Fishing report
The locations
Piney Run: Largemouth bass, some citation size, are appearing in the hydrilla beds, say Jim Gronaw and Loren Lustig at the park office. The big boys are taking spinnerbaits, plastic worms, and lizards at daybreak and dusk. From shore, work top-water lures, such as jitterbugs. Chicken livers and cut baits are attracting 3- to 5-pound catfish. Big bluegills and yellow perch are hitting nightcrawlers 14-20 feet deep. Park staff has improved the brush and wood structure off Bud's Pier, which has become a favorite fishing spot.
Prettyboy Reservoir: The water is clear to 20-25 feet, says guide Duke Nohe. At 35 feet, the temperature is 66 degrees, and Nohe suggests hitting the points, humps and mounds with large shiners and crayfish for bass in 25 to 30 feet. Plastic worms and trolling with large crankbaits have yielded largemouth and smallmouth bass, and little spinners with nightcrawlers behind them are good for catching white perch. Early morning or late evening are the ideal times.
Loch Raven Reservoir: Bass are in their summer patterns, hanging out in the grass beds, waiting to be enticed in the early morning by top-water lures and plastics, say the guys at the Loch Raven Fishing Center. The water is 75 degrees and clear. If it's white perch you're looking for, head for the power lines and fish a spinner hook with a nightcrawler attached.
Liberty Reservoir: Cloudy skies are forecast, but Doug Geis at Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle says that's the best time for rockfish. "The worse the weather is - raining, cloudy - that's when the rockfish will feed in the morning," he says. The rock are taking large and extra-large shiners in 10 to 20 feet in early morning and late evening. White perch are biting on weighted bobbers in 8 to 10 feet from Nicodemus Bridge, and on chicken livers from the shoreline. Fish small fat-head minnows all the way to the bottom with a slow retrieve for crappies. Check out the points for bass with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.
Susquehanna River: Look for bass around the weed beds, the Flats, and especially the Northeast River marinas, says Capt. Mike Benjamin at Herb's Tackle Shop in North East. Get their attention with large shiners and by skipping tubes around the docks. A few white perch and catfish are hitting nightcrawlers and bloodworms and scattered rockfish with bloodworms. The Elk River has been good for catfish and crabs. Some crabbers have netted a bushel of crabs in one day. "That's $400 worth of crabs these days," Benjamin says dryly.
