Stockers from a kayak?

[NoDakYak]

Greetings! As the weather slowly warms, I'm beginning to eagerly anticipate getting back out on the water (being inexperienced, often a solo fisherman, and lacking good cold water immersion gear, I have not felt comfortable out on the water during the winter months even on warm days. Perhaps next year I'll invest in a good farmer john wetsuit to expand the shoulder seasons at least).

This is only my second season fishing from a kayak, hoping to learn lots more, gain more skills, and find more opportunities to fish. With that in mind, I'm curious if anyone here chases stocked trout from a kayak? I've enjoyed fishing for stockers at Governor's Bridge and the Severn Run the past couple of springs, as those are the most convenient stocked locations near my home. Neither of those locations are kayak-able though; from looking at the MD DNR trout map, seems like the Patapsco and the Tuckahoe might be the best bets for fishing for stockers from a yak, in reasonable proximity to central MD?

Obvious caveat, not looking for anyone's secret honey-hole, just curious about very general experience with stocked bodies of water that are accessible to a kayak. Hoping to get back out on the water very soon, and also put some trout in the pan!

[bignose]

The Patapsco River is a "probably not" from a Kayak. Too narrow, rocky, and fast moving, except just above Daniels Dam. I used to fish for smallmouth bass in that area in warm weather, but sadly this has become a popular, overused shit hole.

Most of Central Maryland's streams are rather small and free flowing.

A better choice would be some of the local stocked ponds, Lake Elkhorn in Columbia, and Centennial Lake are both stocked. These are both accessible. Lake Elkhorn requires that you register you kayak with the Columbia Association (free).

There are several other ponds stocked in Central Maryland (check the DNR website and Goggle), but I do not know if they are accessible to fishing from a kayak.

[DanMarino]

Bignose, you made me laugh with your description of what has happened to the Daniels Dam area. Sad, but funny.

[bignose]

I fished the Daniels area for years, and often had the place to myself after trout season. There is about 1 1/2 miles of fishable water there above the dam to fish from a craft, depending on river level. I have hiked and fished considerably further upstream. It is the last dam across the Patapsco left.
I'd try to get there before 9: a.m., by noon, there was little shade on the water.

About 15 years ago, during the summer, there would be a "teenager hatch" at about 10:30 a.m every day. They tended to hang in the "swimming hole" where a heavy rope was hung from a tree, about 200 yards upstream of the dam. They kept to themselves and they would occasionally provide some "scenic attractions" to entertain me as I headed back to the launch area. Noisy, but as a teacher, I was used to that sort of noise.

Just before the pandemic hit this suddenly became a popular family hangout, even on weekdays. Forget weekends.
By 9:00 a.m. cars were parked 3 deep, access to the boat launch area was always blocked, and the shoreline for 100 yards around the launch was completely inundated with family picnickers, swimmers (illegal), fisherman (worm dunkers), and general hooligans. Howard County put up some barriers to discourage parking which exacerbated the situation. After a weekend, the area is festooned with all sorts of human detritus.

I stopped by several times last summer, it was depressing to see an old friend treated that way.

[ronaultmtd]

Put and take rainbows from our region is always one on my early kayak trips...usually have a long drag as local impoundments that are stocked are not fully open to the public and ramps are closed to traffic, so shore launch is necessary to kayak fish my Charles County waters...my buddy Bill and I manage a few kayak trips every spring and our limits usually come pretty quickly...I rarely keep any Rainbows or the occasional "Golden" trout, but on my UL spinning outfits they are still fun to catch...every now and then then you luck into a "trophy" fish much larger than the 12-14" stockers...DNR puts a couple in a few times just because...it is like night and day when you get lucky enough to hook one...truly a challenge on UL spinning tackle. By catch of crappie, chain pickerel and bass keeps things interesting...Bill and I have already made two fishing trips this season...and Inhave had one catfish session with Moc already, so when the weather permits, It is on...

[NoDakYak]

BigNose, thanks for the info--too bad about the condition of the Patapsco around the Daniels Dam.

I did take your suggestion and look into the stocked ponds/reservoirs. I decided to give Piney Run Reservoir a try yesterday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as it had been predicted earlier in the week; rather than sunny and 60's it turned into overcast and 50. Whether it was the weather or the mysteries of new-to-me water, I had absolutely no luck (looking primarily for trout and crappie). Paddled and fished for a couple hours, but then it started raining and I gave it up.

Pros: very nice small reservoir, big enough to have some different coves and features but small enough that the whole lake is accessible from a kayak. Launch facilities are very nice, has an EZ launch system on the dock.

Cons: Expensive! For non-county residents, it was around 20 bucks for park access plus launch fee. That's a little ridiculous in my opinion. It was very quiet on this day, only a couple boats on the water, but I'm guessing that as the weather warms up and especially on the weekends it gets very busy.

Bonus pro: since I was off the water early, I had time for lunch. I stopped by 1623 Brewery, which is a taphouse just a couple miles from the park. They had an amazing fruited sour on tap, and a great taco truck parked outside.

I will try and give it another try on a warmer day this spring, I feel like I need to have a trip where I don't get skunked, but it probably won't go into my normal rotation, simply because of the expense. Nice to get out on the water for my first trip of the year, looking forward to lots more.

[bignose]

I haven't fished Piney Run for maybe 15 years.
I thought of it as a nice Bass and Sunfish kinda pond, not much as a trout pond. It will get too warm to sustain the trout fishery by June.

I am shocked at what they are charging for access!