patred

Pretty much every parking area along the C&O Canal has good access to fishing from shore. Or wading. If you can bring a mountain bike with you, the trail is easy riding for the most part, and you can cover more ground. In the "Maryland Who's Who" thread, somebody posted catching largemouth in one of the canal pools on the other side of the trail from the river. It's a bit downriver from the Edward's Ferry area. Pat

Can't help but think of Mallows Bay. Never been there, but it seems creepy for some reason. Pat

I will be in Las Vegas next month for work and might be interested in fishing Lake Mead for smallmouth or largemouth. Any recommendations for a guide? Pat

I swapped the trailing treble on my Shadow Raps (as well as a few other crankbaits) for a single hook. The fallfish always bit the trailing hook, and it was a PITA to unhook them because of their little mouths. Pat

I haven't really caught much on the Little Patuxent since July or so. Once the water got clearer, it has been tough. April through June was pretty good for me with a couple 15" smallmouth (26 fish total, 17 were smallmouth). Since then, though, I've caught one 10" smallmouth and nothing else really noteworthy. Pat

There's plenty of parking around the Savage area where you can hit the Little Patuxent and the confluence with the Middle Patuxent. There is a spot by some baseball fields where there are a couple paths that lead down to the Little Patuxent. There's also a good parking spot along Guilford Road with trails that lead up and down the river. If you have a mountain bike, you can cover a lot of ground. Maryland DNR should start stocking trout soon. The river also has smallmouth and panfish as well as channel catfish and fallfish ... supposedly some snakeheads but I haven't caught any yet. Pat

I use these with 3" and 4" worms: http://sliderfishing.com/Spider-Classic-Slider-Heads-SPCH-18-per-pack-SPCH-18-per-pack.htm Mainly 1/8oz. The same packs are $19.95 at Bass Pro Shops. I think they're just under $10ea +shipping if you buy five or more direct from that link. Pat

I have several Mitchell 300s and a couple 308s, all made in France prior to 1970. I picked up a 1955 reel and a 1959 a few weeks ago and used them to catch four walleye on the Potomac River on Christmas Eve. The Mitchell Reel Museum is a great source for Mitchell info and has a good forum, too, for history, servicing and identification. Pat

Took advantage of the warm weather on Christmas Eve and fished the Potomac River near Dam 4. Caught more of these toothy smallmouth on a silver Rapala Shadow Rap. Four fish measuring between 10 and 12 inches in about two hours. I picked up a few Shadow Raps earlier this year after watching one of the Lindner brothers fishing with them on TV and have caught smallmouth, channel catfish, fallfish and now walleye with them. Jerk-jerk-pause or variations of that when retrieving them. They have a lot more action compared to the traditional Rapala minnow and hold depth better. Pat

Yes, I've had really good luck with them on a weedless jighead working the bottom. Nothing but smallmouth up until yesterday. The only bad thing about them is that they are about as durable as a real worm. The first time I used them a few months ago, I went through a pack of 10 in about a half hour, but at least caught five smallmouth. Pat

I know this is a bass forum, but I was still excited to land my first Potomac River walleye today. I've been fishing the Potomac since October of last year and figured I would have lucked into one at some point ... and finally did! Haven't caught a walleye in 20+ years since when I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Pat

I didn't get a thing when I went out two weeks ago below Harper's Ferry. Didn't get a nibble, but water temp was eight degrees lower than it was the week before when I caught the two at the top of the page. I was using 3" plastic worms and tube baits. On the Maryland Angler's Log, a guy caught a 20" smallmouth in the Edwards Ferry area a couple weeks ago on a 3.5" tube bait.

Fishing the Potomac River today between Brunswick and Harpers Ferry, I literally almost stumbled on this guy: Four to 5 inches long, amazing color -- really similar to the rocks on the bottom. Something I'll remember next year, look at the bottom of the river and throw lures that are close to that same color. Pat

I forgot my tape measure this weekend and compared my fish(es) to the end of the rod, made a note of the length then measured that length on the rod when I got home. Pat

Fished the Potomac River today near Antietam Creek for a few hours. Kind of slow, water temp around 58 degrees. Only had three bites using Berkley Gulp! Killer Crawlers but landed three fish. If that last one actually counts as a fish. I love the contrast of colors on the second smallmouth. 14.5 inches on the first one, 11.5 on the second one and who cares about the third one. Pat

I have a guide/charter set for Sunday on Lake Erie. The weather looks OK (1-2 foot waves, low pressure system) although it might be cold. Kind of getting excited to catch something other than 8- to 10-inch Potomac River smallmouth. Pat

I caught a rainbow trout earlier this year on one! Pat

Just saw this on the Maryland DNR web site: http://dnr2.maryland.gov/fisheries/Documents/2015_Potomac_River_SMB_YOY_Survey.pdf "Smallmouth bass reproduction on the Potomac mainstem (PawPaw, WV downstream to Seneca) was considered to be “good” with a mean of 1.9 young bass per haul, above the median value of 1.6 (Figure 4). The hatch was slightly stronger in the middle and lower reaches than the western stretches upstream of Dam 5. A good hatch was particularly important in the middle Potomac (Dam 5 downstream to Dam 3) where the seining index has generally fallen below the median value since 2008 (Figure 5)." This is the section of the Potomac I fish most. So maybe ... more quality fish in 3-4 years? Pat

I'm in Maryland and have never been to the Juniata River ... is the river low enough in most places for wading? Some areas better than others? Thinking about heading up there this weekend to fish for smallmouth. Pat

Because the smallmouth are angry! Pat

Have you fished Conococheague Creek at all? Pat

Oh and a bigger picture of my avatar: 15" smallmouth on the Little Patuxent River from earlier this year. Yes that's a Mitchell 300 reel that's almost 50 years old. I have four of them, and it's all I use along with a couple of Mitchell 308 reels around the same age. Pat

I live near BWI. I need to try the Susquehanna sometime. Gotta find a good place to camp to appease the girlfriend, though. We've hit most of the campgrounds on the Potomac north of Harper's Ferry. Initially she was the one who wanted to go camping, and my only requirement was that there was someplace to fish. Now I think she's getting bored with exploring on the C&O canal while I'm not bored with fishing. Pat