Loch Raven Reservoir Bass Fishing Reports

Creel Limit Zero · July 05, 2005, 09:54:49 AM

Fished Loch Raven July 2nd from 6:00 AM - 12:30 PM. Fishing was great.

Under clouds most of the day and with the cold front that came in the night before, air temperatures barely hit 80 degrees by mid day.

Water temp. 78-80. But ventured all the way up to the Merryman Mill Rd Bridge. Temps from the PrettyBoy Reservoir coldwater release 10 miles upstream must be keeping the water temps lower, only 73 up there.

Caught several early in the coves on green pumpkin and chartruese tail 5" senkos. Fished them weightless, dropping them into the weeds in 5' of water. Especially effective near stumps. My father early on had a large pike, looked like 36" or so follow his senko to the boat twice. Then I threw a 5-1/4" tennessee shad lure, which he followed to the boat, so I attempted the figure 8 trick I've heard many musky fisherman do. Guess this is not good for Pike, because he jetted off never to be seen again.

Ventured up to the Gunpowder and fished 5" senko under the fallen branches, caught several more up until 11:00 AM, when the wind picked up to 15-20 MPH, and then the bite slowed. We then went to the island close to where the Gunpowder dumps into the Reservoir. We hid behind the island and trees and threw 3" single tail grub past the wind swept point. Didn't have much luck, so went to the rocky wedged shoreline north of the dulaney valley bridge and wacky rigged a 5" senko and dropped it down the rocky shore. This produced two more small LM, and then we called it quits.

Caught 13 bass, most between 12-15 inches, but two were around 3-3.5 pounds.

LochRaven05 · July 07, 2005, 05:39:18 PM

went out twice this week and caught a few nice ones on 4" watermelon senkos. two were right to the left of the fishing center and most of the others were just past the island. water temp was about 83.

LochRaven05 · July 09, 2005, 05:21:32 PM

just got a fishfinder and i've been tryin to fish the flats right out of the fishing center. not having much luck and wanna know if anyone here has done well there. ive seen a lot of people fishing there but just cant figure it out. thanx.

also wondering if anyone has some tricks for loch raven this time of year that theyre willing to share.

Creel Limit Zero · July 11, 2005, 09:05:47 AM

It's always tough this time of the year with all the

and high temperatures. I've had some success in the flat areas I think you are talking about, but during the spawn. I think this would be a great place to fish just before sunrise and after sunfall. But you can't get there except for from shore then, b/c the ramp is closed.

I've had most success fishing the shaded shore lines early in the morning. If you look just after the flats there is a small cove to the north and west. It is fairly deep 5 feet just a few feet of shore, up to 20 feet. They will go close to the shaded shore line early in the morning, but after 10:00 AM, they are mostly in 10 feet of water in this cove. There is also several nice stumps that are pretty weeded in about 10 feet of water here. Two significant stumps in this cove are always holding bass.

Give these a try.

The other suggestion I would say, if you are willing to make the hike up to where the gunpowder is dumping into Loch Raven, the overhanging trees are always holding bass even in the middle of the day. Last year I ventured up here at the end of August and was catching bass in the middle of the day in 3 feet of water. It was

, about 95 degrees, and there they were feeding on bait fish. It's nice area because both shore lines are always almost always shaded, and just 10 feet of shore it drops down to 15 feet.

3rd suggestion is if you know where the log jam is, this is always holding bass and pike. If not, I can give you some more info on this.

I'd say the best place in most situations is just on the weed lines. In most of the coves, you'll see the weedlines almost coming right up to the surface. Fish the weedline where you see the weeds drop from just above the surface to 5 feet below. You can cover alot of water quickly this way, and pull the aggresive fish out of the weeds. Even get some pike now and then

Hope this helps.

dj_is · July 11, 2005, 10:12:37 AM

Does anyone know what the winning weight for yesterday's tournament at the Loch was? My 5 best were a little over 12 pounds (with a 3.5 pound smallie kicker), just wondering how I would have done if I had entered.

Creel Limit Zero · July 11, 2005, 10:20:10 AM

Don't know, but 12 pounds is a good stringer for Loch Raven, I would think you would have faired pretty well.

The fishing center there may know, 410-887-7692. If you do find the results, please post. I'd be pretty curious. That 3.5 pound smallie must have been pretty sweet to pull in.

dj_is · July 11, 2005, 10:34:22 AM

Oh, the smallie was sweet. Especially on a medium light rod with a 1500 sized reel! Felt like a small LM until he saw the boat. Almost ran me into the prop of my trolling motor! I'll give them a call and post the weight when I get a chance.

dj_is · July 11, 2005, 10:35:49 AM

One more question, where exaclty is the log jam that everyone talks about? I have fished just about all of the shoreline, and have seen a few places where logs are piled up. Not sure which is "the log jam". Thanks.

