That blue cat is amazing, but I am far far more impressed at a walleye in the canal.  

 

EDIT: I need to stop being lazy and drag my kayak out to Widewater.  It can be such a pain to launch that I never do it, but it would be amazing to be able to fish the entire thing.  

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

That blue cat is amazing, but I am far far more impressed at a walleye in the canal.  

 

EDIT: I need to stop being lazy and drag my kayak out to Widewater.  It can be such a pain to launch that I never do it, but it would be amazing to be able to fish the entire thing.  

Walleye you say?! Which part of the canal are there walleye?

1 hour ago, Junger said:

Widewater area?  That's a nice clean blue cat! Way different looking that the ones pulled out of the Potomac, south of DC...nice pics!

Water there is actually healthy. Can even eat the fish! Lol

2 hours ago, Fried Lemons said:

Yep, widewater. There are some giants there. The blue cat I'm pretty sure was blind. You can see how the eye in the picture is clouded up. The other eye was completely gone. Doesn't seem to have bothered the fish at all.

Yeah, first time I went to Widewater this summer, I was throwing a popper in the late afternoon near that water in-take level structure near the Anger's Inn path. I had no bites, but i saw a huge LM follow it from the deep and then turn around when it came near the bank.

 

Do you fish the path side, or the Berma road side?  The two times I've been out I didn't make it that far down the path...just to the path bridge walking from Angler's.

Both sides. The stretch you speak of gets pretty heavily beat. The road side is less pressured but has worse access. I’ve caught big fish from both sides.

Going after walleye (first time) tmrw AM. 

Anyone know a good section by great falls for catching em off the bank?

 

thx!

20 hours ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Going after walleye (first time) tmrw AM. 

Anyone know a good section by great falls for catching em off the bank?

 

thx!

I'm a noob to that area even though I'm close. My problem is that I usually take my kids fishing, and the C&O Canal is no fun for them. Lakes that have parks and other activities are my go to's.

 

Hopefully you hit up Great Falls before Noon...I went to Centennial Lake after lunch to get the lines wet and it was really windy, gusts around 40mph.  I was able to hit the same protected cove left of the dam, and got another rainbow trout on the same Mepps XD. I tried to fish the rip rap, and lost that Mepps, and then a Luckycraft Pointer 100...then I called it a day at 3PM.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Junger said:

I'm a noob to that area even though I'm close. My problem is that I usually take my kids fishing, and the C&O Canal is no fun for them. Lakes that have parks and other activities are my go to's.

 

Hopefully you hit up Great Falls before Noon...I went to Centennial Lake after lunch to get the lines wet and it was really windy, gusts around 40mph.  I was able to hit the same protected cove left of the dam, and got another rainbow trout on the same Mepps XD. I tried to fish the rip rap, and lost that Mepps, and then a Luckycraft Pointer 100...then I called it a day at 3PM.

 

 

 

Nice one!

we were looking for walleye. I can catch bass and trout almost anywhere. But theres a late fall walleye run that is happening now apparently. I never caught one. 

41 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Nice one!

we were looking for walleye. I can catch bass and trout almost anywhere. But theres a late fall walleye run that is happening now apparently. I never caught one. 

Dams 4 and 5... Best in the state

35 minutes ago, ptomacbass said:

Dams 4 and 5... Best in the state

Thx man!?

Are they still on the fall bite?

13 hours ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Thx man!?

Are they still on the fall bite?

Yes they are.

Pickerel are biting. 

On 11/19/2017 at 12:11 PM, reason said:

Pickerel are biting. 

Any good pickerel spots in MD that can be hit from shore?

6 minutes ago, ptomacbass said:

Any good pickerel spots in MD that can be hit from shore?

Yes, all over. The Eastern Shore is good, There are a couple of places in Southern MD, and near Baltimore and DC (or go West young man). Now is a good time. They will bite as long as your lures don't bounce off the surface right until they get ready to spawn in the late winter/early spring. They like bright colors, but will also hit natural forage shades. 

