There is a true gem in St. Mary’s County when it comes to fishing and that is St. Mary’s Lake. Nested within St. Mary’s State Park’s 2,200 acres of mainly undeveloped lands, the lake encompasses 250 acres of fishing habitat for a great assortment of fish species including bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, redear sunfish, chain pickerel and yellow perch. The park offers a modern comfort station, picnic tables, playground, boat launch ramps and a large[...]

Taking smallmouth bass with popping bugs is some of the most exciting fishing available. The strike is explosive and there is the added benefit that poppers take some of the largest bass. The Potomac River in Washington County provides exactly these types of prime smallmouth bass fly fishing opportunities given its wide, shallow nature with lots of rock ledges running across the river leading to riffles and long pools. Walking the footpath alongside the C&O[...]

As you head down the hill towards the shoreline and launch ramps along Piney Run Reservoir, you will automatically be wondering “where do I want to start fishing?” Piney Run Park and the Reservoir gives you a lot of choices in terms of where to fish and what to fish for. First, where to fish. You can fly fish from the shoreline in the immediate area around the boat launch ramps as well as from[...]

Called the "Stream of the Presidents" because of its proximity to Camp David, Hunting Creek is the most accessible trout stream in Maryland with natural trout populations as fly fishers can use the many pull-out parking areas located along Route 77 which parallels the creek as both wind down the mountain. Located within Cunningham Falls State Park above Thurmont in Frederick County, the minimum guaranteed stream flows from Cunningham Falls Lake together with long standing[...]

Canton Waterfront Park in Baltimore City provides a truly unique urban fly fishing experience. You can launch your boat using one of the two concrete ramps, providing you access to fly fishing for striped bass, white perch, largemouth bass, sunfish, crappie, yellow perch and catfish in the tidal waters of the Patapsco River-and its many side branching tidal creeks flow into the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to the boat ramp, this site has a fishing[...]

With bluegill, crappie, chain pickerel, largemouth bass, northern pike, smallmouth bass, white perch, yellow perch and carp on the menu, there is someone for every fly fisher at the Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County. In addition to shoreline fishing and access to a pier, the Loch Raven Fishing Center provides boat launch access to the entire 1,600-acre reservoir. Given the amount of shoreline just waiting to be fished, you could return each season of[...]

Shortly after arriving, a hurricane followed the BlacktipH team from Florida to Ocean City and extended north to Cape Cod. This drastically affected the fishery and water, giving us a “factory reset'', meaning the water is completely altered and often rougher and thus scattering fish. ​Captain Jeremy from The Wrecker decided to hold off a day and wait out the high winds after the storm. This gave us a chance to explore the attractions and[...]

We knew where they should be, and we can affirm that catching big fish right there that time of year with heavy jig-heads and plastic baits on conventional spinning gear is quite doable. We’ve done that. But, could we dial in an effective fly pattern, achieve the perfect drift, and get the nearly weightless fur, feathers and wide-gape hooks down in the rip-current to where the fish were hunkered? There was only one way to[...]

The single-leaf iron and concrete bridge was built in 1932. It’s the focal point of the historic little town that serves as the county seat of Worcester County. It’s also the dividing line between good and great yellow perch fishing on the Eastern Shore. I swing wide around the tight corner at the town’s only red light, checking my mirrors to make sure my 16-foot jon boat trailer doesn’t clip the curb and resolve that[...]