/t-rig hybrid) that I want to try the next time I go out but my confidence with these baits is T-rigged and reeled slow.

The wife caught a nice one earlier today at Loch Raven. I didn't catch anything but for some reason I think I like it better when she's catching anyway.

Here's a couple from the last week or so. Having a great start to my season so far. I've only caught 3 small ones. Everything else has been about this size. All caught on jigs.

Thanks for the tip guys. Maybe I'll go with braid. I know that'll be fine for jigs/frogs but she was probably gonna use this rod for heavier spinnerbaits too. Would that be an issue with braid?

I recently bought my wife a med heavy rod for jigs/frog fishing. The reel she has on her med rod is an Abu Cardinal S30. The top line rating is for 10lbs. She has small hands and is really comfortable with this reel. The next size up looks to be a bit bigger so I wanna get her the same one that she already has. The problem is that I wanna go up to 14lb mono for the jigs. Aside from not being able to put as much line on the reel are there any other consequences to putting heavier line on a reel than it's rated for?

Thanks for the input guys. Glad I asked cuz I probably wouldn't have thought to fish it that way. And yeah, it does seem kind of light for baitcasting gear but my topwater rod is a spinning rod so its all good. Now if the topwater bite will pick up around here I'll be in business.

Found a Cordell Crazy Shad the other day. I've never fished a lure like this. I'm assuming its just cast, retrieve, props create wake, and the fish slams it but I was wondering if anybody has any tips on how to fish these?

I found this the other day. Trying to figure out what it is. There are no markings anywhere on it.

Not sure how much advice I can give. I guess all I can really do is tell you what I've been doing. Pitch and flip at every piece of cover that you think might hold fish. Try and get as close as you can or even up under it if possible. The cove I've been fishing has logs and laydowns everywhere but you could also look for pockets along weed lines or holes in among patches of lily pads. Let the jig sink on a slack line and sit on the bottom for a few seconds. If you don't get bit, give it 2 quick hops. If still no bites, hop it back to you 2 hops at a time. If you do get bit, reel up the slack and slam the hook home. Make multiple casts to the same cover until you feel like you've thoroughly fished it and then move on. Like BigBlock said, jig fishing can be tough to pick up. I tried all last season and didn't get my first jig fish til last week. Like any lure or presentation, confidence plays a big key. But the best way to build confidence is to catch fish so it's kind of a catch 22.

Got all 3 on a 1/2 oz. SK Hack Attack jig in Summer Craw. I've also been catching them on 1/2 oz. Terminator Pro Series in Blue Pumpkin. Havoc Pit Bosses for trailers.

3 more on jigs today. Been crushing them all week in this one little cove. I'm just gonna start leaving my other rods in the car.

I'm not exactly a jig expert but the 2 I've been using are the Strike King Hack Attack and the Terminator Pro Series with a Berkley Havoc Pit Boss trailer. Both of the jigs have more of a rounded triangular shaped head. The spots I've been fishing sound pretty similar to the pond you describe and these 2 have served me well. Expect to lose some lures cuz the fish are gonna be right in the middle of all the snaggiest stuff. And don't be afraid to flip/pitch multiple times to the same area. The area I was flippin when I caught that fish was only about 6ft by 6ft and I probably made a dozen flips before he hit it. The technique I've been using is to let the jig sink on a slack line, sit on the bottom for a couple seconds, and then give it 2 quick hops. This is all just me though and like I said, I'm still new to this too. If you ask in the 'Fishing Tackle' forum you might get some better responses and I know there are some good videos on jigs in the video section. Good luck man!

Caught a couple more on jigs today and missed a third. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.

Fished Loch Raven again. This time I went with my 2 younger brothers. My older younger brother got one on a T-rigged Rage Anaconda and I caught my first jig fish on a SK Hack Attack jig. Really liking Loch Raven and thinking I might wanna try the other Reservoirs like Liberty and Prettyboy.

