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fishing the Dickerson Warm Water Discharge on the Potomac River : 01/25/14

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  • fishing the Dickerson Warm Water Discharge on the Potomac River : 01/25/14

    With all the ice yesterday I figured the only place to drop my kayak into fresh water would be the Dickerson Warm Water discharge area on the Potomac River. First time I fished this spot during the cold water period.

    Lots of these floating islands of ice coming down the cold side of the Potomac. However, the warm water discharge from the Dickerson Plant cut a nice wide swath of warm ice free water to fish. The other side of the river (away from the discharge) was unfishable with the log jams of ice.



    a look across the river yesterday from the Maryland bank (this photo is deceptive, the warm water was a narrow band, most of the width of the river was ice choked)



    lots of channel cats patrolling the warmest water, they would attack the jerkbait when I would let it deadstick - swing through their territory



    first bass of 2014 for me, this one hit the jig with a Tiny Paca Craw trailer, he was parked in a little current protected spot where the water temperature was 48 degrees



    lures used, the Lucky Craft Pointer 78 that the cats really liked and the jig (it's a 1/4 ounce football jig that I tie sparsely with living rubber)



    To fish this area you park at the Dickerson State Conservation Park. Then you drag the kayak about 100 yards to the Potomac River. The source of the warm water discharge is a little less than a mile up river so that distance is something to consider if the Potomac River is running high. The Point of Rocks gauge was around 2.6 feet yesterday so the paddle up was not a problem for me in the Ride 115.

    Considering that the warm water swath was only about one long cast wide this area is probably best fished with just a pair of waders. I did not feel I had any advantage fishing from the kayak. As soon as I got to the river I was getting hits from channel cats on the jerkbait (water there was around 48 degrees) so the warm water influence is apparent even a mile down river from the source. As I paddled all the way up to the discharge area the water temp was up to a toasty 57 degrees.

    The one complaint I have heard from others is that they are not always generating at that plant. I figured as cold as it has been they would probably be in operation (plus with everything else iced up I really had no other options yesterday).

    There appear to be lots of channel catfish available in that area. I had a lot of hits where I did not get a hookup on the jerkbait (I suspect those were little cats who could not get the lure into their mouths). There is probably a better presentation for targeting the cats if you are after them. The biggest cat I landed was a 3 pounder. I finally abandoned the jerkbait as it was only producing cats. What I really wanted to catch was a bass to keep my "at least one bass every month" streak going (I am into year 3 now) so I started tossing the jig hoping for a smallmouth or largemouth.

    If your vehicle is not good in the snow and ice take caution on the access road inside the park. I was not sure I was getting out of there at sunset yesterday with my rear wheel drive pickup truck. Took me four trys to get up the little hill on the frozen surface. Had to maximize speed on the flat to get to the top (just barely made it).

    It's a fun place to fish for a change of pace in the dead of winter. Like I mentioned, not sure you even need the kayak to fish that area as the warmest water hugs the Maryland shoreline. It looks like you can move freely on a path through the woods all the way up to the discharge.

    that wind was blowing up river, brrrrrrr!

    Dave

    Wilderness Systems Ride 115

  • #2
    Great report. It's good to see someone getting out in local waters when most places are not accessible.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

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    • #3
      Cool trip Dave. I went there a few years ago on a New Years Day trip, but they weren't generating that day.

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      • #4
        Man I love to get down there and hit a bunch of them Kitty's. Hunting seasons still in, You going out on any Sundays down there Dave?
        "If you can't have fun doing it, it ain't worth doing." ... or you're just doing it wrong.

        My Blog "Confessions of a fisherman, hunter and tinkerer"

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        • #5
          I was there over a month ago. It was a dead calm day in the upper 40Fs... and no warm water could be found and no fish or fishermen were in sight. (I wasn't fishing, just looking around.) I've heard the Dickersen Plant might close because needed up grades in stack emissions are too expensive. WWDs need to have a relatively constant discharge of warmwater to really pull in the fish.

