Whether you are a beginner or have been fishing your whole life, you know that there is a special knowledge that is continuously acquired. The more you know the bigger and better fish you will catch!

In this entry, we are sharing our knowledge of fish, bait and location along with some great photos of members and their trophy worthy fish – enjoy!

LARGE-MOUTH BASS: This type of fish may be the most sought after game fish in the country. Largemouth Bass relate strongly to stumps, logs, brush, weeds and boat docks. They also relate to structure features such as points, rocks, drop-offs, flats, cuts and creek channels. Bass are primarily sight feeders so the murkier the water, the shallower Bass may be feeding. In murky water (like the Chesapeake Bay), light penetration is only a few feet, so work the surface and the shallows. Bass also have good color vision, and get interested in objects that move.

Bait: Try using dark colored lures in muddy water and light colors in clear water. Look for spots other anglers might overlook and try varying the speed of your retrieve.
Location: Look for them in the backs of creeks as these areas often provide them both shallow and deep water in relatively small areas close to their migration routes.

CATFISH: This is one of the most relaxing types of fishing. The Catfish is a
powerful fish that lives in areas of heavy cover and snags. Make sure to match your gear to the size of fish you expect to catch as well as weather conditions.

Bait: Catfish are bottom feeders so it’s best to use enough weight to keep your bait near bottom. Catfish only see shades of light and dark, but have great sense of smell because their body is covered from head to tail with external taste buds.
Location: Its streamlined shape and feeding strategies enable it to thrive in current.
They can also adapt to a wide variety of other waters. So when fishing rivers, try directly below the dam and upstream ends of outside bends that can both generally provide the best daytime cat fishing.

STRIPERS: Stripers can live in either salt water or fresh water.
Stripers go after schools of baitfish. A key is to look for shad or minnows popping out of the water or where a flock of birds are feeding on the water’s surface. This will mainly take place early morning or near sundown.

Bait: A good year-around bait is live shad.
Location: Power Plant lakes are a good spot due to the warmer water. This makes the fish more active. Look for areas near water discharge and at the mouth of tributaries.

TROUT: There are several different species of trout; the most common would be the hatchery stocked rainbow and/or brown trout. These stocked fish tend to school up along drop-offs. During spring and fall, the fish can be caught in the middle of the day, feeding up in the shallows.

Bait: Some of the most effective baits are Power Baits and Nuggets. Covering a trout’s eyes will often cause the trout to stop struggling while you remove the hook.
Location: When trout fishing, focus your efforts on areas where the most water
passes in a concentrated area. Check for boulders that form “chutes” of water, or where a log against a bank creates a “funnel” of water. The riffles below these spots are prime trout-feeding locations as well as slack water areas behind objects.

*certain information taken from Larry’s Fishing Hole

Drum roll please; the results are in and we are excited to showcase the outcome!  Not surprisingly, the members love the dock staff, the variety of boats, and cruising with their families.  Other interesting points are the number of members who are new to boating and why they joined in the first place.  Interested in becoming a member?  Take a look at the statistics, who our members are and what they have to say about Carefree Boating!

A special thank you to those that took the time to fill out the survey and as always, being a part of the Carefree family.