St. Mary�s Watershed Park

Type: Nontidal
Region: Southern
Location: St Mary�s Lake

The weather on February 21st was forecasted to be near 75 degrees by mid afternoon in Southern Maryland, so I went fishing at St. Mary�s Lake in St. Mary�s county to target largemouth bass.

The water clarity was a murky two feet and the water temperature hung around 47-48 degrees. I found isolated fish on my depth finder on dropoffs and structure at various depths, but most of the bass were caught around fallen trees near old grass beds in four to five foot of water, with the wind blowing into the fallen tree.

I caught four of the bass using a Rapala clatter crank square bill shallow diving crank bait. I caught another bass in nine foot of water, using a 1/4oz jig head dressed with a six inch plastic worm around a stand of submerged trees. I did catch one lone crappie on the same rig in 17 feet of water.

I spoke to another fisherman who said that he caught five bass and one pickerel, fishing off shore using a Rat-L-Trap over old grass.

Great day on the lake, spring is around the corner!

For more information about kayaking and canoeing in Maryland, visit our Kayak and Canoe Fishing page.