Freshwater Fishing Report, May 29 Update:
Bass are all over the reservoirs and we had no less than a dozen readers this week send us pictures of largemouth. Many were caught on plastic worms and several mentioned that natural brown is a good color right now. Dylan Waters let us know that he fished a Calvert County lake this weekend, and had a steady afternoon bite using soft plastic baits. Baby bass colored flukes and critter baits fished slowly, weightlessly and with weights, were getting the bass to hit. Most bass were sticking close to submerged timber and structure, as has been the tale throughout most of the lakes and reservoirs. Eric Packard reported success at St. Mary’s lake this weekend, and the Tackle Box mentioned that crappie and pickerel have been loving the cool, cloudy days. Liberty, Wheatly Lake, Lake Anna, Prettyboy, Piney Run, Loch Raven, Western Branch, and Smithville Lake also had good largemouth catches this week. In other words: bass are in post-spawn feeding mode and fishing for them is officially on fire!
We also heard from trout anglers that water levels are on the high side but have stabilized after the last big batch of rains, and the western and northern streams and rivers holding brookies and browns are producing plenty of fish on both nymphs and dry flies. One reader checked in after a trip to the Shenandoah near but not in the Port Republic area, to say the water wasn’t perfect yet but smallmouth were hitting Rebel Wee Craws with abandon.
Snakeheads appear to currently be in spawning mode. They’re hanging out in shallow, grassy areas and can be tempted by topwater, and a few were reported on minnow this week, but overall the bite was a bit depressed and many anglers hitting Blackwater reported just a fish or three for their efforts. That should mean that the time to look for fry balls is just about here — when you spot one, pound on it for the reaction strike.
Freshwater Fishing Report, May 22 Update:
Fewer anglers have been headed out to our local ponds, reservoirs, and lakes recently due to the opening of striped bass season and the deteriorating weather. However, B&B Tackle let us know that if you’ve got a hankering for just one more crappie day before they slow down, heading out to get them right now is worth a shot. Cooler than average water temperatures are causing them to remain active. They’ve been snapping up shad darts and little spinners throughout region. While cool water temps are extending the spring the crappie fishery, the bass bite has been a bit tougher than usual at times. Several readers have noted in reports that the fishing was slow for them this week, and the unsettled weather probably accounts for that more than anything else. Of course, there are still plenty of other options; Contributor Eric Packard took a trip to the upper Potomac with a friend this week and they landed two monster muski, plus had a third chase the lure right to the boat while giving it a figure-eight.
Towards the western zone of our region, reports from Deep Creek are of an improving walleye bite, and Mossy Creek is reporting good smallmouth action as theses river-dwellers are on the spawn. Some southern areas, however, get pounded pretty hard by the recent weather and are currently a wash-out. Smith Mountain Lake is thoroughly over-filled and as we compiled this report most of its docks were underwater. Reports from Lake Anna indicate better conditions but cold, windy weather that still made fishing difficult this week. Bass are in post-spawn mode, and can be found on underwater points and transitions in the five- to 10-foot range. Diving crankbaits have been a good bet.
Snakehead anglers had been doing well recently before the foul weather moved in, particularly on the Eastern Shore. FishTalk Team Member Zach Ditmars hit the Blackwater along with a crew of kayakers (including Packard—does this guy ever not fish for a day?) and experienced stellar action. Ditmars said the best fishing was found when they paddled far from the crowds and hit waters not often fished by many anglers. Packard added that top offerings were four-inch white swimbaits fished with very little weight.
Although it overlaps a bit with the Way North report, we also want to note that shad had come on in the creeks feeding the Susquehanna. What the incoming weather does to that bite we can’t predict.
Freshwater Fishing Report, May 15 Update:
As with anglers in all areas this week, freshwater fishing was made a bit difficult with all the wind. On top of that in the rivers some areas still have rather high flows, although this week mercifully brought a lot less rain than the weeks prior. Mossy Creek is reporting that clarity levels in the rivers and streams to the west have improved markedly. Smallmouth are hitting in pools and eddies, and brookies are hitting nymphs.
Reservoir anglers had it tough this week with all the wind, though bass are in post-spawn mode now and are hitting at transition points and drop-offs in the five- to 10-foot range. Those hitting smaller ponds and lakes with a bit more shelter from the wind had it a little better recently. Contributor Eric Packard hit several southern MD ponds via kayak this week and also probed a couple of Eastern Shore millponds, and found the bass very willing to hit four-inch white swimbaits and Rat-L-Traps. He encountered some pickerel as well including one very big one that broke him off and left him “licking his wounds.” He also noted that crappie and bluegill in the ponds were more than willing to eat micro-jigs tipped with worm bits.
