Liberty Reservoir Bass Fishing Reports

Murphy · March 31, 2012, 02:31:20 PM

I went out with my 2 boys friday evening fishing from a spot near the bridge.......we didn't see a fish and had no hits. We chalked it up as our first practice session, had fun with the kids anyway. We are novices.....maybe that's the real problem.

goosehunter4499 · April 19, 2012, 10:10:17 AM

Anyone have any recent fishing reports?? thinking of switching it up tomorrow

goosehunter4499 · April 21, 2012, 05:57:16 AM

I fished Liberty yesterday. The smallie bite was awesome. Caught nearly 20 fish. Best 4 smallies easily weighed 20#. This fish I did not have a weight cause I dropped and broke the scale on a 4# 8oz smally but I do have the dimensions, 24 1/2 Length by 18 1/2 Girth. Only caught 3 fish under a pound and only 1 Lm. All fish were caught in deep structure(20-30ft) using various lures. Face is blurred to protect the fisherman

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Creel Limit Zero · April 21, 2012, 07:37:01 AM

Nice fish, looks like Liberty already dropped several feet since I was there a few weeks ago.

20inchbass · April 21, 2012, 02:47:26 PM

Thats a pig goosehunter! I just used an online weight calculator, and although I know its not perfect, it said your fish was 10.88 lbs. Either way, that may have been a state record. Great fish, can't wait to get back out there myself!

inNOTof · April 22, 2012, 11:46:47 AM

Well, my friend, pics are hard to judge....but in my non-professional opinion you are probably holding the MD State Record Smallmouth!! Sure wish I could of netted that one for ya, I would of kissed her more times than you did! LOL You like like an average size man and judging your hand in comparison to that fish it is nothing short of a MULE!

I keep hearing you are thinking of joining REBEL, when you coming aboard???

FISH ON!!

danny23 · April 22, 2012, 12:16:36 PM

goose , that fish is awsome. you got to take me out there to tackle some of those smallies my friend. ive never fished liberty from a boat before , just the shoreline. i would love to go out and slam smallies all day. it would be a big change from the raven....................lmk 23

DCTRACKER · April 23, 2012, 09:17:28 AM

HMMMMMMM?

Face blacked out, no leaves on the trees, overly dressed for the weather?

?

Awsome fish no matter, but some things that make you say HMMMMMMMMMMMM?

20inchbass · April 23, 2012, 01:17:15 PM

Quote from: DCTRACKER on April 23, 2012, 09:17:28 AM
HMMMMMMM?

Face blacked out, no leaves on the trees, overly dressed for the weather??

Awsome fish no matter, but some things that make you say HMMMMMMMMMMMM?

I can see leaves, plus since when is a sweat shirt over dresing? I mean if it was early in the morning it was probably quite chilly. Plus maybe he blocked out his face because this is the Internet and you never know who might see it. I find no problems with his story or fish.

TProud · April 26, 2012, 07:46:20 PM

anyone heading out saturday? planning on hitting the water at sun up. gonna head up towards nicodemus. hopefully get some on a jig and trying throwing cranks for once.

goosehunter4499 · May 02, 2012, 09:18:33 AM

Caught a couple of tadpoles on Liberty yesterday, this being the smallest

. Saw LM males on beds and the females on the end of our lines. Here is something we found out that may help. If you can find schools of bluegills(smaller in size) the bass will be close by.

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20inchbass · May 02, 2012, 09:44:28 PM

Nice bass goosehunter! I'm planning on going to Liberty Sunday, i really want to get on some smallmouth but i won't pass up and largemouth

20inchbass · May 06, 2012, 08:09:34 PM

Wow I had my best day ever on Liberty today! We got on the water by 7:30 or so. I started throwing a spinnerbait but produced nothing. Started throwing a senko and got my first fish not long after. Long story short, we fished till about 3 o clock. I caught 11 bass my dad caught 14 bass. Of our 25 bass, 23 came on senkos, one on a tube (my biggest smallmouth) and one a crankbait. I also caught 2 rockbass (didn't know Liberty had rockbass), caught a big yellow perch and so did my dad, and we caught probably 20 sunfish. All of those came on senkos as well. It was warm and overcast, making the smallies come up I guess. Almost all of our bass were females and full of eggs. My smallmouth measured 17.5" and was my biggest bass of the day, my dad caught a largemouth also measuring 17.5." I did see some monster bass up in the shallows though that wouldn't bite and there were carp everywhere.

