Who's getting in some fishing?

[44man]

Seeing I am a saltwater fisherman, I don't know much about trout fishing. Can you fish for trout with something other than a fly rod setup?

Good question, I always wondered about that

 

[outrider58]

Seeing I am a saltwater fisherman, I don't know much about trout fishing. Can you fish for trout with something other than a fly rod setup?

Cool

Like I said I have never caught a freshwater trout!!

Definitely(though I refuse to). Ultra-ultra light spinning gear is a lot of fun. Whether you use small spinners or stink bait, farm raised trout are fairly easy to catch. Spinning gear is probably the best way to catch them. You just have to find them.

 

[akalma]

Seeing I am a saltwater fisherman, I don't know much about trout fishing. Can you fish for trout with something other than a fly rod setup?

Just take a look at https://www.themeateater.com/fish/freshwater/the-best-baits-and-lures-for-stocked-trout

Unlike trout fishing in rivers, where you seemingly need a different rod or line for every situation, you just need the basics for stocked lakes and ponds. Conventional anglers can use the same light-action spinning rod they use for panfish or perch. Spool your reel with 4- to 8-pound monofilament line, depending on the size of fish you expect to catch.

and

While everyone has their favorite trout bait for hatchery trout—from canned corn to dry dog food—the best baits are ones that appeal to both a trout’s senses of sight and smell. You also want a bait that doesn’t simply sit on the bottom. Stocked trout don’t want to seek out their food, and they likely don’t know how to do it anyway. They want convenience. So, anglers should use a bait that’s suspended just off the bottom. You can do that with a bobber, but any amount of wind can make that type of fishing difficult. Perhaps a better way is with a sinker, leader, and a floating bait just above the bottom, right in a passing trout’s face. The best baits for this are Berkley PowerBait and inflated earthworms, but many others work too, including: maggots, meal worms, blood worms, hellgrammites, minnows (live, dead, or chunked), corn, cheese, bio-plastics, and many more. It can be helpful to bring more than one type of bait and try different ones if you’re not catching fish.

I got my limit yesterday morning just before the heavy rain started, I was fishing at Seneca Creek where it crosses the Darnestown Rd. Used yellow powebbait dough.

 

[rgramjet]

Just take a look at https://www.themeateater.com/fish/freshwater/the-best-baits-and-lures-for-stocked-trout

and

I got my limit yesterday morning just before the heavy rain started, I was fishing at Seneca Creek where it crosses the Darnestown Rd. Used yellow powebbait dough.

Went trout fishing this weekend in VA. Caught limit yesterday and today. Power bait works well. My buddy used Trout Magnets after the fish grew weary of the power bait/all the fishing activity. I was surprised by the magnets effectiveness.

 

[gtodave]

I wanted to revisit this!

Unnecessary backstory my buddies wife’s (mine included) started a book club and get together somewhere once a month and throw a pretty bad ass party. So all the guys get together somewhere with the kids and let our kids savage out as a group. Ends up being about 20 of us.

Well last night my buddy who stocks fish was there so i brought this up. He helps float stock and says the released brown trout are float stocked. The browns can survive and hold over and even repopulate. He says the Patuxent has a native brown population. The rainbows are dumped from the truck and can not survive long term.

Just passing what i was told, also found it kinda cool. He helped again this year releasing the browns.

Yes, upper Patuxent has some BIG brown trout in it. I'm talking like 20"+.

 

[fscwi]

Yes, upper Patuxent has some BIG brown trout in it. I'm talking like 20"+.

I highly recommend this book on trout fishing in MD. This is an older version, I think there have been a couple newer updated releases but in any case the authors know their stuff.

 

[mikray]

Yes, upper Patuxent has some BIG brown trout in it. I'm talking like 20"+.

That sounds interesting. What do you consider the upper Patuxent? Beyond Rocky Gorge? Beyond Triadelphia?

 

[gtodave]

That sounds interesting. What do you consider the upper Patuxent? Beyond Rocky Gorge? Beyond Triadelphia?

Near Triadelphia

 

[Baldheaded]

Does that lake still have a warm side?

Yes.

