# small craft advice?



## kosta (Jan 18, 2006)

I finally got a small boat registered and ready for chasing bass and muskie in the lakes & reservoirs. Its a light 16ft, with only a 101lb etm for now (due to reservoir restrictions). 

I'm not sure if this is even realistic, but is there anywhere within an hour of baltimore that would be safe to put such a boat in to fish for stripers? it would obviously need to be relatively calm water, and somewhere that I could fish in close proximity to the ramp. I hope to eventually get some horses for it, but this is it for now.

I appreciate any advice you guys can offer; I am new to this.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

the thing with a small boat in salt is the weather may change fast...i would not feel safe in a boat with a trolling motor only...in a lake you just head for the nearest shore...in salt you only have 1 shore...get a 10-20hp gas motor...and a life jacket...jmo


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## Dae (Jun 25, 2002)

Go to Liberty or Pretty boy reservoir. You can catch some lunkers over in Liberty. I wouldn't hit the bay with an electric motor. 

If you gotta hit the bay, go up to the Flats on a weekday and you can launch from Tydings havre De Grace and fish just outside the marina. Just don't wonder away and stay close and remember it's only C&R up here. BTW, still don't recommand it even though I would have done it myseld years ago. These days, I'm not as nutty as I was during my younger years.


- Dae


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## crappietracker (Mar 31, 2006)

i agree about the electric only. also about going to liberty, the only problen with liberty is that it has zebra mussells and you have to have a sticker that you get from the office by the dam. when you have that sticker, if you get caught anywhere else with it on your boat, hefty fines! one of the other places you can go is to piney run in eldersburg. god striped bass to about 12-16 lbs and the average bass is about 2.5-3 lbs(seen plenty of 7-8 lbs pulled out)! it also has tiger muskie that can be caught in the colder months. hpoe you find a good spot. tight lines.


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## kosta (Jan 18, 2006)

thanks dae... i think I may check it out. I'll be fine if I stick close to the marina. 

Crappietracker... I am very anxious to fish Piney Run, Rocky Gorge and Tridelphia. That is one reason why I'm not anxious to commit to the restricting permits that come along with fishing Loch Raven, Liberty and Pretty Boy quite yet. There are also some small lakes and creeks that I am familiar with on the eastern shore that I want to hit for bass and pickerel.

One question regarding reservoir permits though; Cant you fish all three (Loch Raven, Liberty and Pretty Boy) as long as you have a permit for each? it was my understanding that you can fish all three of those as long as you dont put in anywhere else. 

By the way, Loch Raven has been pretty good to me this year! Just fishing from the shore i have landed quite a few nice 3-4 lb bass. actually, one evening i took 8 healthy fish in one hour. They all hit the rapala "slash bait"; a shallow running, suspending crank with a bucktail. buit wait.. im not supposed to post about that here, am i


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## crappietracker (Mar 31, 2006)

i don't know about the other reservoirs but i did hear there were others like liberty. i also heard tridelphia and rocky gorge are very hard on watching for those stickers so be careful. the other thing about those two is that it is wssc property and you have to buy a sticker from them at the dam on tridelphia to go there.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Hi Costa and welcome to the forum. Before you can fish in saltwater there are a lot of DNR registraton and safety requirements that must first be met. This will get you started with the DNR.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/boating/safety/recreationvessels.pdf

Once you've met those requirements it's time to deal with the Coast Guard safety redquirements. This will get you started there.
http://www.fintalk.com/resources/navigation/coastguard-requirements.html

Are we having fun yet? 

Now help you with your original question. There are lots of opportunities for you to fish for stripers in protected waters. Do you have a dual battery system - one to get you out and one to get you back? If not you'll probably need extra batteries. At a min. you're going to need a fish finder. This isn't like fish fresh water. You'll need to find structure, know the depths and water temps. A GPS is very helpfull but not absolutely necessary. A VHF radio, even hand held is almost a must. OK now that we have your boat set up let's cover some reachable locations.

Rocky Point has a small boat ramp which will be fine for your boat. This will give you access to areas behind Hart Miller Islands and will cover Back River and Middle River. This whole area is very productive for stripers, perch, catfish, and tidal largemouth bass.

Gunpowder State Park has a nice ramp which will give you access to The Gunpowder and the west side of Pooles Island. These are great areas for rock.

A lot of guys launch from Harbor Hospital and fish the Patapsco for rock. This area is productive year round because of the warm water discharges.

These are just a few of the areas available to small craft fisherman. They'll take some getting used to unless you have somebody with you that knows the spots.

Here's a site that is an on-line GPS that will give you printable charts of any of the areas that you want to fish. I use it a lot to suppliment my GPS or to give a location to someone.
http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=39.299620848&lon=-76.3392272947&scale=40000&zoom=50&type=0&height=498&width=498&icon=0&searchscope=dom&CFID=1501977&CFTOKEN=97748716&scriptfile=http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm&bpid=MAP0060030900%2C1%2C1%2C0&latlontype=DMS

Well this is about as far as I take you on line. Hope it helps. BTW you are more than welcome to go out with me and I can show you some spots in the upper bay Hart Miller Island area. You can PM me for any additional help.


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## rockhead (Nov 6, 2002)

u can do it!

I put my 14 ft john boat with battery trolling motor in at chix once and fished all the way out to the small boat channel for stripers. just make sure you take two batteries with you!


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## kosta (Jan 18, 2006)

Catman,
Thanks for your reply. the information and resources were helpful. 

I have a 36v system, so carrying 3 backup batteries may be a weight isssue with 2 people in the boat. I wont go anywhere other than lakes until I am comfortable and familiar with my average run time. 

I'm shopping for a fishfinder now, and plan on getting at least a 25 hp gas next yr.

Thanks again! And I may have to take you up on your offer!


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