[bobang]

Hi again,

Does anyone know what's being caught at the Smallwood park?

I had a fall picnic there about two month ago and saw many people fishing...hmm but I didn't see any fish being caught.

I would like to try there if it's a good place to be in this time of the year.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SurfMan]

Bobang,
I have not fished there this season, but last season TonyG and a good friend of mine fished there quite a bit. They told me that they did pretty well; some trout, spot, even some striper. This year has just been all around funny for upper bay fishing. Who really knows but good luck and tight lines,
- Surfman

 

[bobang]

Thanks Surfman,
I might go try there next week

 

[Wrong Way]

Are you referring to Fort Smallwood near Baltimore or Smallwood park? If it's Fort Smallwood, I've only fished there 2 times earlier this spring. The place has changed a lot and not too pleasant of a site as it use to be years ago. There were croakers, white perch, catfish and a few stripers caught. Haven't heard many reports since spring though.

 

[bobang]

Yes, I was referring to Ft. Smallwood

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Wrong Way]

Are they still making people camp overnight if you stay after 6pm? That's one thing I don't like about that place. If you're planning to stay anytime after 6pm, you have to stay until 8am the next morning since they lock everyone in. Never made any sense to me as to why they did that.

 

[bobang]

I may be wrong, but I think they also charge you like $14 if you decide to stay over night..

 

[littlefry]

What about emergency situations? I think locking folks in without emergency excess is a hazard to public safety.

 

[Wrong Way]

littlefry, I think if you're planning to stay the night, you're pretty much out of luck. I'm not sure there's a place to exit (by car or foot) after they close the fence. The bad part is most of the fishing action takes place once the park is locked down after sunset. This past spring, there was a big storm during the night and a bunch of people wanted to leave. They eventually unbolted the fence from the post and got out but the park should really setup something similar to SPSP with the road spikes. Too much of a hassle if you asked me and ever since I found out about SPSP, I would much rather fish there.

 

[Fishin']

I haven't fished Ft. Smallwood Park for a couple of years. Seem to recall it was around $6.00 entry for daytime fishing and, if you wanted to stay overnight it was $10 or $12 back then. Also, and this was in 2001, you could get out of the place if you needed to. They closed the exit gates, put a chain around them, but no lock. You were expected to close the gates and replace the chain. This was done to allow entry to emergency vehicles. I have no idea what they are doing now. One of the main reasons that I have never gone back is the demeanor of others who overnight there. Don't get me wrong, I'll take along a cooler with some cold brew on those hot evenings. However, when it comes to having falling down drunk types tripping over your rods, sandspikes, coolers, and taking a whiz against the tires of your vehicle, I draw the line. There was also trash all over the place and overflowing trash containers. Maybe it's changed. I seem to recall that back then there was a real effort underway for Anne Arundel County to purchase Ft. Smallwood Park, which was owned by Baltimore City. AA County wanted to fix the place up and maintain it, which is something that Baltimore City could not or would not do. The park offered pretty good cat fishing at night, with occasional stripers, blues, perch and spot.