Bay Fishing Noob in Deale

[csavells]

Good Morning,

I moved to the Deale area at the beginning of the year, live on Broadwater Creek and am new to tidal fishing. I am used to Arkansas small mouth streams and clear water large mouth lakes. I have purchased a Tarpon 120, I have some light tackle and am ready to fish once the temps get above freezing. I could use any advice as fishing this type of water is completely new to me. I also have some fly fishing gear if anyone does that around here.

Does anyone fish this area of the bay?
What type rod real line is best? I am sure this will be a heated debate.
Any good small mouth water within and hour or so?


All help is appreciated and I look forward to meeting some of you all out on the water.

[Mike]

I can't help much with your tidal fishing but the upper Potomac river is great for small mouth. Nearest access points for you are going to be in Montgomery County, about an hour and a half drive. Search the forum for upper Potomac, lots of info on here.
Welcome, and good luck!
-Mike

[DanMarino]

The Potomac River above Washington, DC is great for smallmouth bass. The entire Maryland side of the Potomac is accessible due to the C & O Canal. There's lots of launch points to choose from and fishing can be excellent. I try to fish the Potomac for smallies as often as I can June - October. Just need to check the river guage levels before you go. Send me a Personal Message on here if you want to discuss specific parts of the river. This website does monthly meet and greet kayak fishing trips and there is one scheduled for the Potomac for smallies this summer.

[buzz]

Welcome aboard csavells.

Man, I am jealous of you. A house on Broadwater Creek. Wow. You are right there! You could easily hit the bay every single day!

Broadwater Creek is on the shallow side, but I would think the yellow perch and spot will probably be biting this weekend and should be fun with your light tackle. As the weather warms you may want to venture out into the Bay. Probably can find some flounder near the mouth. A few hundred yards from the mouth of Broadwater the Bay floor begins to slope off and you are in striper territory... and drum... and redfish... and trout....

Light rods and reels can be a lot of fun. I know plenty of guys who go after striper with light tackle, but you'll be limited to the size of lure/bait you toss. You may want to pick up a medium to medium heavy rod with a fast tip and a reel to match. I use 30 - 50lb braid for trolling and 12lb for most of my casting and jigging.

[eyedaddy]

Great to have you here with us. For your Fly Fishing there are lots of places to explore with your Fly Rod. I belong to the Free State Fly Fishers and if you are interested they are having a Fly Fishing Swap-meet this Saturday in Davidsonville, which is not far from Deal. You can reach me at mmmattia2013@yahoo.com and I can tell you more about the club and there outings.
Hope to meet you soon!

eyedaddy

[csavells]

Thanks for all the information! I am looking forward to fishing the bay and trying my hand at some small mouth on the Potomac. Broadwater creek is shallow on my side, but I have found relatively deeper water on the north side that I am guessing holds more fish.

Any ideas on go to baits to keep in my tackle boxe that catch a broad spectrum of fish?

[DanMarino]

If the Bay fishing ends up not being your thing, you should give Tidal Potomac largemouth bass and snakehead fishing a try.
You have not had fun until you get a mean snakehead in your kayak

[csavells]

I have never fished for snakehead, but by the sounds of it I think I would enjoy it.

[surfdog]

If you go to Harrington harbor and put in to Herring bay the fishing is pretty good. Fish the marinas mouth and the docks on the other side. Small spinners and gulp on a 1/8 oz jig head or xraps work