I am back...more or less

[JayB]

After 2 years of excessively chasing live music and 5 years summering in Last Chance Idaho, I am back here in Maryland without much of a clue of what I used to do with myself.

How does a trout fisherman bring themselves to go fishing when it is 95 degrees out?

Anyways I made a quick trip for smallmouth the other day to Point of Rocks, so that is at least one option to explore.

Jay

[djones]

For those here who may not know, Jay was a very successful Bay fisherman before he became obsessed with fresh water trout. He developed an effective fly for rock (that is tied on a jig hook, I believe) and wrote at least one article for a national salt water fly fishing magazine. I've got the magazine article and a few of those flies around here somewhere. Also, the annual winter event known as Tiefest began in his basement.

Good to have you back.

[jnashed]

Go west. Western Md that is, some decent trout out toward the Savage and NBPR. Cold water release is a good thing this ome of yr.

[Don Hershfeld]

Indeed, you'll find plenty cold water in the two rivers mentioned, and their yet remain some pretty nice brook trout streams. If you are (as I am) utterly obsessed with freshwater salmonids, are looking for something to do, and wish to do the best that can be done to beat the heat, contact me at

"fishing4u2@juno.com"

to consider, and perhaps explore what might a prime win-win opportunity here. You can stroll across the lane from here to fish the Yock C&R segment. If you like fishing and wading with stealth, it might be right down your alley these second half of summer days, and is floatable whenever (happens a lot at this season, with scheduled and unscheduled regularity) there are coldwater releases too. Since you like smallies, there are reaches of river suitable for their pursuit as well. Then there is nearby DCL, although much of the serious fishing presently gets done on the hoot owl shift (unless you enjoy fishing the jet-ski hatch).

By the way, we have some common ground in Idaho as groundbreaker fodder too.

This is a face-lifting year for us here, and so you've absolutely nothing to lose. 55F here last night!

You can get a sense of the place by checking out "streams-and-dreams.net" and some folks seem to think/feel that there's something about it worth visiting in its own right.

[saltfly]

Well 1st. Jayb Welcome back. Nice to see at least one of the old guys like me back. Now lets see. If I remember correctly. You use to fish saltwater more then fresh. Sooooooooo Do as I use to do. Fish for trout in the spring and fall and get your sorry a$% Back in a boat and fish the bay. I bet you miss your old Chawk now Bwahahahahahaha. Hope to see you out their.

[David M]

Good to hear from you Jay. Give me a holler sometime so we can go fishing. PM or I still have the same old email address.

Still have a few of those Gonzos from back in the day. They continue to produce!

David

[JayB]

I spent Wednesday, midday, from about 11:00 to 4:00 exploring around Point of Rocks downstream from the new ramp in the C&O park. I landed 6 smallies on a small popper that were all almost identical in size just over 12 inches, and a bunch of longears. Enough action to stay interesting but not exactly slamming it. The water is extremely low compared to historical flows but the weeds are not bad yet.

I can tell I haven't been fishing as much because my casting arm was definitely tired.

The western Maryland stuff is definitely a regular stop for me, but it is a bit long for a one day run. I can often be found camping along side the Savage.

I am still having trouble getting excited about anything on the bay. Maybe someone will have to drag me along to respark that interest. Walt, I can't imagine what the gas bills would be for the amount of fuel I used to put in that boat. I do still have a 16 foot skiff here but that hasn't even seen much use recently. My driftboat is still at my sisters in Idaho, that was a cheap boat to run.

Dave, I am teaching the summer semester at the college on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but I am able to go anywhere almost any other time. Let me know when you can break away.

[JayB]

A little eye candy.

[Water_boy]

but the weeds are not bad yet.

Jay, welcome back. I fished a couple miles north of Point of Rocks Wednesday night, the sub Surface weeds weren't bad at all but there were blobs of algae all over the surface making it very difficult to fish. I finally switched over to a spinning rod and fished a small sluggo rigged weedless and just skimming it across the surface. I caught one that hit as soon as it splashed down and had a couple blast it off the surface and caught another decent one like that.

I was thinking that Algae must have been stirred up from the hard rain we had earlier in the week, are you saying it's only going to get worse? On a positive note, with the water level being low the fish seem to be concentrated in the deeper pockets and they are hungry. Biggest one for me was about 15".

[Joe Bruce]

Hey Jay, welcome back, I still fish the salt, but chasing fish in the ponds, rivers and back creeks of the bay is my thing to do right now. The tidal water bass fishing is great. Like your pictures, especially the Ryall reel. Still have all mine, I believe I have eighteen reels with just as many spools ans still haven't had a problem with any. I did once wear out my drag after years of chasing bonefish, but just put in another set of pads and I was off to the races again. Been fishing a little higher up the APotomac and it has been really good; also been using a new revival of an old design, I don't use Clousers hardly anymore, check them out on my website...www.joebruce.net. Let's get together some time. I got two kayaks to play in some of the waters. Keep in touch.