Md guys in search of ice in the Quaker state: Sheppard Meyer 1/11/04

[Floater]

My son & I hooked up With Virgil and his Grandson, Josh, to try for some hardwater just over the PA line at Sheppard Meyer Reservoir. Went out Saturday evening and bored a couple of test holes in a pond south of Laurel, MD and only had two inches of ice. After another single digit night I figured we have some safe ice up there in the fine state of PA.

First tried the south side of Shep and only found 2" max of ice, so we moved down to the east parking lot and found thicker (3-3 1/2") ice. Started boring some holes and setting out the tip-ups under bluebird skies. We put mealworms and small minnows on the tip-ups, and broke out the Flasher.


Setting tip-ups


Virgil let the boys use the Vexilar and first jigged up was a small Brown Trout for Dave (sporting a stylish Ice Shanty watch Cap) .


Next Josh yanked a Yellow Perch up.


The Master, Virgil getting jiggie.


Virgil pulls in a Rainbow

Over time a few flags went up, with snatched minnows and missing mealworms, but mostly a slow day. Sure felt good to be on the ice again though.

Bob

[genz_man]

Nice pics. Nice Fish. Hope the ice keeps building. Hope to see you guys out on the shep this year. 8)

[Fat Boy]

Great pix Bob, thanks for sharing!  Looks like you guys had some fun!

[virgilpoe]

Hey Bob, Josh Boy and I had a great time. We pulled one more yellow out of a hole just after you left. We'll definetly do it again. Josh sez thanks for the envite too, and thanks again for his turtle shell ya found him.

[Floater]

Genz, Fat Boy,

Wish you had been there, thanks for introducing me to the place last year. Let's hope for colder temps for the rest of the week.

Virgil,

Appreciate you letting "Jr" use the expensive equipment, unlike the cheap stuff his Dad uses.

We had a ball with you and Josh. Next stop Blair's Valley, Greenbriar or Lake Marburg?

Too dang balmy today, lets hope the ice holds.

Bob

[Fat Boy]

Bob, not to worry about the temps up there.  Let's hope it doesn't snow and we'll be good to go!  

Here's Hanovers forecast from the weather channel:

Day           Forecast                       Hi/Lo      Precip.%
Today Jan 12  PM Snow Showers           41°/29°   30 %
Tue Jan 13     PM Snow Showers / Wind  41°/20°   30 %
Wed Jan 14    Few Snow Showers          29°/13°   30 %
Thu Jan 15     Snow / Wind                   22°/0°     60 %
Fri Jan 16       Partly Cloudy                  16°/6°     20 %
Sat Jan 17      Partly Cloudy                  27°/15°   20 %
Sun Jan 18      Partly Cloudy                  34°/16°  20 %
Mon Jan 19     Partly Cloudy                  36°/20°   10 %
Tue Jan 20      Partly Cloudy                  37°/31°    0 %
Wed Jan 21     Partly Cloudy                  45°/36°    0 %

[Fat Boy]

Bob, we'll probably be up there on Saturday.  See you there?

[Floater]

Great logo there Fat Boy.

Probably be up there, but wondering if the ice might be a little less than last weekend. Those 40 degree days had to hurt some, maybe the snow will help if it crusts over.

I'll look for for you if we go.
Bob

[Iceaddict]

do u have any info about sheppard meyer res.like depth average,what's the bottom structure ,any places there's a chance to find a perch.i plan to go there saturday,but i have no idea about that lake,and where i could park a car,safe , Thanks guys.

[kathleen]

anyone have any suggestions where to fish close to harford county?  is there ice on the resevoirs yet? have to look up sheppard meyer.  that is in maryland?
fishon, kathy

[Freezin]

No its in Pa, but not by much !  It is off of the Pa 94 / Md 30.  Pretty good fishing, I live like 5 minutes away.  I've fished there the past few days - & nothing to write home about but their in there somewhere !  There will be a bunch of shanty members there this Sat.   Come join us.

[Iceaddict]

does anybody know something about long arm creek reservoir,it's right next to sheppard meyer reservoir,couple miles down west.it it's just a lot bigger than SMR.i drove by this morning,it's frozen almost.i would like to try sometime ice fishin down there.

[Floater]

Sorry, I've eyeballed it on maps but haven't fished it.

Bob

[JuniataFisherman]

Hey Ltboy check the post under Pa reposts and conditions

[Floater]

Back to Sheppard-Meyer Reservoir, PA 2/16/04


Figuring the local MD ice might be a little thin, we put in a few hours of ice fishing at Sheppard-Meyer Reservoir yesterday.  Got a late start and got on the lake around 1:00 p.m., Drilled about 10 holes, thru 6"-10" of ice and set tip-ups out with either crawlers or mealworms for bait. The Bluebird skies didn't bode well for the fishing action, but the sun sure helps keep you warm. We tried some jigging but without success. The only fish caught was a pretty Rainbow Trout caught on a tip-up baited with a crawler on a circle hook. Interesting how the stocked PA Rainbows differ in appearance from the stocked MD ones.

There were about ten guys on the lake fishing, but only saw two fish caught by others while we were there, they were small LgMouths. Hope the guys that were out of view were doing better.

Genz I looked for you and Fat Boy, but never spotted you, did you manage to make it up? Hope that everyone made it out on the ice.

Bob

[Fat Boy]

Hey Bob.  We fished one of 2 ponds just NNE of Hanover, Glatco (or Haldeman) Ponds.  We caught a few fish, but looking back wished we'd have gone to Shep.  These ponds in the past have been good action for decent gills and a few crappie, but they were really tough this time.  Not sure why, never had a bad day there until yesterday.  Our decision to go there was a last second idea because we hadn't been there in 2 years, and we had been to Shep a half dozen times or more already.  Shouldn't take Shep for granted like that, it's a gem of a lake and I'll be hatin' life when the ice goes out.  Hope we'll get some fishin together soon.  If not during ice, then how about some spring perch (y or w) or crappie fishing on the Eastern Shore?  Did you guys hit the shore for ice action this winter?  I plum forgot about it.  I'd bet Unicorn would be good.

[Floater]

Kevin,

Good to hear from you. Every weekend that I wanted to hit the Eastern Shore the previous week had been in the 40's. Hate to waste an 1 1/2" hour drive only to find bad ice. I'm dying for a Pickerel though.

No Yellers on the PAX yet, we've tried for them the past two weekends. I'll give you a holler when they show.

Bob