Stripers at Daniels Dam Patapsco River

[belairfishing]

I follow a guy on YouTube that fishes rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in Maryland and VA/DC - he's primarily a largemouth guy, but he fishes for tidal largemouth too, and I have learned a lot from him. In his latest videos, he catches a baby striper probably around 9 or 10 inches, then catches a legit 18 inch+ striper right under in the plunge pool. The Daniels area is about 25 stream miles from the key bridge...I assume that's how those fish got there. Any other thoughts? Is this as fascinating as I think it is?

[DanMarino]

Do you have a link to his video showing the rockfish in the pool below Daniels Dam?

[belairfishing]

Link is below...I might have exaggerated at 18", but its not a dink. Striper is just after 11:00 mark.

https://youtu.be/atzKhKRzVVk

[bignose]

The guy who creates these videos is quite a character.
He and I have occasionally crossed paths, we fish the same waters except that I have about a 40 year head start on him. I recognize a lot of his "fishing holes," there is a lot of spot burning if you are a local, but he has a national audience.

You've gotta take some of his comments and techniques with a grain of salt.....and he has been known to sneak into and fishing in some "illegal" areas to create his videos. He also indulges in some pretty high risk behaviors to access some of the places he fishes.
And a few of his videos look to be "staged." He recently got caught putting goldfish, bass and bluegills ( the bass and bluegills were caught in a Park and Recs pond) in a storm management pond near his house, and was quizzed by the DNR for 15 minutes while standing outside of his house wrapped in a towel, out of the shower. Really?

As to the striper in the Patapsco: it is entirely possible since the removal of Bloede dam last year. The fish have a way to go thru some fast moving water, but then again, they migrate up the Susquehanna to Conowingo dam, too, don't they?
There has frequently been a decent striper presence in the Belle Grove ponds, much further down stream, and I have caught stripers throughout the Middle Branch from Harbor Hospital out to Fort McHenry.

And if you wondered, that is also where I photographed a young guy 2 weeks ago that I posted with a snakehead.

[Mark]

The first striper I ever caught on the fly was in the Patapsco in the Avalon area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. I hooked it right under the swinging bridge which of course was in front of the Bloede Dam. It was a dink -- like the ones I've caught in Severn this year. (I haven't enjoyed the Severn topwater bite posted here recently...yet.)

Clearly the little Patapsco striper had a path from the larger Patapsco to the point where it met my fly. With the dam now gone I guess it's possible a larger striper could continue its way northwest to the Daniels area. However, way back when, I used to wade the river regularly from bridge downstream to catch tiny smallmouths and stocked rainbows. There were areas where the river got really narrow and shallow. I can't imagine a sizeable striper could have made it very far upstream then. Perhaps with the dam gone, the river banks have expanded allowing larger fish to roam father upstream.

[bignose]

Mark,
I've wet waded the Patapsco, "back in the day" most of the way from above Sykesville, down to Belle Grove Ponds. I've skipped over a lot of relatively inaccessible water, as it's a long hike between some of the access points with a lot of unproductive water. I can't do that sort of fishing hike anymore, it's pretty rugged in more than few places.

Daniels Dam is the last remaining obstacle to fish migration. Union, Thistle, and Glen Artney Dams have been removed, some partly by Mother Nature, and partially by humans, as well as Bloede.

Like you, I've caught a mess of smallmouths, ranging from the standard 6-10" stream bass, but a couple of big fish (4-5 pounds) along the way. The further from heavily fished areas, the better the chance of finding some decent fish.

And the usual yellow breasted sunfish, trout (stocked, but also some pretty big hold overs), fallfish, rock bass etc., and down towards the tidal area where a more brackish water variety live, White Perch, Rockfish, yellow perch, pickerel, the every present Carp and Catfish, and out by the Fort, Bluefish, Cow Nosed Rays, much the same as we catch in the Severn, in a lovely industrial environment.