          Just a couple/several weeks ago I heard that both units of the CCNPP were shut down due to a problem with an outside electrical gizmo that wasn't functioning right. With both units down they have to come up with power somewhere. Maybe Dickersen was fired up to fill in while the CCNPP is off-line.

          Years ago that place produced a lot of good winter time fishing. But the banks there can be an extremely muddy during warm-up periods. If banks are frozen or dry then it's not to bad.
          Howard

          16' Oldtown Camper Canoe with a side-mount 40# thrust trolling motor.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by archeryrob View Post
            Man I love to get down there and hit a bunch of them Kitty's. Hunting seasons still in, You going out on any Sundays down there Dave?
            Sure, Sunday is doable, if mom nature keeps up with this frozen torture that place is the only game in town. I will see if there is a posted generating schedule that plant runs on.
            Dave

            Wilderness Systems Ride 115

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            • #7
              If theres room for one more let me kno, im itching to get out.
              Jason

              -2017 ivory dune pro angler 12' with micro power pole, Lowrance EliteTI7, boonedox landing gear
              -2015 olive outback with Lowrance Hook7,micro power pole, seadek kit, micro power pole
              -Orange Heritage featherlite

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              • #8
                Google made it look like there is 20 spots in the parking lot. I don't know how that section of the river is for them Hobie drives though.
                "If you can't have fun doing it, it ain't worth doing." ... or you're just doing it wrong.

                My Blog "Confessions of a fisherman, hunter and tinkerer"

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                • #9
                  some info on the future of Dickerson...

                  http://www.gazette.net/article/20131...mplate=gazette

                  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...c5f_story.html


                  thanks for the report btw!
                  sigpic

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by jet View Post
                    Thanks, from reading those articles and other information I was able to find online it looks like I was just lucky that they happened to be generating on Saturday.
                    Dave

                    Wilderness Systems Ride 115

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                    • #11
                      My friend and I would always fish at the warm water discharge there from shore. We would park and hike in with our gear. We did catch a lot of channel cats. There use to be fire rings there where you can make a fire at night. The park was open 24 hours. Along with cats, we caught large sunfish, small mouth bass, and carp.

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                      • #12
                        Thanks, Turtle, for sharing with us a great spot to fish and what you used to catch the fish.
                        Peggy

                        Native Slayer Propel 12.5 Max
                        Cobra Explorer

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                        • #13
                          Nice Job Dave!
                          2013 Wilderness Systems Ride 115

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                          • #14
                            Here's another that can be helpful at times http://potomacwhitewater.org/ under "Dickerson Course" on the left side of the page they will post updates as to when the course is open. Sometimes it's current, sometimes not.
                            There's a trail that runs up and down the MD side right along the shoreline. Those fire pits Moc mentioned are still there even though I didn't see any that looked like they've been used recently. There is also the C&O Canal towpath if the trail is too muddy. I didn't have any luck with the fishing even though the plant was generating a low current. I noticed a few area's that should be great spots once it warms up a little.
                            -Jon
                            Revo 13

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by jsnyd86 View Post
                              Here's another that can be helpful at times http://potomacwhitewater.org/ under "Dickerson Course" on the left side of the page they will post updates as to when the course is open. Sometimes it's current, sometimes not.
                              There's a trail that runs up and down the MD side right along the shoreline. Those fire pits Moc mentioned are still there even though I didn't see any that looked like they've been used recently. There is also the C&O Canal towpath if the trail is too muddy. I didn't have any luck with the fishing even though the plant was generating a low current. I noticed a few area's that should be great spots once it warms up a little.
                              Thanks for that link again. I caught that when you posted in that previous thread. On the day I went I just gambled that they would be pumping warm water (did not have a whole lot of options for open water that day).
                              Dave

                              Wilderness Systems Ride 115

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