 

1 hour ago, ptomacbass said:

Any good pickerel spots in MD that can be hit from shore?

Loch Raven is loaded with them.

1 hour ago, reason said:

Yes, all over. The Eastern Shore is good, There are a couple of places in Southern MD, and near Baltimore and DC (or go West young man). Now is a good time. They will bite as long as your lures don't bounce off the surface right until they get ready to spawn in the late winter/early spring. They like bright colors, but will also hit natural forage shades. 

Bass lures work? Also what do you mean by bounce off the surface?

thx

51 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Bass lures work? Also what do you mean by bounce off the surface?

thx

Oh yeah, pretty much anything, spinnerbaits, jerk baits, crank baits, swim jigs, chatters, flukes, and top waters of all kinds. If you get into a good bite crush the barbs or use single hook lures. They are fairly delicate, and their mouths tare easily. Bounce off the surface=ice.

5 hours ago, ptomacbass said:

Any good pickerel spots in MD that can be hit from shore?

Where do you live? 

 

Allen 

2 hours ago, reason said:

If you get into a good bite crush the barbs or use single hook lures. They are fairly delicate, and their mouths tare easily. 

My ideal pickerel situation is hooking it, getting it to the bank, looking it in the eye, then slacking the line and letting it pop off without having to touch the awful thing.  

 

Last year there were all over the tidal rivers around Annapolis, but the population seems to have crashed this year.  I know I caught relatively few all of this year compared to last, where I was catching them in both brackish and freshwater with pretty good frequency.  

3 minutes ago, fishwizzard said:

My ideal pickerel situation is hooking it, getting it to the bank, looking it in the eye, then slacking the line and letting it pop off without having to touch the awful thing.  

 

Last year there were all over the tidal rivers around Annapolis, but the population seems to have crashed this year.  I know I caught relatively few all of this year compared to last, where I was catching them in both brackish and freshwater with pretty good frequency.  

Yeah, same, or I'll just leave it in the water and use needle nose. If I have to handle it, a finger behind the gill plate is the easiest way. The western rivers are full of them. The Severn is usually really good. They can't tolerate too high a salinity, so with the lack of rain, they thin out or head further up river. every year is a bit different. I don't fish up there much, but know a couple of guys who do. There are a couple of shore spots, but a boat will help get to the good spots. 

I live in DC. I've never caught one but probably cause I only really fish the potomac.

15 hours ago, reason said:

Yeah, same, or I'll just leave it in the water and use needle nose. If I have to handle it, a finger behind the gill plate is the easiest way. The western rivers are full of them. The Severn is usually really good. They can't tolerate too high a salinity, so with the lack of rain, they thin out or head further up river. every year is a bit different. I don't fish up there much, but know a couple of guys who do. There are a couple of shore spots, but a boat will help get to the good spots. 

I've got a bass boat but don't wanna do anything brackish in it and don't wanna take it somewhere trolling motor only.

9 hours ago, ptomacbass said:

I've got a bass boat but don't wanna do anything brackish in it and don't wanna take it somewhere trolling motor only.

That rules out a ton of water around here.  The only freshwater spots I have caught a lot of pickerel are all either trolling only or don't allow boats at all.  

 

 

Any of the Delaware ponds have them some bigger than others. Millsboro pond and Trapp pond have some big ones. Not much doing on the western side of the bridge that fits your requirements. The magothy is where I have stomped them for many years now. Numbers and size. This time of year is best. Excellent yellow perch fishing as well. 

On 11/25/2017 at 6:30 AM, ptomacbass said:

I've got a bass boat but don't wanna do anything brackish in it and don't wanna take it somewhere trolling motor only.

Be careful, there is a fine line between waxing and fondling... 

On 10/27/2017 at 8:24 AM, Jtrout said:

Got 3 at elkhorn the other night.

Swimbait at night? Hm. New One to me!