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For a couple years now I've been wanting to check out Rock Gap State Park in western MD to camp and fish on the kayak. I wanted to plan my trip during the fall for cooler weather and try to time it with the foliage in full swing.
I took off from work last week and spent 3 days and two nights camping. I went out during the last two days to test my luck on the lake and here is my report:
The lake is crystal clear and I could see the bottom in 10-13ft of water. Water temp was 65.4. The lake has a bunch of coves, points, and grass flats with some rip rap by the dam. The water level was down during my stay but I marked as deep as 70ft of water in one area. The grass was almost everywhere that was less than 15ft deep, but not the kind of grass that covers the surface. I did not mark any structure off shore.
Day 1 I had hopes of powerfishing to capitalize on the fall shad bite. I was using a 3in shad pattern paddle tail on a jig head and had no luck. I tossed an Alabama rig with no success, then a lip less crank bait again with no hits. It was breezy which made it hard to see any fish in the grass, but I tended to mark fish in 20-25ft of water on drop offs. I covered all the spots that looked fishy, focusing on lay downs, points, and the rip rap but no dice. However it was very nice being on the lake with the scenery, and having it all to myself for two days! I searched social media looking for some tips on the lake and that resulted in finesse fishing being the recommended presentation in the clear high pressured lake.
Day 2: I took an entirely different approach and was determined to find the fish. My main lure was a Texas rigged Keitech minnow with small bullet weight to help with casting and get down into the grass. It was a great weedless presentation. I also used a wacky rigged senko and a deep diving crank bait to try to reach the fish being marked in that 20ft range. Along the rip rap I threw a tube to try to lure any smallmouth nearby. I tried similar places as the day before, and saw my first fish following my minnow but he gave up on it. I was out all day and was actually padding in when I decided to try out a cove that was out of the wind that I hadn't tried yet. After about 6 hours of time on the lake I finally hooked up on a small 10in largemouth on the Texas rigged minnow. I was happy to not bring home a skunk for the trip.
The place was everything I hoped it would be. There's 3 beaches there and I'm sure the lake is packed during the season so I would go in the spring or fall. I launched from a ramp at the campground so that was easy. If anyone is looking to try somewhere new I would definitely recommend rocky gap.
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I took off from work last week and spent 3 days and two nights camping. I went out during the last two days to test my luck on the lake and here is my report:
The lake is crystal clear and I could see the bottom in 10-13ft of water. Water temp was 65.4. The lake has a bunch of coves, points, and grass flats with some rip rap by the dam. The water level was down during my stay but I marked as deep as 70ft of water in one area. The grass was almost everywhere that was less than 15ft deep, but not the kind of grass that covers the surface. I did not mark any structure off shore.
Day 1 I had hopes of powerfishing to capitalize on the fall shad bite. I was using a 3in shad pattern paddle tail on a jig head and had no luck. I tossed an Alabama rig with no success, then a lip less crank bait again with no hits. It was breezy which made it hard to see any fish in the grass, but I tended to mark fish in 20-25ft of water on drop offs. I covered all the spots that looked fishy, focusing on lay downs, points, and the rip rap but no dice. However it was very nice being on the lake with the scenery, and having it all to myself for two days! I searched social media looking for some tips on the lake and that resulted in finesse fishing being the recommended presentation in the clear high pressured lake.
Day 2: I took an entirely different approach and was determined to find the fish. My main lure was a Texas rigged Keitech minnow with small bullet weight to help with casting and get down into the grass. It was a great weedless presentation. I also used a wacky rigged senko and a deep diving crank bait to try to reach the fish being marked in that 20ft range. Along the rip rap I threw a tube to try to lure any smallmouth nearby. I tried similar places as the day before, and saw my first fish following my minnow but he gave up on it. I was out all day and was actually padding in when I decided to try out a cove that was out of the wind that I hadn't tried yet. After about 6 hours of time on the lake I finally hooked up on a small 10in largemouth on the Texas rigged minnow. I was happy to not bring home a skunk for the trip.
The place was everything I hoped it would be. There's 3 beaches there and I'm sure the lake is packed during the season so I would go in the spring or fall. I launched from a ramp at the campground so that was easy. If anyone is looking to try somewhere new I would definitely recommend rocky gap.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
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