Little Seneca Lake (Black Hill Regional Park)

Little Seneca Lake is the 505-acre lake at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds, near Germantown in Montgomery County, an electric-motors-only lake with trophy bass rules, an accessible fishing pier and boat rentals. Montgomery Parks lists largemouth bass, catfish, bluegill, crappie and tiger muskie as its most common fish. It has also become one of the best places in the Washington suburbs to catch Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead): DNR found them at 11 of 12 sites it sampled in 2023.

When to fish

• Year-round from shore: the park allows shoreline fishing all year, sunrise to sunset.
• March 1 to December 15: private boats with a park permit.
• May through September: rental rowboats, canoes and kayaks.
• Late spring and summer: snakehead season; DNR reports big fish caught on soft frogs.

Where to fish

• The fishing pier at Black Hill Regional Park: accessible, and a good start for shore anglers.
• Around the lake by boat or kayak: the park's self-guided water trail map covers the lake.

How to fish it

For snakeheads, DNR reports success casting soft frogs; it's illegal to keep a Channa alive, and DNR asks anglers to remove (kill) any they catch rather than release them. Special bass rules protect a middle size range, so check the guide before you keep a bass.

Getting there

Black Hill Regional Park is at 20930 Lake Ridge Drive, Boyds, and is open sunrise to sunset. Private boats need a daily or seasonal Montgomery Parks permit and may use only electric motors; there's a ramp and a kayak launch. You need a Maryland nontidal fishing license.