Question for DNR: Rock Bass common in the Potomac River?

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Potomac River, Williamsport Area

I had the opportunity to fish for a couple of hours towards sunset on the upper Potomac in Williamsport Maryland (just above where 81 crosses the river into West Virginia). The location was "River Bottom Park" just below where "Conococheague Creek" dumps into the Potomac River.

This was the first time I had fished in this area. I was fishing from the shoreline and wading with a small white buzz-bait hoping that a largemouth or smallmouth bass would reveal their location. Something kept taking a weak swipe at the buzz-bait and after the fifth time that happened I was thinking to myself that I really needed to investigate adding a trailer hook to that type of lure. Fortunately the sixth time it happened I managed to hookup with the mystery fish. Much to my surprise it turned out to be a plump little Rock Bass.

From this Angler's log I had read with much interest about another angler (Richard Berke) who had caught a few Rock Bass from the Monocacy River. I have also gazed in admiration at the new state record 1.5 pound Rock Bass swimming in the small tank over at Bass Pro Shops caught by "master" angler Earl Jenkins IV (who if I calculate correctly is not yet 4 years old!).

I had caught Rock Bass years ago fishing in up-state New York where they are as common as bluegills. I had also heard that they are very commonly caught up in Deep Creek Lake but I had never caught one in Maryland before. After that first Rock Bass on the buzz-bait I switched to a 2.5-inch original Rapala Floating Minnow and hooked up with ten more Rock Bass. A couple of them were quite chunky (nothing approaching Earl's fish of course!).

My question for DNR is: Are Rock Bass fairly common in the Potomac River or are there just isolated populations? I have fished fairly extensively from Point of Rocks down to Seneca Breaks and have never caught one before. I normally toss lures that would target bass but in the course of doing so many other fish wind up on the end of the line. One of the truly great things about fishing the Potomac River is that when you toss a lure out you really never know what might strike.

DNR's Response:
Rock bass are common throughout the Potomac watershed including the tributary rivers (Monocacy and Conococheague) and most of the the smaller streams as well. As their name implies, they generally have an affinity for rocky habitat. They can be very aggresive at times, viciously striking full size bass baits. Most of the time, however, you will have better luck using smaller aritificials such as a 2" grub on a 1/16 oz jighead or a micro-sized crankbait or topwater. Downsizing your tackle will open up opportunities to catch some of the other interesting, lesser known species such as rockbass, longear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, and fallfish.

John Mullican, Fisheries Biologist