Contact Fisheries
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Alan Klotz, Fisheries Biologist - Total Reports: 52
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Posted on June 8, 2011 | Permalink
Potomac River Smallmouth Bass
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Potomac River
John Mullican invited my family to fish the Potomac River in Washington County this past weekend – and we gladly accepted. John took us to some smallmouth bass hotspots and we had good action using ¼-ounce tubes and stick-baits. Jessica enjoyed reeling in each fish that John hooked. My son Kyle even caught a few redbreast sunfish – a species we don’t see too often in our home waters in Garrett County.
Posted on May 26, 2011 | Permalink
Deep Creek Lake Smallmouth Bass and Rock Bass
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Deep Creek Lake
Now is primetime for catch and release fishing for Smallmouth Bass in Deep Creek Lake – try fishing topwater lures, plastic tubes (fished weightless), or streamers along boulder-strewn shorelines for the best action. Rock bass also known as Red-eyes are also very aggressive this time of year, and you will catch them in the same rocky habitat. I had a blast last evening fly-fishing with this wool-bodied streamer and caught several scrappy Smallmouths in the 10 – 12 inch range and lots of Rock Bass.
Posted on May 18, 2011 | Permalink
Brook trout fishing in the Savage River watershed
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Savage River watershed
John Mullican and I spent an afternoon fishing one of the Savage River tributary streams within the Zero Creel Limit for Brook Trout fishing area. Stream flows were perfect, and some hatch activity soon started including yellow stoneflies, caddis, sulfurs, and March Browns. As usual, John caught more fish than I using a bead-head caddis emerger and a bright caddis dry as the indicator – both were effective. I used a bead-head black stonefly which was effective in the deeper pools and runs. Good day of fishing in a spectacular setting.
Posted on May 18, 2011 | Permalink
Broadford Lake Black Crappies
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Broadford Lake
It is the perfect time to fish Broadford Lake in Garrett County for some exceptional black crappie action. My son Kyle and I fished one evening last week and took home about a ten fish for the fryer. We headed back a couple of days later with fishing partners Mike and Zach Voelkel and had another great day with the crappies, plus a few nice chain pickerel. The fish were in shallow water less than 20 feet from the bank. We used medium-size shiners hooked just under the dorsal fin with a size 8 Eagle Claw and fished two feet under a slip bobber. Broadford Lake is a great place to take kids - the boys did a lot of exploring of the wetlands around the lake and had a good time photographing American toads, pickerel frogs, bull frogs, crayfish, snapping turtles, and a beautiful queen snake.
Posted on May 12, 2011 | Permalink
It's Time to Fish Deep Creek Lake!
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Deep Creek Lake
The Western Region Fisheries Management staff conducted spring-time surveys in Deep Creek Lake this week, and now is a good time to fish for a variety of freshwater fish species. The shallow cove areas in the southern end of the lake are loaded with spawning golden shiners that are attracting walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike, and chain pickerel. Panfishing should also be good as the lake’s temperature in the coves is about 60° F, and we collected many yellow perch in the 8 – 13 inch range, pumpkinseeds, bluegills in the 8 – 9 inch size class, and brown and yellow bullheads that weighed about 2 lbs. The rocky shoreline areas showed good numbers of smallmouth bass in the 10 - 14 inch size class, along with a good numbers of rock bass. If you are into carp fishing, try the Green Glade Cove area, we observed some specimens there that were simply too large to fit in our dip nets.
Posted on April 26, 2011 | Permalink
North Branch Potomac River Delayed Harvest Trout Fishing Area
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: North Branch Potomac River
The Western Region Fisheries staff recently rail-stocked the North Branch Potomac River Delayed Harvest Trout Fishing Area bordering the Potomac State Forest. Working cooperatively with CSX Railroad, we were able to distribute 2,000 Rainbow trout into the remote sections of this special trout management area. Anglers wishing to experience this “get away from the crowd” type of fishing – I suggest parking at the access areas at Lostland Run, Laurel Run, and Wallman in the Potomac State Forest, and start hiking to enjoy this scenic river.
Posted on April 20, 2011 | Permalink
Annual Deep Creek Lake Walleye Abundance Survey
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Deep Creek Lake
The Western Region Fisheries staff recently completed the annual Deep Creek Lake walleye abundance survey. The survey results showed a high abundance value at 210 walleye per hour of electrofishing. Most of the adult fish were in the 15 – 18 inch size range (a few fish pictured in the live well are still stunned from the electrofishing, but recovered rather quickly). The season on walleye in Deep Creek Lake opened up on April 16, and one of the best locations to fish for these tasty gamefish is along the state park shoreline from the beach area right up to the boat ramp. The walleye are in very shallow water just after sunset, and casting Rapalas or Husky Jerks should produce action. We also collected some nice-sized chain pickerel, smallmouth bass, and jumbo yellow perch.
Posted on April 4, 2011 | Permalink
Stripers stocked at Broadford Lake
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Broadford Lake
Broadford Lake in Garrett County received about 270 advanced fingerling striped bass recently. These fish were hatched out at the Manning Hatchery, reared at the Chalk Point Aquaculture Center, and then transferred to the Department of Juvenile Services’ Meadow Mountain Youth Center in Garrett County for the final stage of rearing. The young men from the Youth Center helped stock the fish, and we will be conducting fish population surveys this fall to determine the success of this stocking effort. Any angler fortunate enough to capture a striped bass in Broadford Lake are asked to contact my office at (301) 334 – 8218.
Posted on April 4, 2011 | Permalink
2,730 brown trout
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Casselman River
It is still pretty much winter out here in Garrett County, however we are still in full swing with the spring trout stocking schedule. Today we stocked the Casselman River Delayed Harvest Trout Fishing Area with about 2,730 brown trout. This was the third stocking for the Casselman River this spring, so the river has plenty of fish to offer up. Despite today’s cold weather, we observed some winter stoneflies hatching, and the flow was ideal.
Posted on March 22, 2011 | Permalink
Brook Trout
Type: Freshwater
Region: Western
Location: Garrett County
My son Kyle and I celebrated the first day of spring by fishing for brook trout in a remote Garret County stream. We had a great day catching and releasing several beautiful fish and hiking through the forest. We observed a good hatch of brook trout fry in the calmer stream edges.
