Loch Pickers

Uncovering the mysteries of reservoir fishing

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Storm Chasers

It’s half way into May and the state of Maryland hasn’t seen the sun in weeks.  So it was no surprise when we hit the water and found the temperature to be 59 degrees – only slightly warmer than it was two weeks ago.  However, the forecast showed sunshine in the morning, despite the large thunderstorm that was to hit in the afternoon.

We got out early, just after sunrise, and headed directly toward the nearby cove just north of the boat ramp.  The spot brought us a lot of success last time and we were hoping for a repeat.  The weather was indeed calm and sunny. Various birds, beavers, and turtles were coming out to enjoy it as well.

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Fortunately, the fish were biting too!  We went back to the un-weighted Texas rigged Senko worms in a variety of green colors (watermelon, pumpkin, etc).  While we weren’t pulling them in with every cast, it was steady enough to make it fun.  The fish ranged from about half a pound to a pound and a half, with our largest weighing in at 1.53 lbs.

Unfortunately, it seemed we had overstayed our welcome.  We were working out a snag by the shoreline when all of the sudden the skies darkened and we heard a loud rumble coming through the woods.  When it finally reached us, we got hit with a gust of wind so hard we thought the trees were going to come down.

Needless to say, we high tailed it out of there and got the boat back on the trailer in record time.  The rain started to hit right as we drove off.  In the end we had landed 12 fish on another fun day at the reservoir.

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Lucky Seven

It was a rainy start to the month of May, and the weather was chilly and overcast.  We were on a later start than usual, but quickly had the boat hitched up and ready to go.  However, as we started driving away, we noticed a horrible clanking sound.  After some inspection, it turns out one of the bearings on our trailer was… well, see for yourself.

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good bearing vs. bad bearing

Fortunately, we were able to find a farm supply store and get completely new rotors and bearings.  A few hours, and a lot of elbow/mechanics grease later, we were back in business.  The day was half gone, but we refused to let that stop us from what we set out to do: fish!

It wasn’t until about 1pm that we finally dropped the boat in the water.  Since we were looking to save time, we decided to stay close and fish the y-shaped cove between the boat ramp and Three Fingers Cove.  Although the water was only 58 degrees, the cove had an interesting range of depths and an intricate coast line.

Since the water was cooler, I decided to go with a Texas rig with an unweighted hook and a watermelon colored Senko worm.  I figured the slow moving bait would be ideal for the slow moving bass that were lazily splashing near the shoreline.

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I landed my casts all near the shore between heavy structure such as trees and rocks.  I let the bait sink slowly and waited several seconds before slowly pulling up again.  After a couple casts, I felt something tugging back!  I set the hook and managed to reel in a medium sized bass.  Then another.  And another.  All were only about 1-1.5 lbs in weight and 12-16 inches in length, but still put up a nice fight!

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We rounded the corner, and I dropped my lure next to a large boulder that was along the shore.  Once again, I felt something tugging back.  However, this time, it was something much bigger!  I took my time, reeling in as the fish neared the boat, and letting the drag do its work when it struggled back.  With a little patience, I was finally able to bring the fish aboard.  And it was a beauty at 4.33 lbs!

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My luck continued with a few more fish, all similar in size to the first three I caught.  However, it seems I was the only one having any luck.  One of us ended the day with seven fish caught, and the other with none.  But as the saying goes, that’s why they call it “fishing” and not “catching”!

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Wagons west

It was two weeks after our inaugural trip, and our boat was hitting the waters of Liberty Reservoir just as the sun was rising.  Although it was mid-April and it was snowing the previous week, this day’s forecast showed bright, clear skies and mild temperatures.  Yet it was only in the mid-40s as we made our way north from the boat ramp.  Event thought the water temperature in this deep area was only reading 52 degrees, the surface was rife action as walleye were breaching left and right.

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Our first stop was near the buoys at Plumber’s Point (3), where the fish were jumping all over the place.  Unfortunately we could not figure out what they wanted.  We tried throwing poppers, drop shots, plugs, jigs, and swimmers.  Not even a single bite.  It didn’t appear that the fish were going after food, so why the breaching?  Perhaps this has something to do with the walleye’s spawning habits?

We decided to keep going.  We rounded the corner and headed west down Morgan Run towards Route 32.  About a quarter mile past the first outcropping, we found a shallow shelf that jutted out about 150 yards from the southern bank.  The water was no more than 12 feet deep and very clear.  We could clearly see some very large walleye that would turn tail when we got too close.

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Again we tried throwing a variety of lures, and again ended up without a bite.  However, the spot showed a lot of promise, and will certainly be hot with action once the summer weeds grow in.  For now, the water temperature was still only about 54 degrees, so we decided to keep moving on to warmer waters.

We kept moving westward and finally came into view of the Sykesville Road Bridge (9).  It was a sunny day and the air temperature had gone into the 60s, so there were plenty of fishermen along the shorelines.  We dropped in our trolling rods, now with brand new Penn reels, and used out trolling motor to pass under the bridge.  We stayed along the north-east shoreline as the reservoir took a turn northward.  Finally the water temperature was hitting 58 degrees.

The action was all very close to the shoreline, so the shoreline anglers were likely having some luck.  We started throwing Senko lures in a variety of configurations: Texas rigs, jig heads, drop shots.  There were a few bites, but nothing landed yet.

We eventually crossed over to the western shoreline, and found a great spot (10) where we both finally started pulling up some small-to-medium sized large mouths.  They were all around 13 inches and probably no more than 1.5 pounds, but still fun to catch.

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After an hour or two, we decided not to press our luck with the motor range this week and started heading in.  We only stopped a few more times, once to help a shoreline angler get his lure out of the trees (we’ve all been there).

Overall, it wasn’t an amazing day of fishing, but we did manage to land a few.  From the few people we talked to, it sounds like everyone else had about the same luck as we did.  However, we both enjoyed this western branch of the reservoir much more than the eastern side.  We will certainly return as the fishing season quite literally heats up.