I was unable to get my canoe up to MD as I was forced to fly into Baltimore directly from FL. Instead, I asked my wife to toss a few pieces of gear into the car in hopes I could do some wading. I'd heard that Catoctin creek was a decent fishery, but I mostly read about trout fishing in the upper sections. I decided to try the lower part of the creek, near the confluence with the Potomac, in hopes of finding a good smallmouth population.
My decision paid off in spades. I waded ~1 mile of river and landed 20 smallmouth on several lures: super fluke jr, rebel craw, and rapala x-rap.
The creek was wide and shallow, easy to wade. The banks were gradual and fairly free of overhanding trees, making this what I presume to be a fly fisherman's dream. Well, I didn't see any other fly fisherman, or any fisherman for that matter. As I reflected on the trip, I thought this type of flow could make me step into the fly fishing realm.
I started the day hot, first cast was an ~8" smallmouth in a large slow eddy pool working my super fluke jr on the surface. I walked upstream pitching to any areas I thought may harbor a predator and was rewarded routinely.
A few highlights included this fish, which I saw cruising in ~12" of water about 40' away. I pitched my rebel craw out 10' in front of the fish and starting it working it slow. As soon as the fish passed some nearby rocks and spotted the lure, it immediately pounced and inhaled the lure ... fish on!
On my way back down river, I stopped to fish a small eddy pool next to swift water where the entire flow passed a big rock on the bank. I'm thinking this is a great place for ambush, but it didn't produce on my way upstream. I tossed my rapala x-rap x08 in olive green into the pool and it was bit before I could set the bail to retrieve. Again, fish on! This is my best smallmouth of 2013.
I had no idea a flow this small would be so productive and entertaining. I'm sure I'll enjoy many more trips to the in-laws, and maybe one day it'll be with a fly rod.