There has been water flowing over Liberty Dam for the past two years due to the amount of rain we've gotten. This has kept the river level high and cooler than usual. (the plunge pool below Liberty dam was filmed by the previously mentioned YouTube videographer two weeks ago and he caught some very substantial smallies there). The higher water level has made it easier for rock and, believe it or not, some hickory shad to head up the river. I saw some hickories right under the swinging bridge a few years ago during trout season.

The river was roaring all spring down in the Avalon area, I hardly recognized the river. It looked more like a western river, and there is much damage due to the flooding upstream in Ellicott City. I scrubbed my plans to fish there, it looked too dangerous to wade for trout.

YouTube has several videos taken from both a kayaker headed down thru the Bloede dam area and some drone footage, that makes for some interesting viewing.
The one positive from some of the recent flooding it that it really helped to clear out the silt and crud accumulated behind Bloede dam and the newly formed fast water looks remarkable clear.

[DanMarino]

My guess is the striper was tidal. Although stripers from Liberty Reservoir quite possibly escape down river. I know it has happened with other species from the reservoir.

[Mark]

Stu,

Your post reminded me of the rock bass I used to catch there. They hit a fly hard and then then immediately stopped fighting. They resisted about as much as a lost flipflop snagged in the current. The little sunnies too. I forgot about catching them. They would slurp size 8 poppers along with the smallies. Congrats on your larger smallmouth catches. I never caught a decent sized fish near Avalon aside from the stocked trout. But it was a good place to go years ago. It was relatively close to where I lived then and a nice area to toss a fly line.

I also recall a nearby distillery that smelled pretty nice as I drove past it to the river.

One time I almost a shared a rainbow with a blue heron near the swinging bridge. I stuck the trout and it jumped from the water as they often did. A heron which had been standing patiently beside me immediately flew toward to the fish. I retrieved the trout fast enough to spare it from becoming the heron's meal.

Another time I was fishing in the Avalon area and a guy with a fancy camera and tripod who said he was an outdoors photographer asked if he could take pictures of me casting for some show he was participating in. I agreed and gave him my contact info. But I guess I didn't make his final cut. This was pre-email -- imagine that. I never received any prints via snail mail.

I have not been there in many years. Your description sounds like the area has been significantly altered, I guess back to its natural state. I'll check for the videos you mentioned.

[bignose]

Dan,
I pretty much think the striper came upstream from the Bay.
It is unlikely that the fish is a wash over from Liberty. It would have also had to wash over Daniels dam to end up where it was caught.
They only pass water over the dam when the reservoir is full. There is no tailwater discharge like at Prettyboy.

7 out of 10 years there is no water coming over the dam by early summer, the North Branch kinda drys up, and the smallies move down into the mainstem of the river, which it joins about 3/4 of a crooked mile below McKeldin Falls. There is some great pool water between the falls and the confluence, BTW.

[DanMarino]

Hi Stu,

I’m familiar with the area and observe water spilling over from Liberty every year.
Isn’t there a fish ladder at Daniels Dam?

Yes, I agree with you the striper probably was tidal. Just offering another possibility. Yes, I’ve caught fish below Liberty Reservoir that came from the reservoir above. Also, caught fish from Triadelphia Reservoir in the river below Brighton Dam. It happens.

In this case, pretty neat that removing the dams is already producing tidal species up to Daniels. Would be really cool to Shad fish in Howard County in my lifetime.

[rugbyfish]

Would be really cool to Shad fish in Howard County in my lifetime.

My wife and I were just talking about this on Sunday. We live a short walk from the park and we hike down to the river about once a week. We love shad fishing in the Potomac, but the drive from Catonsville is a long one. A striper below Daniels gives me hope. Maybe we will have shad in our area sooner than we think.

[bunnielab]

I caught a 13-14" striper at Avalon a few weeks ago, I though I had a monster of a smallie on for a second. The dam removal has not seemed to have hurt the downstream fishing any, I have been 3-4 times since the dam was removed and have a had reasonable luck each time.