Rocky Gorge Largemouth Fishing 05/25/13

[Turtle135]

Just a quick report for anyone thinking of hitting this WSSC reservoir this weekend

Fished the upper end of the reservoir to find some areas out of the wind. Water temperature dropped down to 62-63 degrees. I was not on Rocky Gorge last week but where I was temps were more like 70 degrees before the cold front. Water was stained brown, maybe 1-2 feet above normal levels so a lot of the shoreline brush was flooded.

Bass were shallow (3-5 feet) and very shoreline oriented. They showed a distinct like for laydowns and brush. They also displayed a distinct dislike of the bright sunshine today. I was targeting wind protected laydowns in the shade after the sun got up.

Small football jigs with Paca Craw trailers and 7.5" Culprit Fat Max worms on Draggin Heads.

Caught 8 total, most were like these two:





Got one nice one late in the day, hiding under an over hanging tree, had to skip the jig back in there to get her:



Good luck if you get a chance to get out!

[perchy]

Nice work Dave. I'll be hitting the lower part of the reservoir with some deep diving cranks and spinnerbaits and working them along the dropoffs hopefully sometime this weekend.

[Jeff Little]

Nice one Dave! Getting out with Brent this Wednesday. Hope to do as well as you just did! I've made some ribbon tail worms with rattles and floating soft plastic. I'll fish some as a snake on top, but think that the better bet is the post spawn bigs on the first deep tapering point back in the direction of the main lake from where they have spawned. Your thoughts? Is this cool weather prolonging how long they stay shallow this year?

[DanMarino]

Dave, it is always a pleasure to meet up with you. I had my usual bad experience at the top end of rocky gorge. The wind was brutal and it swirled from all directions. I tried fishing yum dinger worms, beetle spins, shallow diving cranks, tubes and the bottom bouncer. I ended up with one small crappie caught on the bouncer. Dave had the right approach and unfortunately dragging jigs and worms in the windy conditions is not my way to fish. I called it quits after about 5 hours and Dave was still going strong. Saw a couple of other bass boats on the reservoir and witnessed one guy catch a small bass using Dave's technique with a jig at a fallen tree.

[Turtle135]

Nice one Dave! Getting out with Brent this Wednesday. Hope to do as well as you just did! I've made some ribbon tail worms with rattles and floating soft plastic. I'll fish some as a snake on top, but think that the better bet is the post spawn bigs on the first deep tapering point back in the direction of the main lake from where they have spawned. Your thoughts? Is this cool weather prolonging how long they stay shallow this year?

I saw that worm on Facebook, looks like a winner! If you are fishing where I'm guessing you are going your PR largemouth has a good shot at going down. Good luck!

That sounds like the right approach for the bigger post spawn greenies. I did a mid-week after work trip (cut very short by lightning) that lead me to believe they had started to move towards the main lake (but still being shoreline oriented). Also, a few days ago on another Maryland Reservoir a guy who I fish with noted that he got a nice one on a point (leading out of a spawning cove).

I looked at my Kayak Wars fishing log and almost exactly one year ago I got a good one on a jig at Rocky Gorge (in the deepest part of a spawning cove). I think that bass was targeting some spawning bluegills. That spawning bluegill pattern is still out there (maybe a week or two away?) prolonging their lingering in those areas.

I'm guessing it is water temperature and the dissolved oxygen level that finally sends the bass off to their summer haunts (at Rocky Gorge it seems to be deep rock piles and other Maryland reservoirs it can be that deep weed line).

Dave, it is always a pleasure to meet up with you. I had my usual bad experience at the top end of rocky gorge. The wind was brutal and it swirled from all directions. I tried fishing yum dinger worms, beetle spins, shallow diving cranks, tubes and the bottom bouncer. I ended up with one small crappie caught on the bouncer. Dave had the right approach and unfortunately dragging jigs and worms in the windy conditions is not my way to fish. I called it quits after about 5 hours and Dave was still going strong. Saw a couple of other bass boats on the reservoir and witnessed one guy catch a small bass using Dave's technique with a jig at a fallen tree.

Sorry about that Tom. With that wind yesterday I'm just not sure where else we could have gone to get some protection. Oddly enough later in the day that ever increasing wind made me retreat to the area where I found the big one (it's better to be lucky than good!). Next time we will hit those acrobatic upper Potomac Smallies or the tidal-Mac!

