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Alan Klotz, Fisheries Biologist - Total Reports: 47
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Posted on March 28, 2013 | Permalink
Winter Trout Stocking
Type: Freshwater
Region:
Location: Garrett County
Despite the prolonged winter conditions in Garrett County, Fisheries staff members are still out there getting the streams stocked for the March 30 opener. However, some of the more remote stocking locations are not accessible, so stocking will be postponed until conditions improve. Ryan Cooper, a student volunteer from Garrett College, assisted us today with stocking a Garrett County stream – and he is showing a couple of the big lunker trout produced at the Bear Creek Trout Rearing Station. These fish will provide some lucky anglers a fish of a lifetime!
Posted on February 26, 2013 | Permalink
Dry Fly Fishing Opportunities
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Youghiogheny River
While we are still in the midst of a cold winter in Garrett County, there are still some dry fly fishing opportunities for anglers willing to face the elements. There has been an awesome winter stonefly hatch on the Youghiogheny River for the last week. Even though temperatures were in the '20s and the snow was flying sideways, these insects were hatching off in good numbers, and a few trout keyed into them. Last weekend, I fished the hatch near the Hoyes area and hooked a nice rainbow that got off, then proceeded to try to set the hook way too early on even a bigger brown trout. I returned to the Sang Run area on Saturday and landed the nice brown trout in the pictures. The pictures also show the newly emerged stoneflies as well as a lot of case-building caddisflies along the river's edge.
Posted on November 28, 2012 | Permalink
Trout Fishing in the North Branch Potomac River
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: North Branch Potomac River
Danny Teets of Sang Run Outfitters Fishing Guide Service sent me a couple of pictures and story from a recent float fishing trip with his wife Ellen on the North Branch Potomac River. Ellen caught and released an amazing rainbow trout using a stonefly pattern, while Danny landed a colorful cutthroat trout that was stocked in the river as a fingerling. This cutthroat plus another one that measured in at 10 inches were rising to midges on what looked like a very chilly day. Ellen pointed out that her trout was much larger than her husband's trout.
Posted on November 26, 2012 | Permalink
Colorful Brook Trout
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Savage River
Drew Miller sent me some pictures of some awesome brook trout in full spawning colors he caught within the Savage River Watershed Zero Creel Limit for Brook Trout Fishing Area in late October. He was using elk-hair caddis in a Savage River tributary stream, and he reported catching many quality-sized trout - and he has the pictures to back up his fishing tale!
Posted on October 26, 2012 | Permalink
Spawning Brook Trout
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Savage River Watershed
Mr. Sull McCartney of the Youghiogheny Chapter of Trout Unlimited sent me a few remarkable photos of spawning brook trout. October is the month when the native brook trout seeks out the cold clear water with sediment-free gravel where the female builds a nest (called a redd). The male brook trout is at his finest coloration during the spawn – bright orange sides and fins highlighted by black and white margins. During the spawning process, the female brook trout brushes the eggs into the spaces between the gravel with her fins. The eggs incubate and hatch within this clean gravel substrate, and the fry will emerge from the gravel in early spring after they absorb their yolk sack. Sull took these photos in the Savage River Watershed, and we can see how clean the water and substrate are in this small stream – the conditions needed for brook trout to thrive.
Posted on September 13, 2012 | Permalink
Yough River Trout and Smallmouth Bass Fishing
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Yough River C&R Trout Fishing Area
Last Sunday I fished the Yough River C&R Trout Fishing Area to try out some terrestrial cricket patterns. The river was quite low, but the first deeper pool I fished brought a nice rainbow to the surface for an explosive hit on the cricket (Picture 1). Recently I fished the river with Inland Fisheries Director Don Cosden and his wife Susie, and we had a great day. We caught about a dozen trout between us, Don landed a gorgeous 17 inch rainbow (Pictures 2 and 3) while Susie caught a nice 14 inch brown trout plus a lot of smallmouth bass (Picture 4). A great brown trout was also recently caught by Sang Run Outfitters fishing guide Larry Teets in the Yough C&R Area, this big brown measured in at 26 inches, and was Larry’s personal best on the Yough (Picture 5).
Posted on August 28, 2012 | Permalink
Jennings Randolf Lake Water Quality Release
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Jennings Randolph Lake
Message from the US Army Corps of Engineers:
There is a water quality release planned from Jennings Randolph Lake beginning on Sunday September 2 and ending on Monday September 3. The outflow will begin increasing at 6 AM on Sunday and reach about 1000 cfs by 10 AM. That flow will be maintained until Monday at 3 PM when flows will be stepped back to about 150 cfs by 5 PM.
This release could be modified or cancelled if hydrologic conditions change significantly.
The 2012 release schedule for the North Branch Potomac has been posted on the public website: http://www.nab-wc.usace.army.mil/northBranch.html
Posted on August 27, 2012 | Permalink
Night Fishing at the Youghiogheny Reservoir
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Youghiogheny Reservoir
My son Kyle’s summer vacation was coming to an end – and one thing he wanted to do was to catch a channel catfish before heading back to school. We night-fished the Youghiogheny Reservoir near Mill Run and had an awesome night. Kyle landed his first channel catfish ever – and a respectable one indeed. He ended up catching three large channel cats (24 – 28 inches), and it was a blast watching him fight these fish on light tackle! He also caught his first yellow bullhead – a nice 13 inch specimen!
Posted on June 19, 2012 | Permalink
Father's Day Fishing for Crappies
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Broadford Lake
My son Kyle and I fished Broadford Lake on Father’s Day, intent on catching black crappies for a fish fry. We fished for a couple of hours with no luck, so Kyle decided to fly-fish for some bluegills. I finally found the right spot and depth that held the crappies, and we had a great afternoon of fishing. Being that it was Father’s Day, Kyle said he would kindly let me have the honor of cleaning all of the fish while he took a nap.
Posted on May 24, 2012 | Permalink
Green Drake hatch on the Yough
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Youghiogheny River
This week on the Youghiogheny River C&R Trout Fishing Area was the peak of the Green Drake mayfly hatch. This is the time when the larger trout are quite vulnerable as they become gluttons feeding on this large, beautiful aquatic insect. I caught several gorgeous brown and rainbow trout in the 12 - 17 inch size class that just had the reel screaming out line, as the river is at fairly high flow giving the fish plenty of room to swim. As often the case with these Warmwater-strain rainbow trout, they will make several jumps out of the water during the fight. The hatch should continue through Memorial Day weekend, and the last hour of daylight is best.