*Forgot to say that the biggest smallmouth came on a tube, not a senko. But it was the only fish I caught on a tube.

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BassMoJo · May 07, 2012, 07:00:38 PM

I was up there 5/5 caught about 25 keeps and two SM over 4lbs no LM over 3 thou...

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

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goosehunter4499 · May 12, 2012, 07:01:01 PM

Slow day about 12 fish between my buddy and I. Water temp started at 61 then hit around 68 before we left at 1:30. We started passed the Nicodemus bridge. The bite was much better deeper and south of the bridge. Caught a mix of smallies and Lm. This was the best fish by far of the day, darn minnows. Good fishn

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20inchbass · May 12, 2012, 10:18:30 PM

Nice smallie! I'm headed out in the morning. Gonna start shallow to pick up some fish and some confidence hopefully

. Then I'm gonna go deep to try for bigger fish.

BenFishing · May 13, 2012, 02:36:46 PM

Hey all, just fished Liberty for the first time on the 10th. A decent day of shore fishing. Got lucky and got permission from a few land owners to cut thru their property to fish come coves and points Also fished the Nicodemus/Deer Park bridge area.
Pulled a nice 3 pound bass at the bridge on my very first cast into Liberty, using a crankbait with a bluegill pattern and a 10ft or so depth. Thought she was a snag at first because it felt like I was pulling in a big branch drifting to the right, then BAM, she exploded and put up a fun fight. Nothing else for a while after that, then had a 12-15 pound carp hit my Chatter bait...hooked in the mouth, so maybe it was just aggravated by the lure....I love catching fish like that...carp on lures....crappie on 7 inch jerk baits....and big bass on panfish rigs.
Moved over to a spot off some private property....owner asked me not to share. Nice cove with easy access to more coves. Started catching 1 pound smallies, bouncing a soft plastic crawdad off the bottom. There were a lot of ledges and big boulders in the water. My dad was catching largemouth by running spinners along the shoreline....all 1 to 2 pounders. Caught a few decent panfish while throwing jig heads with spinners, and an assortment of soft plastics thrown on the jigs.
Plan on hitting Liberty frequently. Gonna buy a cheap kayak and throw and trolling motor on it....no need to spend a bunch of money on a boat that will be limited on where I can take it. Also going to shore fish the hell out of this place. My dad's in his late 50s, so we didn't do a ton of hiking around, but I'm good to cut through the forest and fish pretty much anywhere.
I'm happy to take any tips you guys have on Liberty, and as I learn, I'll share my reports. I'm also harassing the folks that manage the lake about trying to get a few more areas on the shore where shore fishermen can park, or where we can put in boats....I was told I can't just pull-up and drop a kayak in the water at the Deer Park bridge....I also found plenty of great areas, but with "No Parking" signs...I know it's a drinking reservoir, but a little more access for the shore guys should be permitted. I'm also trying to convince them to do some sort of boat/canoe/kayak rental, or allow a person to start that business. I know it's an upstream battle, but I've got plenty of free time....when I'm not fishing.
Lastly, are there and stripers/rocks biting yet, and where could I get some from the shore?

BigBee · May 14, 2012, 12:27:31 PM

Finally getting a chance to post here. Haven't even put a pic on my acct yet. I'll get to it. I'll agree with all of those in love with Liberty this year! The SM fishing has been the best that I can remember in years! After having my canoe disappear this year - long story - I've been tied to the shoreline. Blessing in disguise! To date this year - 3 SM over 4 lbs (biggest at 4.96) - lots over 3 - and too many to count over 2. ALL this from the shore. Who woulda thunk it?? Carolina rig has been wicked this year. Narrowed it down to 3 1/2 inch tubes behind a half ounce egg sinker. They absolutley smash it! Been mostly morning fishing - but 2 of the 4 lbers were in evening. Would love to get into some stripers as well. Got some ideas for places to fish them. Harder from shore i know.

