MKFS: Fishing Conditions Archive

1999 Season Wrap-Up

Our 1999 season has come to a conclusion. Here's a recap of what happened this year.

We were very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Butch Ward, a long time smallmouth guide and a reliable source of excellent advice, innovation, and quality fishing tackle. Butch died last week (Thanksgiving week) of a sudden complications brought on by pancreatitis. He was a young man and his passing reminded us all of the fragile nature of our connection to the world.

Well, that'll about do it for 1999; water temps on the upper river are in the lower fifties now, after last week's warmth, but they've been in the forties in places and will likely go there soon and for good with the high pressure and twenties at night predicted for the next week. We quit fishing in early November.

This year has been a banner year for the resource. Despite record low water and dire problems with the Potomac-fed water supplies in the cities all along the watershed, the smallmouth bass have nothing but good news.

All season, even in the lowest conditions, bass bit well and large. I didn't run a trip all summer--including two when the level at POR was .68--without boating a fish of 17" or larger. That's an unprecedented total of big fish in high summer. Water temps often topped 80 from July on, but hot water means active fish in most cases. We had lower numbers than usual all summer but in aggregate we probably doubled our weight total; most fish were in the 11 to 14" range and beefy and bulky and full of fight. With the low water levels fish were concentrated in certain areas (guide secrets--or just read the reports!) which made them very accessible. At most times a delicate and cautious presentation was needed, but we seldom went to the very small lures generally recommended in the orthodox disquisitions on the sport of smallmouth fishing. A 5" Zoom Fluke in light colors or a big white or mottled Dahlberg or Butch Minnow would do the trick.

It was a good year for other species as well. We averaged over a walleye per trip, most of them in the 2-4 lb. range, all but one or two released. Several close encounters with muskies occurred, but none hit the deck for us; probably about par for the whitewater section we cover, but we can still hope.

A few downers. Low water, or something, took the bloom off the White Miller hatch for the second straight year. Late July saw a few sporadic hatches, and some memorable nights of mixed hatches of sulfurs, midges, millers, and many more Dobsonflies than usual, but the blizzard of white that makes for some memorable summer nights was notably absent.

Also, of course, it is tough work to horse a raft over ledges and bars. The extreme low water conditions made for some tough work for river guides, who used oars a lot less and biceps a lot more than they want--or are paid--to do. Add some windy conditions and you have less than optimum drift-boat conditions.

Bad behavior on the river was at an all time high, even though use seemed to be down a bit. Memorial day was a low ebb of dangerous, obnoxious behavior, and enforcement by Maryland DNR seemed to be largely absent. Perhaps due to the low water, I participated in fewer rescues; but in the stretch above the 340 bridge the boorish and disturbing habits of tubers continued. Two men died when they were hit by a train at Sandy Hook, and alcohol was a factor; unfortunate, but not surprising to those of us who frequent the area. We can only hope that the DNR is on the case next year, and that more normal river levels don't catch some of these yahoos off guard.

As for the prospects for next year, the news is hopeful.

The greatest cause for hope was--is--the concentration of large fish. The population seems to be weighted toward the upper end of the cohort, which is an excellent and durable situation to be in. With low water and heavy aquatic growth, those big fish were able to feed well all season; I will be interested to see scale and otolith studies over the winter to judge exactly what kind of a feeding year those fish had. It is certain that they never really went to feeding on the smaller forage, and they were picky at times and in places in the river, which is a similar situation to the summer of '96 when fishing was tough but the growth rate was very good.

We also saw very few small fish and a light cohort of the 4-7" fish, rather like the Susquehanna, where a beefy midrange predominates and there are few dinks. The Suskie also produces a stable crop of 4-6 lb. fish so we are hopeful that that is where we will be as soon as next summer.

Drought conditions persist so far; that tends to stress fish, of course, even in the winter. It would be nice to have levels stay in the mid-3's at Little Falls or Point of Rocks through until the freezes begin. It would also be nice to have some freezes, since the cooler the water the more dormant the fish are and the more durable they will be through the dark of winter. Or at least that's one theory. We seem to have reached the winter without the disastrous heavy September floods of hurricane season, which have in the past done some serious damage to fish stocks.

We shall see. The biologists fight over the effects and causes; we'll just be out there in March in our woollies with our foolish optimisms intact.

We are booking for next season, as always; Spring fishing is heavily weather dependent though this stable year made for good fishing as early as the second week in April. Give a call or e-mail and I'll happily advise.

Dave Motes

[ Home | Float Trips | Fly Schools | Info/Conditions ]