Who wants to fish fresh waters?

I'm a fish glutton. Besides saltwater, I like fly fishing, bass fishing, pan fishing, catfishing - and others I haven't tried. Can never make up my mind which I prefer.

Most here in the forum appear to be dedicated saltwater guys. But some of you must like freshwater too.

I fished the Patuxent at Jug Bay last week. Beautiful but I'm not sure how navigable it is at low tide.

Has anyone fished the middle to upper Patuxent, e.g, the Jug Bay area? I also fish the Potomac, and some of the lakes. Any interest?

[fredneckyaker]

Steve,

I do. this weekend is no good but next might be in line. Will PM you.

[pungomd]

I have fished jug bay

I used to load in at waysons and paddle down to jug bay, have had some good trips and seen lots of cool stuff also

[ictalurus]

I fish that area mostly in the winter and spring looking for yellow perch. You can launch at Jackson Landing and head upstream and fish Western Branch, which is supposed to have good bass, crappie, and perch fishing. With that said, I've never had much luck there. You can also launch at Mt. Calvert, but there's a killer hill down to the water. The current around Jackson Landing can be pretty strong and surprisingly tough to paddle against, but it's doable even in a 12ft yak with the wind howling in your face. Planning your trip with the tide will make it a lot less work, and you'll need an anchor if you want to stop and fish.

I've been up a little creek one summer called the Mattaponi, I think, that is downstream from Jackson Landing. I didn't have any luck there, either, but it was pretty and smelled better than Western Branch.

[DanMarino]

100% Fresh Water

I'm 100% fresh water. I'll be fishing the lakes near Columbia this year, Triadelphia and Rocky Gorge reservoirs, and spending lots of time on the upper Potomac River chasing smallies.

[chimo]

I will fish anything bigger than a mudpuddle if I see a ripple or any sign of life Didn't fish much fresh water from the yak last year in MD but I plan on fishing Rocky Gorge alot more next year! Went with a couple friends in the upper section in a normal boat last summer and loved the area. Didn't catch much but I always seem to have trouble the 1st time or 2. Fished Liberty and Loch Raven alot from shore last year but the Permits and Affidavits have keep me from trying to register a boat there. Good fishin

Chimo

[Greasyskillet]

Fresh water

I fish mostly fresh like to do the smallie thing never caught one, live in Burtonsville go to rockygorge twice a week.

[Greasyskillet]

Potomac trip

I would like to get in on a Potomac trip never been I paddle a big game so Im a little slow but i havent had to self rescue yet knock on wood.

[DanMarino]

Late June or July Potomac Outing

We should plan a late June or July Outing on the Potomac. The river levels are too crazy right now, so things need to calm down. This current flood isn't going to be good for the smallie spawn.

[BadAssBass]

Maybe we can do a joint outing with some PRSC members

I'm a member of the Potomac River Smallmouth Club and we frequently do floats down the Potomac. I've had my personal best days for smallies on these trips. (25 fish and an 18 incher. And I wasn't the one with the most that day)

Don't feel confident yet to lead a trip but sure one of the guys would be happy to go. Or perhaps DanMarino has enough experience.

In any event, small mouth chasing usually requires some shuttle planning, and a familiarity with the put-ins and takeouts. Overshooting your take-out could be a real downer.

[DanMarino]

First Time

This will be the first year I've fished on the Potomac in a kayak. I have a jon boat with a small jet outboard that I use for most of my trips. But the kayak will help me fish some water that is hard to access with the boat.

I've got a few places in mind to fish, but I'm clueless about how to shuttle things back and forth. So I was envisioning doing a paddle up stream and float back down type of thing. Or possibly a float down and then paddle back up the C & O Canal. My kayaking skills are lousy so I won't be doing rapids or white water and I plan on sticking to some areas that I know pretty well. There's some spots that I wet wade in the summer and the kayak will help me fish places that I've never been able to reach before.

