Monocacy River Fishing Report
The last couple of days along the Monocacy have been slow for local fisherman. The good news is the fish caught have been good sized chunks.
A few evenings ago, we waded a section of river that I had not wet waded before. The exploration of new water was successful in that, I found some stretches of perfect smallmouth water, i.e. deep water with a running current. Of course when talking deep water, its all relative. Here on the Monocacy, I consider over the knees a good depth and by the time it gets up to or past your waist, you’re in prime water. One problem, the fish were not there.
When we first arrived on the river the other evening, I tossed a minnow jerk-bait in a pocket of slack water to demonstrate to the girlfriend how to correctly fish my favorite river smallmouth bait. On the second twitch on the surface, the water exploded and I hooked our first fish of the evening.
I’d like to say the rest of the evening went as well, but the fishing was slow and by the time the sun touched down, I had only hooked five more over 12-inch smallies and two or three little dinks. All of the fish either hit a minnow jerk bait or a Senko 5-inch in dark purple.
On a float a week earlier, I had good success with a crawfish lipped crankbait. With each time on the river, we found the fish in the pockets of slack water and not in the typical smallmouth haunts along the current breaks or in the current. Only one can guess where or when the fish will move, but as of now, if you are heading out on the Monocacy looking for smallmouth be sure to check the slack water first.
New Monocacy Scenic River Water Trail Map
Last month the Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation in conjunction with several other local and state agencies released a new Monocacy River Water Trail Map. The map covers the the Monocacy from the Route 77 bridge in Rocky Ridge to the confluence into the Potomac some forty river miles later. With the release of the new River Trail map, I got a chance to do an interview with the Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation discussing the map.
To request a copy of the Monocacy Scenic Water Trail Map, you can call 301-600-2936 and they will send one out to you. The maps are also available at:
- Frederick County Division of Parks & Recreation
- The City of Frederick Recreation Department
- The Monocacy National Battlefield Visitors Center
- Frederick County Tourism
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