 

[Baldheaded]

Went to Lake Anna yesterday. Tough day of fishing. Only caught 2 bass. Both on a spinnerbait. The other fishermen on the lake experienced similar fishing. Hard to say why it was so tough because the conditions seemed ideal. Still plan to go back for another shot sometime soon.

 

[rgramjet]

Yes, upper Patuxent has some BIG brown trout in it. I'm talking like 20"+.

That's good to know. Would be great to run into even some 15 inchers!

 

[E.Shell]

Went to Lake Anna yesterday. Tough day of fishing. Only caught 2 bass. Both on a spinnerbait. The other fishermen on the lake experienced similar fishing. Hard to say why it was so tough because the conditions seemed ideal. Still plan to go back for another shot sometime soon.

Stripers constitute the biggest biomass in the lake, so it more pays to target them. You can have some good days catfishing too.

FWIW, I lived right on the lake for several years and always went elsewhere to fish. If you're not in the private/warm side, it's typically going to be tough until the ski boats get running, then it's almost impossible.

 

[Baldheaded]

Stripers constitute the biggest biomass in the lake, so it more pays to target them. You can have some good days catfishing too.

FWIW, I lived right on the lake for several years and always went elsewhere to fish. If you're not in the private/warm side, it's typically going to be tough until the ski boats get running, then it's almost impossible.

I would love to have a place right on the lake. If you weren't fishing Anna, what was the better option in that area?

 

[Mr H]

Well, well...

With The Missus on 'light duty' the rest of the week, I might just have to go fishing tomorrow

Whether I go CATCHING is another issue.

 

[John from MD]

Well, well...

With The Missus on 'light duty' the rest of the week, I might just have to go fishing tomorrow

Whether I go CATCHING is another issue.

Winds SSW 15 on up after 0900. Be careful out there.

 

[Baldheaded]

The winds are going to make fishing anywhere the next several days iffy. I will take some rain over wind any day. My old ass doesn't like getting beat up and bounced around anymore. Not to mention trying to set the hook with a big ole wind bow in my line.

 

[44 Bulldog]

Maintenance time….

That's a nice boat.

 

[Trepang]

That's a nice boat.

Thanks - If the weather would cooperate, I need to get the bottom painted and back in the water for the annual USCG inspection in a couple weeks. Not much getting done today with this wind and rain.

Here is a better picture of her at the Blue Angels air show in Annapolis.

 

[E.Shell]

...If you weren't fishing Anna, what was the better option in that area?

I know of no decent places to fish in that area, just small ponds with overfished/stunted populations. Lake Anna (a cooling reservoir for the reactor) aside, the lakes and ponds there are managed as flood control devices more so than fishing resources. Notice the flood-relief dam construction methods when you're there.

I used to pond-hop with my canoes and have fished 85 acre Northeast Creek Reservoir (near Mineral) and taken small panfish and bass up to about 3#. I've fished 75 acre Bowlers Mill pond ('Lake' Gordonsville, near Gordonsville) with about the same results. The Northeast Creek Reservoir shows some promise - a 25" bass was electrofished there a couple years ago during a census.

We sometimes gripe about how restrictive most Maryland counties are with sediment control and runoff, but Virginia gives no fvcks about sediment control and it shows. Every creek in Louisa county runs through cattle country and farmland. They are silted from constant stirring by cattle bathing and drinking, and manured to the point of not supporting fish at all, not to mention the runoff of free human sludge fertilizer used by farmers to replace expensive chemicals. My farmer once told me it would cost him $15,000 to fertilize his hayfields with chemicals, but the sludge was delivered and spread over his fields for free. The upper end of Lake Anna, where I lived, has been pronounced 'unsafe for swimming' due to the very low water quality of the tributaries.

"....the better option?" I would fish some of the nicer rivers like the Shenendoah and upper James, or hit some of the lower areas of tidal waters off the Potomac or Bay, but I would most often come back up to MD/DE and fish the many eastern shore ponds and tidal rivers.

 

[steves1911]

Managed to put the kids on a couple upper potomac catfish today. Water is still only 55 so they are just starting to wake up. Couple more days like today and the fishing should really heat up.