Snakehead sharpies also reported some difficulties with the wind this week, particularly on the Eastern Shore, as the wind blew out the water and in some areas prime snake spots were exposed mud. When and where water could be found, however, the fish were on the feed despite the lack of warming temps. However, topwater wasn’t the top pick this week and minnow, spinners, spinnerbaits, and swimbaits were all reported to be effective. Scattered reports (mostly of one to three fish but also a four and a five) on the western side came from: The Gunpowder, Back River, Belle Grove, the Magothy (yes, the Magothy — two singles), the Potomac creeks, and the Mattaponi. Anglers had much better numbers at Blackwater this week (the biggest figure we heard was 14) but only on the days that weren't shut down entirely by the lack of water.
Freshwater Fishing Report, May 8 Update:
Maryland’s freshwater anglers can rejoice: as of Thursday, May 7th at 7:00 a.m., recreational fishing activities including catch-and-release fishing opened up again. While this is great, there are still a few restrictions still in place. Anglers are expected to abide by social distancing guidelines, and maintain family groups with fewer than 10 individuals while on boats. Fishing tournaments remain prohibited, but the Department of Natural Resources has reopened fishing piers that had been closed and social distancing must also be practiced while fishing from piers or shore. All normal rules and regulations regarding fishing must be followed, including creel limits, gear restrictions, and seasons.
Most rivers and streams muddied by the rain pounding our entire region from Delaware clear down through Virginia hadn’t cleared out in time for anglers to get us any good reports this week, and it seems that many freshwater anglers have turned their attention to the snakehead bite. It’s been fairly consistent this week despite the flat-lining temperatures, though the incoming cold could have an unfortunate impact. Frogs, poppers, topwater lures, and chatterbaits have been the offerings of choice. As usual the Blackwater zone is a favorite, although on nice days public areas are still becoming rather crowded. There were a good number of reports from the Western side this week too, from areas that don’t have much waterflow and weren’t too muddied up. Contributor Eric Packard spent some time at the Potomac creeks and while he did put a very nice snake in the yak, found a lot more bass that were willing to bite than snakeheads.
Reservoir and lake reports are particularly thin this week, thanks to wind making life difficult on bodies of water boat anglers can still access, and a lack of shoreline access at many other areas. It does not look like the weather will ease up any time real soon on the reservoirs but fortunately, with Maryland lifting some fishing restrictions as of yesterday, more options are now available. We did hear from a reader on Deep Creek who said he’d begun catching yellow perch off his dock, and from another who spent time at an undisclosed lake in the Richmond area and said bass were in post-spawn mode and hitting diving crankbaits on drop-offs from five to 10 feet.
Freshwater Fishing Report, May 1 Update:
Standard COVID-fishing disclosure, folks: wherever you live, there are probably some restrictions in place and some waterways made inaccessible. Our Social Distancing While Fishing page has links to the different state authority webpages with the latest info and updates on when, where, and how fishing can be done. With many businesses still closed, again we say thanks to all you readers who sent in reports and pictures. Please keep them coming to lenny@fishtalkmag.com.
Pick your river: the James, the Gunpowder, the Susquehanna… it doesn’t matter much. Unfortunately, with all the recent rains hitting the region on top of already-swollen waterways and saturated ground, you can’t count on finding decent conditions in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. Same goes for you trout-lovers who might have headed westward in the next few days. The best we can say is to hope for our waterways to be cleared out by mid-week, and remember that catfish are still an option as they’ll often bite even when the waters are murky and high.
Anglers looking for bass should be able to find some biting in reservoirs and lakes that don’t see too much flow, and we had a slew of solid reader reports from bass anglers this week all around the dial. Tim R. got ‘em in southern VA, Eric P. did well in southern Maryland, and Dave R. got ‘em north of Baltimore. One interesting tidbit we heard was that in some areas the water was already off-color from last week’s runoff, and dark colors were working well. Flukes, swimbaits, and wacky worms in root-beer brown, and black with red speckles got the mentions.
The past week has been an interesting one for snakehead hunters, too. We didn’t hear much from the western side other than one caught (on a chatterbait) by Contributor Eric Packard in Mallows Bay, and on the eastern side numbers seemed somewhat depressed with most anglers catching between a pair and a handful (though we did have one report of nine). But once again, some fish in the 10-pound-plus range were caught. This may be a symptom of the slow-down in the weather’s warm-up and this is the third week running, so it seems like a good bet that when the sun starts shining and the water temps get a bump, there should be a lot of very, very hungry snakes out there suddenly putting on the feed bag. We should also note that once again we heard that last weekend several areas in the Blackwater and its surrounding river access points had enough people to make social distancing difficult.