Fished Loch Raven again today and caught my first fish on a jig. I was at the farthest point I could go along the trail and was just thinking about heading back to the car. Flipped my summer craw SK Hack Attack jig into the middle of a tangle of branches growing down into the water and felt a thump. After I set the hook I realized that I was wrapped around 2 different branches so I had to scramble down the bank and stretch out to free the line. I was worried the fish was going to get off during all of this but when I grabbed the fish I saw that it was hooked really good and wasn't going anywhere. I posted these 2014 fishing goals in a topic a couple months ago and I'm crossing them off left and right. I wanna get into some nice smallmouth action next! 1. Break my personal best largemouth of 3.75lbs. 2. 5lb largemouth 3. Catch first smallie ever 4. Get off the bank 5. Improve my flippin/pitchin and catch my first jig fish 6. Help my little brother catch his first bass 7. Catch a tiger muskie 8. Fish as much as possible

Walked the banks at Loch Raven yesterday and found some new spots. I didn't catch anything but my wife got 2 chain pickerel.

Pretty sure its Smithville Lake on the Eastern Shore. The boat ramp and the concrete embankment in the back of one of the pics give it away. Wish I still lived down there. One of my favorite lakes in that area to fish. Caught quite a few quality fish out of there.

Wow! BR just used my pic on one of their recent Facebook posts. I know that when I upload a pic that BR gets the rights to it but never in a million years did I think they'd use one of my pics for anything. It may sound silly but I feel really honored by this. Thanks for all the congrats guys!

Went to Loch Raven today and caught a new PB. Scale said 5 pounds even. Caught her on a 1/2 oz. chartreuse Booyah spinnerbait. Also would have had a PB chain pickerel but he bit me off right before I could grab him and swam off with my KVD 1.5. Checked out the area near the bridge on Warren Road or Merryman's Mill Rd of whatever it's called at that point. Either way its the same road. The rock bluffs were a bit much for my wife to handle so we walked down on the other side where there was a little cove with a ton of laydowns and various wood to fish. Saw a guy catch one that looked to be about 4lbs there but I didn't get anything. The cove really looked like bass though so I'll definitely be going back there. My fish was caught at an area a little further down the road towards Rt. 146

Fished for 6 hours today at Loch Raven Reservoir. Only saw 3 fish all day and one wasn't mine. At the first spot just before we left I hooked into a chain pickerel that would have crushed my PB pick but he bit me off just before I could grab him and swam away with my KVD 1.5. Would have had him if I had had a net handy. Tried a couple more spots with no luck. Then just as I was getting ready to leave I set my spinnerbait hook into what I thought was a snag. Then all of a sudden the snag started to move and I realized it was "Fish On!". She hit right near the bank so after a short fight I had this big momma bass by the lip. My scale put her at 5 pounds even. My first 5 pounder! That's one 2014 fishing goal I can cross off the list.

Cool man...thanks for the info. Been wanting to get a kayak. Maybe it's time to get serious about it.

We just started on that side. That pavilion was the first spot we stopped. We walked around the whole lake. Most of our fish were caught on the other side. I've read that Elkhorn is stocked with bass each spring. I'm assuming the stocked fish are probably small and everything we caught was less than 12 inches. I'm wondering if this is an average size fish for this lake or if there are some bigger ones in there. Also I'd like to try Rocky Gorge but I don't know my way around Columbia so well. I'm looking on Google maps and can't seem to find a parking lot or anything like that. Where do you recommend I go?

Went to 3 Howard County lakes today. Centennial was pretty crowded. Walked halfway around trying various spots with no luck. Saw a guy in a boat just outside of my casting range pick up 3 in about 5 minutes which was frustrating. Went to Jackson's Pond after that again with no luck. After that I hit Lake Elkhorn and got my first bass of the year. It's tiny but I'll take it! Got him on a Red Eye Shad. Threw him back and on my wife's next cast she caught the same fish. I could tell it was the same cuz of a red mark on the upper lip. Between me, my wife, and my brother we got 6 and lost 2. Nothing bigger then 9 or 10 inches though. Probably gonna hit up Loch Raven on Sunday.

Thanks Scott. When I went there a couple weeks ago there were 'no fishing' signs all along the area between the top of the dam and the next bridge. It's a shame too cuz there was a lot of good looking, easily accessible shoreline. I hit some of the spots along Dulaney Valley Road and Loch Raven Drive without any luck but it was still pretty cold. I'll have to check out the bridge on Warren Road though. Appreciate the tips man.

I'm gonna be fishing Loch Raven a lot this season. Any tips on some good spots for fishing from the bank? Wish I could help you out with some Ellicott City spots but I just moved up this way and I'm still trying figure out where to go.