goosehunter4499 · May 18, 2012, 03:48:13 PM

Pretty good day. 14 fish total. Water temp was right around 71. Water was crystal clear. Caught 2 smallies over 4# in 20 ft of water. Caught a hog of a large mouth shallow in a tree. Berkley fluro is JUNK, lost 3 fish on it. None on any of my other lines.. If anyone is going this weekend hit trees shallow. I was sight fishing the later part of the day and every largemouth I casted to took the bait. The shade is also good if its in a tree. Good fishing

BenFishing · May 18, 2012, 03:52:51 PM

Quote from: goosehunter4499 on May 18, 2012, 03:48:13 PM
Pretty good day. 14 fish total. Water temp was right around 71. Water was crystal clear. Caught 2 smallies over 4# in 20 ft of water. Caught a hog of a large mouth shallow in a tree. Berkley fluro is JUNK, lost 3 fish on it. None on any of my other lines.. If anyone is going this weekend hit trees shallow. I was sight fishing the later part of the day and every largemouth I casted to took the bait. The shade is also good if its in a tree. Good fishing

Good info. I'm heading out there tomorrow. Do you mind letting us know the general area of the lake you were fishing?

goosehunter4499 · May 18, 2012, 06:11:14 PM

Sorry Ben, there were some guys prefishing for a tourny on Sunday where I was and out of respect for them and the time they put in, location will just remain as Liberty. I will say soft plastics and stickbaits were the main lures. Caught 1 smallie on a topwater

BenFishing · May 18, 2012, 06:14:03 PM

Quote from: goosehunter4499 on May 18, 2012, 06:11:14 PM
Sorry Ben, there were some guys prefishing for a tourny on Sunday where I was and out of respect for them and the time they put in, location will just remain as Liberty. I will say soft plastics and stickbaits were the main lures. Caught 1 smallie on a topwater

No worries man, completely understandable!

BenFishing · May 23, 2012, 05:30:44 PM

Hit liberty up on the 19th. Saw plenty of good sized largemouth in the shallows, but couldn't get them to bite anything I threw at them. Caught a lot of smaller bass though. Between them, and the huge schools of panfish, I don't know if the bigger bass ever even saw my lures.
Wasn't in any decent smallie areas, so nothing to speak of there.
Lots of small yellow perch as well.....they seemed to love the Lucky Craft jerk bait I was throwing...and semi-translucent gold color, 3 inches long. Couldn't find any bigger fish that liked it though.
Saw a lot of dead white perch, just floating along. Definitely saw over 30-40 of them. Mostly down by the old boat ramp/water treatment plant.
I wasn't able to walk a lot of shoreline, or even be very mobile in the areas I stopped at. Had my two little sons with me. I probably could have found more fish if I had left them at home, BUT they're fun to bring along.....if I could just get them to stop throwing rocks...

fishsticks2007 · May 25, 2012, 02:19:55 PM

Hello im new to liberty lak and looking for tips for on shore fishing location. I plan on heading out tomorrow afternoon with my wife to try our luck with the panfish and bass. Plan to do some bobber fishing with worms and throw some crayfish jigs or maybe some spinners. Any help regarding good on shore locations, suggested bait, or recent fish patterns would be greatly appreciated!
Good luck to everybody!

BenFishing · May 26, 2012, 10:44:12 AM

Quote from: fishsticks2007 on May 25, 2012, 02:19:55 PM
Hello im new to liberty lak and looking for tips for on shore fishing location. I plan on heading out tomorrow afternoon with my wife to try our luck with the panfish and bass. Plan to do some bobber fishing with worms and throw some crayfish jigs or maybe some spinners. Any help regarding good on shore locations, suggested bait, or recent fish patterns would be greatly appreciated!
Good luck to everybody!

Search this on Google Maps
Oakland United Methodist Church‎
5901 Mineral Hill Road
Sykesville, MD 21784, or just punch in the address on a GPS. Go to the end of Oakland Road. There is parking at the end, and you can fish off either side. Plenty of shoreline to checkout around there. The sections I've fished in that area weren't great for smallies, but had a lot of largemouth, perch, and panfish.