[DanMarino]

No apology needed Dave. Time on the water and outdoors is still way better than time spent at work. The Gorge is a 10 minute drive from my house so like you said I'm glad we didn't waste a bunch of time driving someplace far away. I'll make an effort to learn to patiently toss jigs at these WSSC lakes.

[Berto]

Nice Job Dave!

[Bluegill]

I go to rocky gorge a couple times a week, have my best luck there in the rain or just before. I prefer fresh water over salt and would like to try more fresh water spots. I know people do not like to give up there honey hole locations which I completely understand, but it gets old fishing the same three or four lakes year after year and you guys talk like you know what your doing. I would welcome any guidance you could give me on locations to fish the smallie thing sounds fun. I live in Burtonsville MD near Laurel if that helps maybe we could fish the gorge and sometime and you guys could show me a few things.

[Turtle135]

I go to rocky gorge a couple times a week, have my best luck there in the rain or just before. I prefer fresh water over salt and would like to try more fresh water spots. I know people do not like to give up there honey hole locations which I completely understand, but it gets old fishing the same three or four lakes year after year and you guys talk like you know what your doing. I would welcome any guidance you could give me on locations to fish the smallie thing sounds fun. I live in Burtonsville MD near Laurel if that helps maybe we could fish the gorge and sometime and you guys could show me a few things.

I have just enough knowledge to get myself fishing on the wrong side of the lake, at the wrong depth with the wrong presentation! I think the bass eventually take pity on me as they see me out there all day long.

I do know what you mean about beating the same water over and over again. I could draw a fairly accurate typo map of my home lake from memory. It can make your fishing seem kind of stale.

The tidal Potomac is a good option and there is a meet and greet over there June 8th. That would be a good introduction to fishing that type of water. Lots of largemouths over at Mattawoman.

Next time I'm headed to the Gorge or the Upper Potomac I will shoot you a line.

[perchy]

I go to rocky gorge a couple times a week, have my best luck there in the rain or just before. I prefer fresh water over salt and would like to try more fresh water spots. I know people do not like to give up there honey hole locations which I completely understand, but it gets old fishing the same three or four lakes year after year and you guys talk like you know what your doing. I would welcome any guidance you could give me on locations to fish the smallie thing sounds fun. I live in Burtonsville MD near Laurel if that helps maybe we could fish the gorge and sometime and you guys could show me a few things.

Rocky gorge is a highland reservoir, so fishing can be tough. There are a lot of suspended baitfish, so the larger fish seem to follow them around over the main lake basin. I have caught fish trolling deep diving crankbaits along dropoffs and over the main lake basin down by the dam. As far as locations/honeyholes, they are very inconsistent because of the fluctuations in water levels and the migrating schools of baitfish at least in the areas between the 29 bridge and Supplee Lane.

[Nitefly]

I went out on Rocky Gorge the evening of the 25th and no luck. I launched at Supplee lane and fished in a cove across from there. Found a nice underwater tree, but couldn't get anything interested. It was my first time fishing the lake and I only had a couple of hours. Id like to learn this lake as its one of the closer locations for me. Ill have to give both the deep trolling and football jigs a try. I'd join you all next time you head out there. Where else can you launch besides Supplee?

[perchy]

Scott's Cove has a launch as well as Brown's Bridge. I keep my kayak locked up at Scott's Cove, so I'm a Rocky Gorge "permanent resident." I prefer to "run and gun" with a deep diving crankbait. I've gotten skunked more than a few times deep trolling during the middle of the day so the best time for the trolling seems to be probably early morning or late afternoon when the big predators are actively chasing the shad. During the summer, you can actually see huge balls of gizzard and threadfin shad balled up in the middle of the lake. I've caught some decent sized largemouth and a striper. Once I catch a fish in one location, I like to turn around and make a few passes through that location. What I do is reel up the crank and recast after turning around. Also keep in mind the water has a false clarity to it. It's heavily stained from the river so keep in mind the water gets darker the deeper you go so natural colored lures are not a good option down deep. I've found flouro colored cranks work the best. The depth I target is between 15-30 ft, and I use braided line to get my cranks down a little deeper. I hope this info helps. Good luck!

[perchy]

BTW here is a good map showing you the depths and dropoffs:

http://www.mgs.md.gov/coastal/maps/lr/rockygorge.html

I've basically been using this map to guestimate depths and locations.