Loch Raven Reservoir

Loch Raven Reservoir is the 2,400-acre Baltimore City water-supply lake just north of the Beltway near Towson, the closest of the city's reservoirs to downtown. DNR calls largemouth bass its dominant predator, with many quality-size fish, and it's the Baltimore area's northern pike lake, where pike near 40 inches are caught. It also has chain pickerel, white and yellow perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye and some smallmouth. Snakeheads arrived around 2020, and anglers are asked to kill any they catch.

When to fish

• Spring through October: the season at the Baltimore County fishing center, which opens in early April and closes after October.
• Late fall and winter: DNR notes pike and chain pickerel like cold water; pickerel hold near sunken wood in fall and winter, and anglers catch big pickerel and pike from November to February from shore.
• Early summer: crappie around structure and white perch.

Where to fish

• Shoreline cover: the Fish & Hunt Maryland guide says to cast to branches, fallen trees and lily pads along the banks.
• Sunken wood: for chain pickerel in the cold months.
• The fishing platform on the Dulaney Valley Road bridge: the only bridge you're allowed to fish from.
• Designated shore areas around the reservoir: park on Loch Raven Drive near Morgan Mill and Providence Roads; shore fishing isn't allowed at the fishing center itself.

How to fish it

The fly-fishing guide suggests poppers, frog patterns and minnow imitations for largemouth, small poppers and buggers for panfish, and larger minnow patterns for smallmouth and pike. The county's fishing center sells live bait and tackle for bass, perch and pike.

Getting there

The Loch Raven Fishing Center, 12101 Dulaney Valley Road in Phoenix, is the only ramp: take Dulaney Valley Road north from I-695 over the reservoir. It rents electric-motor jon boats, rowboats and kayaks, and sells seasonal launch permits for private boats; only electric motors or paddles are allowed. City rules allow fishing from sunrise to sunset, from boats March through December and from designated banks all year, with no ice fishing. You need a Maryland nontidal fishing license.