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Tournament Fishermen Think Deep Creek Lake Is A Poor Fishery
By
Brent Nelson Courtesy of the Maryland Bass Federation's Federation Update We all hear it every year. Disgruntled tournament anglers from down state complaining after fishing this highland reservoir, known as Deep Creek Lake. "There's not many bass in this lake," they retort, or, "Why do I have to travel four hours across state to fish a lake that doesn't even come close to the Potomac River or the Upper Bay in both quantity and quality of bass. One very good friend of mine and a competent tidewater angler even went as far as saying, "If God wanted to give the world an enema, he'd stick it in Deep Creek Lake!" Deep Creek Lake is just one of five stops on the MD BASS Federation's Tournament Trail schedule and many tournament trail participants walk away scratching their heads. Well, check this out folks. On Saturday night, June 19th, one day after the Maryland BASS Federation Tournament Trail event,(See Story) Hub City Bassmasters held their annual open night tournament. Fifty, two man teams participated in the event. An eight fish limit was established by Hub City Bassmasters. The purpose being the promotion of undue stress on bass in the livewells. There were 15 limits weighed in Sunday morning, with first place going to Troy Miller and Terry Bonsell with eight bass weighing 17.15 pounds. Their biggest fish weighed in at 4.14 pounds. Second place was captured by J.T. Kenny and Daron Winters with eight fish weighing 16 pounds. Their lunker weighed 3.4 lbs. Third place went to Dick Kalbaugh and George Henson, totaling 15.4 lbs. A 5.4 lb lunker graced their sack of fish. Todd Staley and Greg Stotler received fourth place honors with an even 15 pounds. Their lunker weighed in at 3.8 lbs. The lunker for the tournament weighed 6.5 pounds and was caught by the team of Mutch Yost and Charlie Wisner. Most fish were reported taken on spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and jigs. There was one fish over 6 pounds, 2 fish over five pounds and 4 fish over 4 pounds brought to the scales. A grand total of 237 fish were weighed in at 353.5 lbs. Granted, these kind of numbers still rank behind the likes of the Lower Potomac River and the Upper Bay, but they are still impressive. "But wait", you say, "Those fish were caught at night, which doesn't count." It doesn't matter whether they were caught at night or during the day. The point is, Deep Creek Lake does support some quality fish and they are right there in front of you, under docks, in grass or down deep. They feed both day and night. It takes a different type of angler to be successful on Deep Creek Lake as it takes a different type of angler to be successful on the Potomac River or the Upper Bay. We, as tournament fishermen and women, must be proficient in all kinds of waters in our state, whether it be clear highland waters, stained tidal waters or muddy eastern shore rivers. Those of us that master ALL of Maryland’s waters are the ones worthy of state team status. |