I’ve been getting out a bit and wanted to keep a record of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. It’s been a hot summer here in Maryland and it’s had an effect on things. Trips below start in early June.
early June – Unicorn Lake
Fished Unicorn with friends. Caught bluegill and decent pickerel. Strange that out of the three of us fishing not one bass was caught.
Nice midsummer bluegill caught on a popper.
mid June – Clopper Lake
Took new puppy out on the water with me to see how she did on the kayak. She’s a natural fishing buddy! Small bass caught on 3″ senkos. Water clarity is not as good as it was last year and fish don’t seem to be as tight on structure.
Sadie just gets up in the bow skirt of my kayak.
early July Clopper Lake
Evening trip with a friend. One of my better largemouth from Clopper on a 5″ senko.
One of my better largemouth in a while.
early July – Bay Bridge
Launched at Hemmingways @ 4pm. Right after I unloaded everything the restaurant owner or manager came out and asked that I (we) not launch from the beach anymore. He was polite and said at I could fish since I was all unloaded and he said that in the future we could launch from a ramp there in the marina (If you are going to launch there, use pier G at the Marina).
Launching at Hemmingways for an evening on the Bay.
Anyway, fished until @ 730pm. Worked the pilings of the northern span and even worked the sewer pipe. No strikes. On the way back in I caught a bunch of small bluefish breaking right off the shore point. Even pulled some nice perch off the rocks. All fish were caught on flies. First trip testing out new Cabelas HDT 5wt. Absolutely love the rod = it throws a 175grain line perfectly. Just a great perch and schoolie striper rod. Also stopped at Kent Island Kayak – nice to have a new business in the area.
One perch pulled off the rip rap.
early July – Little Seneca Lake
First time fishing Little Seneca Lake at Black Hill Regional Park. Nice, deep, clear lake about 10 miles north west of my house. Morning trip – we fished the middle cove and pulled some good fish out of the flood timber. One fish was @ 3.5lbs and would not come in to the boat. One of the strongest fish this year. Got that one on a drop shot rig. Evening trip was perfect. flat calm water. Barely any rises though and fish seemed sluggish. Fished the back of a cove and caught good numbers of medium crappie on flies.
mid July – Potomac at Pennyfield
First trip to Pennyfield. Great alternative to the time consuming float of Brunswick to Point of Rocks. Wanted something I could do on my own and that was close to home. Late start and only brought fly rids so did not catch much – just a few bluegill and one small smallmouth. First time noticing that water quality is not what it was last year.
Potomac River - plenty of fishable structure.
Trip basically breaks down like this:
1) drive and park at Pennyfield Lock,
2) paddle up the canal (about a mile) until Mile Marker 21,
3) portage boat down to River – only around 20 yards,
4) easy paddle up to a good ledge and then drift down and fish
5) after about a mile look for sign for Pennyfield lock on left. Look for stream entering river.
6) Paddle up creek to aqueduct. Depending on flows, you might have to get out and drag. Once you go under the aqueduct, the parking lot will be directly on your right.
late July – Potomac at Pennyfield
Wanted to get back to Pennyfield to see if water quality was improving. Not really much better, but had spinning rods with me this time – weighted tubes and wacky senkos. Got a late start for this trip. Kind of slow going but caught a very nice smallmouth from mid river structure. Very strong fish. Saw a bald eagle.
late July – Adirondacks trip, Forked lake and Raquette River
Camped and fished at Forked Lake, just north of Raquette Lake. Neat place where I had to paddle out to my campsite. Rained pretty much the while time I was up there. Wanted to stay longer but I had my dog with me and she just couldn’t dry off and warm up. With temps in the 100s down in MD, I did not pack for 50 degree nights. Always neat to fall asleep to loons calling on the lake.
Pumpkinseed colors
One morning as I was playing in a pumpkinseed a big pike came out oh the weeds and made a pass at it. Scared the S out of me. The black flies and mosquitos were pretty bad. The DEET barely stopped them, but wearing long sleeves and full pants worked like a charm. Caught some nice pumpkinseed and some decent largemouth on flies in the Raquette River drainage. No smallmouth though.
early August – Potomac River, Brunswick to Point of Rocks
Slow going but 2 decent smb on flies on hellgrammite flies. Loved fishing my 8 weight for these fish – could boom out a big cast and fish a drift longer. Fish still felt lively on the larger rod. Water quality still poor. Record high temps clearly affecting the fishing. Also got some pale bluegill on my 5wt.
early August – Kent Narrows
Fished the Narrows instead of Bay Bridge because of sloppy conditions on the Bay. Opted for more protected waters when I noticed whitecaps on the drive over the bridge. Fished the north cove and the point by the gas station. Big perch on small chartreuse/white clousers and white crazy charlies – forgot how effective that crazy charlies were on chesapeake panfish. Once I switched over, the fishing was non-stop.
Nice whice perch caught from Kent Narrows on an ebbing tide.
mid August – Kent Narrows
Broke a rule of never fishing the Narrows on a weekend. Fishing was ok. Fished the north cove and the breakwater. Caught small stripers, a few nice perch, and a needlefish – a first for me – all on flies. Capriotti subs for dinner on the way home.
late August – Little Seneca Lake
Windy day but water clarity was fantastic. Caught good numbers of the strange bluegill that LSL seems to have. They are shaped more like rock bass with elongated bodies. Got a few smallish largemouth – biggest might’ve been over 1.5lbs. Fish were all caught on flies. They clearly seemed to prefer bugger type flies to clousers. Paddle back was against a strong head wind. Saw a bald eagle.
