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I had driven by the spectacular lake that backs up behind the Jennings Randolph dam more times than I care to count on my way to fish the North Branch at Barnum. Each time I drove by, I cast an anxious eye on the broad, flat lake and thought about what I had read on the various websites about massive walleye, huge trout as well as smallmouth bass alleged to fin in the murky depths.
It is a fact that this lake is the deepest in Maryland and it exceeds 200 feet in various locations. The lure of a big catch overcame my trepidation on putting the basscanoe on such big water. You would think that I would have learned my lesson from venturing onto Smith Mountain Lake as well as Lake Anna, but the fishing fever was upon me and, in late May, I plopped the Basswife in the front and pushed the canoe down the steep concrete boat ramp at the Howell Launch on the West Virginia side. My intent was simple. I wanted to get the boat up into the mouth of the river at the southern end of the lake. My theory was that the water would be small and narrow there and I could use the canoe to its best advantage.
I cranked the electric trolling motor into high and began chugging at 4 miles an hour across the endless lake. Five minutes into the voyage, I knew I had made a mistake. The bass boats were out in force and were churning the water in their haste to move here or there. The fact that many of them were heading in the same direction I was confirmed my suspicion that the southern end was the most productive area this early in the season. We fished around a couple points en route with no luck. An hour into the trip, I decided to give up. At 4 miles an hour, it was taking forever to get anywhere; particularly when I had to continually turn to point the canoe into the large wake thrown off by the quickly moving bass boats.
After I accepted the fact that we would not make it to the mouth of the river, we fished down a likely looking shoreline on the Maryland side. It had plenty of good structure with fallen trees and brush that hung into the water. We threw the typical set of bass lures -- no result. I finally recognized that without proper gear -- a real bass boat -- that this trip was a waste of time for us. Sadly, I cranked the motor into gear, ground the 45 minutes back to the boat launch and resolved to go to fish the put and take area below the dam.
Bottom Line: You need to right gear. By all accounts, this lake is exceptionally productive but fishing it in a canoe is a fools errand.
Getting There:
For detailed directions, please purchase either the North Branch Map Book for $4.95 or the full 190 page Fishing guide to the North Branch for $9.95. After checkout, you can download the books instantly.
The fishing guide is also available in hardcopy - click here
Both books include detailed directions overlaid on topo maps with pictures for the confusing places to get you to the river. The key difference is that the full book walks you up the river from Westernport to Wilson using over 140 pictures with a detailed discussion of what to expect beyond the parking lot.
Sorry to have to do this, but selling these books is how I support the cost of maintaining this site.
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Remember to refer to my rating explanations - these are based on what I look for - so RED for Physical Fitness translates to easy physically - you do not need to be in shape to fish this section. I prefer terrain that is tough to get into and out of.
For the traditional printed version, click here
For the eBook and more info on contents, click here
Special Introductory discount of 10%
Use discount code "Switch" for the eBook
and DA9YQB72 for the hardcopy.
Google Local Coordinates: 39.40944,-79.119673
Secrets Revealed? No. This is a very public location that is documented on the Maryland DNR site.
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