[DOGFISH]

If you get a few kayakers, you could do a float trip. I have done those in the past. Unload all of your equipment and kayaks up stream. Take a vehicle down stream to your take out point. A 10 mile trip is not a problem in a day. I fish alot up above Harpers Ferry. Most of those areas are large enough to fish for a day, without a float trip. Also, most of those areas do not require good kayak skills, flat water. A 25-30 fish day is an easy accomplishment. I have also caught a few walleye up there. I have not yet caught a musky but have talked to a few who have.

Maybe one weekend a group of us should get together and fish the upper Potomac. Of course, that is after the water goes down. Most recently, looks like flood stage in those areas.

[BadAssBass]

Potomac Fishing

It is possible to fish from one of the locks without worrying about rapids - actually you worry more about riffles because you can damage your boat by butt scooting your boat across the rocks. Wore a hole in my Rider135 like that and I had to learn plastic welding to fix it.

Some tripe don't require dealing with even moderate white water. For example, you can go to Violets lock and fish upstream, usually without much effort.

Most of the float trips do require some paddling skills. For example, Seneca breaks offers greenies and bronze-backs but you will encounter class I and II rapids. You can get dunked but the waters are usually relatively shallow. Other trips involve putting in at Point-of-Rocks or Brunswick, Md and floating downstream for 7 to 10 miles on a typical day float. You would shuttle folks up to get vehicles from the putin or vice versa, there are a couple of iterations depending number of paddlers, vehicles, capacity, etc.

If you have never been on white water, it can be a blast but you would probably want to take some instruction. Most of the kayak schools cater to the playboat crowd and you will spend a lot of time on skills you won't use for fishing.

If we have enough interest, I'd recommend we get Jeff Little to lead a class. He is THE guru when it comes to kayak fishing and instruction for small mouth. Several fishing guides, not usually a humble crowd, actually recommended Jeff to me for lessons on paddling and fishing for small mouth. Keep in mind, these guys are professionals yet almost everyone I talked to acknowledge Jeff as the master. He also authored a book on the subject, entitled, My Life in a kayak or something of that sort.

If any of you are interested, contact me and I'll talk with him about rates and dates. Or you can google him and contact him direct. Going out with him for a one-on-one or one-on-two lesson is also well worth the reward. For the record, I get no referral fees, although I might assist him with we do a class.

[jffoley]

If we have enough interest, I'd recommend we get Jeff Little to lead a class. He is THE guru when it comes to kayak fishing and instruction for small mouth. Several fishing guides, not usually a humble crowd, actually recommended Jeff to me for lessons on paddling and fishing for small mouth. Keep in mind, these guys are professionals yet almost everyone I talked to acknowledge Jeff as the master. He also authored a book on the subject, entitled, My Life in a kayak or something of that sort.

If any of you are interested, contact me and I'll talk with him about rates and dates. Or you can google him and contact him direct. Going out with him for a one-on-one or one-on-two lesson is also well worth the reward. For the record, I get no referral fees, although I might assist him with we do a class.

I'm in! I only mess with the Potomac in a kayak in the summer/early fall when it's low. I think a group outing would be good. Maybe a discount?

[the_kegs]

Fredneckyaker and I have been talking about making a trip to the Potomac in the next few weeks if anyone is interested.

The day starts at Point of Rocks where we drop off the vehicles and load one vehicle up with the yaks and gear. Taking back-roads, it's a quick trip up to Brunswick to drop in the yaks. The river is wide and slow most of the way. Plenty of room for a group to fish. No real rapids to speak of, a couple of turbulent areas at most. In my opinion, it's the perfect place to take a beginner, nothing like Harpers Ferry. It's about a 6.5 mile float. Doesn't seem like much but there is a lot fishing along the way. Usually I'll do this with 5 or so guys and we all end up with close to 30 fish for the day. I have a 4 door Tacoma with a bed rack so I can carry 4-5 guys and gear.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.29...32093&t=h&z=14