LochRaven05 · July 11, 2005, 10:38:39 AM

thanks a lot for the advice. i dont know where the log jam is though or anything about it.

Creel Limit Zero · July 11, 2005, 10:46:39 AM

I'll scan a map and try to insert here for you all. Won't be able to get to it today, but maybe tonight...

Lipripper · July 11, 2005, 12:17:14 PM

dj_is welcome to the Ultimate Bass Family

and when you get time would you stop by here we have a little welcome for you

Welcome New Members

dj_is · July 11, 2005, 12:56:37 PM

Thanks for the welcome!

dj_is · July 13, 2005, 08:23:55 AM

Called the fishing center, they did not know what the winning weight was. Bummer.

Creel Limit Zero · July 13, 2005, 08:28:59 AM

That stinks. Still think 12 pound stringer would have been at least in the mix.

LochRaven05 · July 13, 2005, 10:36:53 AM

fished LR yesterday and caught 10-12 decent fish. had trouble getting anything bigger than 3 pounds though. they were hitting any dark colored senkos in 4 and 5 inch and a small gold crankbait. fished up by the warren road bridge, water temps were really high(around 89) up there but i fished the east side in the shade which seemed to work well. saw a few huge bass in the grasses by the warren rd bridge but couldnt get them to bite.

Creel Limit Zero · July 13, 2005, 10:46:35 AM

Good work. I don't think we'll see any low 80 degree water temps again until late September. Definetely can see lots of large bass in Loch Raven, but I haven't been able to get the real large ones to bite.

LochRaven05 · July 15, 2005, 02:23:12 PM

just wondering if anyones had any luck with tubes in LR. tryin to start using them but not sure what colors or where the better spots to use them are. thanks

Creel Limit Zero · July 15, 2005, 03:25:01 PM

I tried them one day for 3 hours 2 years ago, and didn't get one bite. Went to a senko and single tail grub and started pulling them in. Maybe something changed that triggered the biting, aside from changing baits. Haven't fished tubes since, there or anywhere else. Probably just a coincidence, so I've been thinking of giving them another try soon. Let me know how you do if you try them out.

LochRaven05 · July 15, 2005, 03:28:01 PM

ive done the same as you have with tubes in LR. never a bite, but senkos and other baits work great. ive just heard some of the people around the fishing center talkin about fish they caught on tubes and wanted to find out what im doin wrong. thanks for the reply!

Creel Limit Zero · July 15, 2005, 03:44:02 PM

Yeah, seems like there are alot of people fishing tubes, but I've never had success. It must be user error on my part.

LochRaven05 · July 17, 2005, 01:22:53 PM

went up towards warren rd bridge again yesterday. bites still nice up there. ive been fishing the small island about halfway between dulaney valley bridge and warren rd bridge almost every time i go out, and i always catch fish there. my cousin and i caught 5 fish in an hour there including a 3.5lb largemouth and a 2 2lb smallies. getting them all on senkos fished wieghtless(texas and wacky rigged). also found a nice shallow cove north of this small island where we saw 3 real big bass. tried to get one there for about 5 minutes before the storm came and ruined our fun. overall a good day though.

Creel Limit Zero · July 17, 2005, 04:28:34 PM

Yeah, I've had alot of success at that island too.

Mike Noble · July 17, 2005, 06:30:10 PM

Sounds like a good outing LochRaven05. Thanks for letting us know how your trip went.

LochRaven05 · July 18, 2005, 05:29:39 PM

wondering if anyone has had any luck fishing lipless crankbaits in LR. ive heard a lot about people fishing grass edges with them in other lakes but havent had much luck with them in LR. wondering what sizes and colors and where youve used them. thanks

also wondering if anyone has had a whole lotta luck on any crankbaits. ill get one occasionally, but the crankbaits just dont seems to be working as well as plastics for me.

Creel Limit Zero · July 19, 2005, 08:58:26 AM

Had some success with lipless cranks and crank baits in Loch Raven, but like you, not many bass. When I can't seem to locate or catch bass, I'll switch to these and troll along weed beds. Always seem to get some strikes from pickerells and pike. I've done well with the 5-1/4" Yozuri crystal suspending minnow in tennessee shad and clown colors. For the lipless, I still have done well with the Yozuri, but I use the crystal vibe in 3-5/8" 1 ounce in the same colors. Seem to do very well with the very silvery and flashy cranks, the pike and pickerell love to eat those white perch in there.