Western Region:

The tailrace waters of the North Branch of the Potomac are reported to be in good shape. The Savage Reservoir seems to be depleted of cool water and biologists noted that the Savage River water temperature has risen to 70-degrees. Fisheries stocking crews completed an unscheduled bonus early fall stocking of large 3 lb trout in many of the regions waters late last week. These beautiful fish should provide an extra incentive for anglers to get out and enjoy some uncrowded and good fishing opportunities. The stocking numbers and locations are as follows.

Deep Creek Lake is starting to show some resemblance of returning to some state of sanity in regards to boat traffic, but fishermen are reporting that there still was quite a bit of "goofy" boat traffic last weekend. Largemouth bass can still be caught during the day under docks and smallmouth and largemouth should be in shallower waters at dawn in most suitable areas. Once the lake waters drop down to the mid-60 temperature range the fishing for a variety of desirable species should really start to turn on.

The upper Potomac River in Allegany County received a big slug of water from George's and Sidling Creeks during the recent rainstorms. The Potomac water levels are down, but the river is still running strong and muddy. Area fishing experts consider it not fishable at the moment. John Mullican and his fishing buddy Steve Peperak managed to get out and fish the river before the big rain last week and sent in a short report and two beautiful pictures. The pictures are a good reference to show the difference in markings between a true strain muskie and a hybrid. John (sitting) holds a true strain and Steve (standing) cradles a hybrid muskie.

The Potomac is still higher than normal and cloudy with temperatures holding around 72° F. With more rain in the forecast from Ivan, the river will probably be unfavorable for fishing over the weekend. When flows return to more normal levels, great fall fishing should be just around the corner. As temperatures begin to drop and the days become shorter, fish feed aggressively before the lean winter months. Some of the finest fishing of the year occurs in the fall, without the crowds and among the splendor of the changing leaves.

Central/Southern Region:

Fishermen are catching largemouth bass early in the morning and in the evening hours at Loch Raven, Liberty and Prettyboy Reservoirs on surface lures, plastic worms, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Fishermen can hardly go wrong by using live crawfish also in many locations especially during later hours in the morning and afternoon. Piney Run Lake reports that anglers there are catching large bluegills and yellow perch on nightcrawlers and red worms. The bluegills are being found suspended in 10' to 18' of water throughout the lake and are often close to the deeper edges of the hydrilla. Yellow perch can be found within a few feet of the bottom. Catfish are also being caught on minnows and chicken liver, some have recently been reported to be up to 7 lbs.

Jim Gronaw has been having fun fishing local ponds in central Maryland and offered this report. We've been doing real well lately using a 1/64 oz "Trout Magnet" in chartreuse. I recently caught and released 34 bluegills over 9" and several largemouth bass including this bluegill that went 10 ¾". Panfish Assassin's in albino color and small crankbaits with wet fly droppers rigs have been working well. The "tail-gunner" rig is simply a small crankbait like a Yo-Zuri Snap-Bean or a 2" Rapala with a 6"-10" piece of 6 lb fluorocarbon and a #12 wet fly tied to the trailer hook ring of the crankbait. This ultra-light dropper rig is a great way to catch panfish and it will surprise you with a bonus largemouth bass.

Eastern Region:

The Sassafras River and up Freeman's and Turner's Creeks has been providing some good largemouth bass fishing lately and shows promise of becoming better as temperatures begin to cool. Plastic worms and spinnerbaits worked around sunken wood and old docks have been the most productive. The upper Choptank above Denton is the best bet for fishing in that river since the waters tend to be clearer in that area. The Pocomoke River tends to provide the most consistent largemouth bass fishing of the Eastern Shore Rivers this time of the year. Spinnerbaits and plastic worms cast to spatterdock weed beds, cypress roots and any sunken wood is a good bet. Fisheries biologist Brett Coakley sent in a report from recent field sampling on the Elk and Bohemia Rivers. Brett also sent us a picture of past author of the fishing report, Angel Bolinger enjoying her new assignment as a biologist with the tidal largemouth bass program. The first hint of fall signals the beginning of our busy field season completing tidal bass surveys. We have almost competed our Elk/Bohemia River survey, which has proven to be very interesting. All the recent press concerning the increase in SAV has definitely been warranted. The Elk and Bohemia have some of the largest and densest beds I have ever seen. The downside for anglers is that bass appear to be widely scattered throughout this entire "new" habitat. All bass collected were in excellent physical condition, reflecting the abundance of forage available. Attached is a picture of Fisheries Biologist Angel Bolinger with a fat 3- pounder from a cove near Elk Neck State Park.

We also spent a day last week electro fishing on Dorchester County's Chicamacomico River. Bass were present in good numbers in every station we surveyed, including some in the 4-pound class. Black crappies were also abundant throughout. Although the "Chic" is most popular with anglers in the spring, fall would be a great time to spend a few hours on this beautiful river. It's perfect for anglers in small, shallow draft boats to experience good tidal bass action away from the crowds.

Reservoir Bathymetry information. The Maryland Geological Survey has a bathymetry maps on their website:

• Loch Raven

• Pretty Boy