North Branch of the Potomac Small Mouth

[Robert B]

Hi guys,

  I keep reading about the trophy small mouth in the zero creel section below Westernport to Cumberland. Does anyone have any experience on this river targeting Small Mouth?  I could use some help with wading access or kayak rentals, tactics, flys etc.  Anyone have info or experiences that they can share?  I've fished the NTB at Barnums a few times and hooked a very nice SMB near the dam somehow fishing streamers for trout, but I assume it gets better for SMB the further down river.

[Andrew R]

Hey Robert,

A few thoughts:

1) How did a smallie get all the way up to Barnum? Craziness.

2) Barnum -> Westernport and Westernport -> McCoole are at least in my experience primarily trout water. The last half mile or so before the McCoole takeout has some bass (as Trent Jones can attest to), but overall those first two sections are more geared towards trout (temps, gradient, etc).

3) McCoole -> Black Oak is much more transitional. The predominant gamefish in that stretch is going to be heavily dependent on water temperatures, time of year, dam releases from Randolph-Jennings, etc.

4) I think your best bet for smallies (and your best bet for not killing trout as bycatch in 70+ degree water) is from Black Oak down to Pinto or even all the way to Cumberland, though I haven't been that far down myself. There's a lot of cool water down there with every conceivable type of SMB habitat from deep riffles and pools for smallies holding in the current and feeding like trout to downed trees and other underwater structure in slower water for ambush takes. We had good luck swinging size 0 to 6 streamers in yellow and white and a few topwater eats on poppers. Even saw smallies "sipping" caddis at the end of the day, a first for all of us.

5) In my opinion at least the entire NB, whether for trout or bass, is way better fished from a raft or a kayak. If you want to wade fish out there, I'd recommend fishing the Savage or the brook trout tributaries above the dam. Can't speak to the Casselman or Yough as I haven't fished them yet. Be aware that from Black Oak down there's a lot of slow frog water you'll have to push through. We floated it last week with Barnum at 260 cfs and had to row through the last almost 3 miles just to get off the water before sundown. Still, a lot of really cool water you can experience with a kayak. We probably got out and wade fished too much for an almost 9 mile float so if you're in a kayak and not wasting time, shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck out there, Western MD is good no matter where you choose to fish.

Tight Lines,

Andrew R

On Friday, September 29, 2017 at 11:40:46 AM UTC-4, Robert B wrote:

[Robert B]

Thank you Andrew. I appreciate you taking the time to provide me some great info.  I was looking through the DNR website and found this write up below.  Looks like they are and have been trying to produce a high quality SMB fishery.  Wondering also if the claim that the largest small mouth in the Potomac are found in the North Branch like they say here is accurate. Never heard anyone else talk about targeting SMB on this particular river.

"Encouraged by improving water quality and evidence of an improving forage base, MDNR Fisheries Service began an effort to reintroduce smallmouth bass to the North Branch in 1993. Smallmouth bass had long since been eliminated upstream of Cumberland by the effects of pollution. The effort was a huge success and smallmouth bass established a reproducing population by 1997.

A 2001 regulation implemented by Fisheries Service established a 25 mile catch and release area for bass from Keyser, West Virginia, to Cumberland. The area supports some of the best smallmouth bass fishing, and the largest smallmouth, to be found anywhere in the Potomac watershed."

[Andrew R]

Rob,

Yeah normally when people think of the NB, they think trout.

I'd never fished it specifically for smallies until two weekends ago, which we did because water temperatures from Westernport to McCoole were too warm to responsibly fish for trout (a couple of the guides I know up there have called me recently to complain about people with DC plates coming up and fishing for trout with the water temperatures at 75 degrees. A selfish move, whomever they are and if they're reading this...please respect the fishery and the tens of thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars that have gone into restoring the North Branch. If the water temperature at Barnum is over 66, go somewhere else).

We weren't catching any pigs, probably never got one over a 1.5-2 pounds or so. I think the below claim seems especially aspirational:

"The area supports some of the best smallmouth bass fishing, and the largest smallmouth, to be found anywhere in the Potomac watershed."

South Fork Shenandoah or the main stem Potomac by Harper's Ferry at least to me are superior SMB fisheries, the issue this time of year being low flows and dragging bottom. With that said, if you're floating, the NB from Black Oak to Pinto has some really cool water and feels incredibly remote.

Tight Lines,

Andrew R