The seasons are a changing out there

reel report

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Fall turkey hunting –– only open in Maryland's three westernmost counties –– runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 7 and the leaves are starting to really fall now from the trees.

The seasons are a changing, and this will be the last Reel Report for the year.

On the next few Fridays coming, I'll still pass along any good fishing reports I hear about, and hopefully — God willing and the creeks don't rise too high — the regular Friday Reel Report will return again next spring.

Southern Maryland lakes and ponds –– Last week the trucks from Maryland's hatcheries were running and the following Charles and Calvert county waters each received hundreds of rainbows: Wheatley Lake at Gilbert Run Park, Hughesville Pond, the big lake at Myrtle Grove, Calvert Cliffs Pond and Hutchins Pond.

Besides those trout, there are still feisty and active largemouth bass to be caught and plenty of spirited bluegill, pickerel and crappie roam our local waters, too.

Throughout November, Gilbert Run Park will be open only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. But whenever you do find the gates there locked from now until spring, fishermen may always park out front and walk back in to the lake.

Ricky Graves, assistant park manager at Gilbert Run, also told me he watched the trout being stocked last week and while most of them were in the more common 10- to 12-inch range, Graves said a small number were genuinely in the trophy-size class.

Mattawoman Creek –– The fishing in here has been sometimes good but occasionally it's absolutely horrible.

Ken Penrod, with the Life Outdoors Unlimited guides (301-937-0010), told me he fished here last Monday for seven hours in the 6-mph zone without a single bite.

"That was a first for me," lamented Penrod, but he did pretty well in the neighboring Occoquan, grass beds near Chopawamsic and around the grass in the Chicamuxen.

Upper Potomac River –– The smallmouth action between Seneca and Brunswick remains pretty decent and much of the grass now is pulling free.

At Whites and Edwards Ferry, the best fishing is upriver of the launches. At Lander, Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps and tubes are catching some quality bass in both directions from the launch.

Tidal Potomac River –– The big grass beds are breaking up and fishing patterns are changing says Andy Andrzejewski with the Reel Bass Adventure guides (301-932-1509).

Andrzejewski reports they're still finding fair numbers of bass relating to the shallow grass beds, especially in the afternoons of sunny days, but better numbers are now generally coming from hard cover targets.

He likes to throw shallow running crankbaits around the grass flats and deeper runners, such as a Norman Deep Baby-N, when working the wood or rock cover.

The LOU guides have had pretty good luck working up by the Woodrow Wilson Bridge using tubes and Rapala DT06 crankbaits.

Lower Potomac River –– Rockfish are roaming over a wide area. Ken Lamb at the Tackle Box in Lexington Park had a report of one striped bass caught while trolling off St. George's Island that weighed 52 pounds and measured 49 inches.

If what Lamb heard is true, it's probably one of the first big ocean-runners returning to our area.

Patuxent River –– The perch are leaving the creeks now and heading to the deep holes. Lamb says the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge area has great perch fishing in 70 feet of water. Rockfish are being caught by lure casters and some trollers are connecting.

Susquehanna River, Harrisburg, Pa. –– The smallmouth fishing between Montgomery Ferry and Fort Hunter has been good to great this past week.

LOU guide Mike Breeding said, "Throw anything in the tackle box," but spinnerbaits, tubes, Rattlin' Rapalas and X-RAP jerkbaits have accounted for the majority of the fish.

Deep Creek Lake –– I spoke to the folks at Bill's Outdoor Center earlier this week and was told their bait sales are way down and business has been pretty bad.

The few fishermen who ventured out recently did catch some walleye and perch but not much else is going on. I guess the bass and trout hounds are all gearing up for the fall turkey season.

Lake Anna –– The striper fishing has been pretty decent around the state park and just above Terry's Run. Anna guide Teddy Carr (540-854-4271) is catching his bass fishing rocky points and water-willow beds.

Crappie are taken now shallow in the usual places.

Chesapeake Bay –– "Tons and tons of rockfish are breaking in the evenings in short water," said Christy Henderson at Buzz's Marina.

Lamb is also reporting breaking fish all up and down the Ship's Channel with most being 20 inches or better, and some to the mid-30s.

Trollers dragging medium bucktails and spoons are usually getting plenty of action.

The spot are now really scarce, but if you're lucky enough to find a few, you won't need much more luck getting rockfish to bite if you're live-lining.

The big ocean running stripers, those in the 40-inch class and better, should be here very soon if they're not already around us by the time you read this.

Atlantic Ocean –– Ocean temps are now in the low 60-degree range just off Ocean City and Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle is reporting a good week for fishing.

They had the first really big bluefish blitz in the surf around town and stripers and taugs are biting well in the back bays.

In fact, around the U.S. Route 50 Bridge, stripers have been caught throughout the day and night.

Offshore, Foster is saying tautog, blues and sharks are on the menu and farther offshore, a 62-pound golden tilefish was landed aboard "The Angler."

zbasser@aol.com