Smallies in Md.(not)

Here in Mayland the smallmouth bass seems to be almost non existent.In
recent weeks a few seasoned fly anglers and I have been fishing for
smallies with little success.The few fish caught have been dinks
Sunfish are also noticeably absent..The Potomac near Harpers Ferry the
Susquehanna below Conowingo dam
and the Patapsco near Ellicott City all seem to be fishing poorly in
last few seasons.Grass beds and insect activity on the Susquehanna are
extemely thin ,there are not any baitfish to speak of....Draught
conditions followed by a record rainfall last season played a major role
in creating the situation,Iam sure..With that said, any comments ?
J.C.

In article ,
wrote:

Here in Mayland the smallmouth bass seems to be almost non existent.In
recent weeks a few seasoned fly anglers and I have been fishing for
smallies with little success.The few fish caught have been dinks
Sunfish are also noticeably absent..The Potomac near Harpers Ferry the
Susquehanna below Conowingo dam
and the Patapsco near Ellicott City all seem to be fishing poorly in
last few seasons.Grass beds and insect activity on the Susquehanna are
extemely thin ,there are not any baitfish to speak of....Draught
conditions followed by a record rainfall last season played a major role
in creating the situation,Iam sure..With that said, any comments ?
J.C.

J.C.

I've not had much chance to fish Daniels this year although I did OK
downstream from the dam on the stockies. The river looks in good shape
and the pup and I walked upstream yesterday from the dam to the trestle
(toward woodstock rd direction) that's about two miles upstream and I
saw vegetation in the areas I thought I would. There were some caddis
hatching at the big rock pool below the trestle if that's any sort of
indication of the health of the stream. I've only fished about 200 yds
upstream of the trestle in the past and do really want to pack a lunch
and spend a day up there as I don't think it gets much pressure or at
least there's not any bait cups around. Care to join me? Might get
Frank to go and that's always worth the entertainment

Allen

Allen,Thank you for the invitation ,but sadly the Patapsco, at least
from Woostock Rd. to the steel bridge,has been a huge waste of time and
effort.In the last few months I've fished there at least 6 times,all
with the same results ,a few french fry size smallies a bluegill or two
and zero google eye rock bass, as for the trout I've landed several but
Iam not interested in trout (at least not in this state) its the
smallies I enjoy.Iam sure you understand......Perhaps we can meet up at
another location someday..In any event , give the Patapsco a try and let
us know your experience ..Looking forward to meeting up someday...... JC

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 wrote:

Here in Mayland the smallmouth bass seems to be almost non existent.In
recent weeks a few seasoned fly anglers and I have been fishing for
smallies with little success.

Sounds surprising. I've always thought of Md as a fine smallmouth state.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
\ Mu Young Lee
remove all dashes and underscores in reply address

In article
td.umich.edu, Mu
Young Lee wrote:

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 wrote:

Here in Mayland the smallmouth bass seems to be almost non existent.In
recent weeks a few seasoned fly anglers and I have been fishing for
smallies with little success.

Sounds surprising. I've always thought of Md as a fine smallmouth state.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
\ Mu Young Lee
remove all dashes and underscores in reply address

The Patapsco, like many of the mid atlantic streams, is kind of a work
in progress. At one point there were 28 dams along it's length and they
are now down to three and all have fish ladders. The nature of the
stream changes a lot from where it flows out of one of the reservoirs
along a snaking a 30 miles course along one of America's first
industrial valleys (through Ellicott City it flows the the shadow of
America's first train station) eventually it ends up in Baltimore
harbor. The state had the foresight to purchase pretty much all the
lands on both sides of the river over the last few years so there is a
state park buffer but the stream still suffers from run-off of the
streets and some silting. There's a lot of industrial debris in places.
In fact, Franks first Maryland Reid involved running a piece of glass
inbedded in concrete in his heel up to the bone in this stream. But
there's been a lot of progress made. I'm not sure why the state stocks
rainbows as thee a places Browns might live over as there are some
springs that come in. The smallmouth fishing can be very good and I've
taken one near 18 inch fish near the aformentioned steel bridge.
There's lots of cover and usually lots of minnows, although I'll have
to check as JC says he's not seeing many right now. All in all it's
not the best stream to have in one's backyard but it's pretty good and
it's ten minutes from the house.

Allen
Catonsville, MD

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004, Allen Epps wrote:

In fact, Franks first Maryland Reid involved running a piece of glass
inbedded in concrete in his heel up to the bone in this stream.

Ouch, been there done that. Got a good piece of Heineken bottle into my
left foot on the Huron River near Chelsea, MI. Had to limp back to my car
on the adjacent road.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
\ Mu Young Lee
remove all dashes and underscores in reply address

In article
. itd.umich.edu, Mu
Young Lee wrote:

On Tue, 6 Jul 2004, Allen Epps wrote:

In fact, Franks first Maryland Reid involved running a piece of glass
inbedded in concrete in his heel up to the bone in this stream.

Ouch, been there done that. Got a good piece of Heineken bottle into my
left foot on the Huron River near Chelsea, MI. Had to limp back to my car
on the adjacent road.
__________________________________________________ _____________________
\ Mu Young Lee
remove all dashes and underscores in reply address

T'was an object lesson to us both to wear wading boots on that river
even when wading wet.
Allen

extemely thin ,there are not any baitfish to speak of....Draught
conditions followed by a record rainfall last season played a major role
in creating the situation,Iam sure..With that said, any comments ?
J.C.

I too have noticed a decline in the smallmouth (and bluegill and rockbass
and fallfish) populations in Deer Creek (north central Harford county) since
about 2002. Before that, there were many 10-12" smallies in the rocks all
over the creek, and bigger ones as well. That is IF you could keep the
fallfish off. I'm not sure of the reason, but the drought of 2002 was very
hard on Deer Creek. I only hope it recovers quickly.

Sam