Freshwater Fishing Report, March 26 Update:
Spring trout stockings are going great guns, with some states pouring trout overboard to the tune of around 10,000 fish a day at times. Contributor Eric Packard got in on this action at a Calvert County stocked pond, where he caught 15 rainbows in a short morning of fly casting with a small yellow streamer. To find the nearest stockers in your immediate area, check the web pages:
Note that in Maryland Closure 1 and 2 areas open beginning at 5:30 a.m. this Saturday. These areas should be just about plugged with fish, waiting for your own personal frying pan. The stockers will hit a wide range of offerings so don’t hesitate to try spinners, flies, or whatever strikes your fancy, but Berkley Trout Nuggets on a hook weighted with a single split-shot is a tough offering to beat. Check out Fishing for Beginners: Rainbow Trout and How to Catch Spring Trout to learn the basics if you’re new to this fishery and you want to give it a shot.
Reader reports from the reservoirs indicate that the fish are still in early spring mode, but the action has been amped up a bit with the recent warm weather. Crappie and bass are hanging at drop-offs in the four- to 10-foot zone, but should be expected to slide shallower as water temps continue to warm and the fish enter pre-spawn mode. Swimbaits and deep-divers have been effective on both species, with one reader checking in to note that marabou jigs were doing the trick for good numbers of crappie.
River reports: There are perch and shad running in many areas, and a great catfish bite continues (just about everywhere). Since the spring runs are a bit different depending on how much your local area has warmed up at this point and we didn’t want to re-hash the same reports, we kept these segregated by the different geographic report areas this week. Check the different Bay-area reports, to see what’s happening close to your neck of the woods.
With the weather warming up, it’s finally time to dedicate some space to a snakehead report once again: It’s still a bit early to hope for big numbers, but some anglers have experienced limited success already. We had a couple check-ins from Blackwater after having some slow but steady days last week, catching a few snakes (the best number we heard was five) here and there mostly on minnow. On the Western side they’ve begun to wake up and contributor Eric Packard reported he and another angler spent an afternoon casting paddle-tails rigged weedless, which generated two strikes with one snakehead landed. We weren’t able to confirm any snake success in the Potomac, the Rap, or the other western-side rivers known for good numbers of ‘em, which leads us to believe that they need a bit more warm-up time as these waterways have been running several degrees cooler than the shallower waters of Blackwater. Maryland anglers: don’t forget that Angler’s Sport Center has their Monster Snakehead Hunt kicking off April 5 and running through April 25. Unlike most tournaments, the way you get in on this one is by buying fishing gear (awwww, shucks!) Pay a visit to Angler’s and purchase $175 in Shimano products by April 4 and you’re in the running, so swing by there and get a shot at the $7,500 cash pay-out.
Freshwater Fishing Report, March 19 Update:
The switch back to chillier weather seemed to have hit the pause switch this week in a number of northern area reservoirs, ponds, and lakes. FishTalk sharpie David Rudow spent an afternoon floating on Unicorn lake but only managed to catch a couple smallish pickerel (on minnow). Contributor Eric Packard hit Tridelphia reservoir mid-week, discovered a water temp of just 43 degrees, and then had to endure the “drive of shame” back home after catching a skunk.
Freshwater anglers seem to be faring a bit better farther south. Apex Predators from Fredericksburg checked in to let us know the crappie bite was hot on the Potomac’s feeders. At Lake Anna, readers reported a decent bass bite working jigs and jigging spoons near bottom off underwater points at cove mouths and also along some of the deeper docks, and a few stripers being caught near the state park. And Ocean’s East in Virginia Beach also mentioned that the freshwater fishing scene is on fire in their neck of the woods. Transition areas between two and 10 feet of water have been producing plenty of yellow perch, white perch, crappie, and pickerel in that zone.
Clyde’s Sport Shop let us know that the Eastern Shore millponds, especially those around Cambridge and Salisbury, continue to produce pickerel and perch. While the bite isn’t excellent, they mentioned that it sure is better than any freshwater fishing on the Western Shore right now.
As for the spring trout fishery: Closure areas One and Two are shut down in Maryland for put-and-take trout anglers until March 27th, but Closure Zero areas remain open. They continue to be stocked with rainbow, golden, and brown trout. You can check out current closures and stocking schedules in Maryland here.
In Virginia, trout continue to be stocked across the state. Including from last October to May 31st, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources hatchery staff will have stocked nearly one million catchable fish into 200 waterways throughout Virginia. If you’d like to check out the stocking schedule and what’s going on in your area, more information on VA trout stocking can be found here. Anglers fishing the waters that the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources hatchery staff have stocked already are also enjoying plentiful, consistent catches.
Tributary river reports can be found in each report zone, but we can nutshell it for freshwater anglers who fish the river runs: shad are on in the southern tribs but are just getting started in the northern areas FishTalk covers; yellow perch have been in spawning areas for a couple of weeks and action has ranged from utterly on fire to nada depending on weather and tides; and white perch are just beginning to get into the action and this week were (for the most part) still mostly downstream of spawning areas.
Freshwater Fishing Report, March 12 Update:
The chill in the air early this week slowed things up a bit for some freshwater anglers, and Contributor Eric Packard checked in after fishing St. Mary’s Lake, Mallows Bay, and Allen’s Fresh, and had fairly slow action with a few bass and pickerel in the mix and water temps still in the 40s. However, Packard hit Allen’s Fresh later in the week and reported that the yellow perch bite had totally popped off, with great catches (dozens of fish) on a minnow and shad dart. Fishing Reports Editor Mollie Rudow and Dinghy Sailor Ryan Gullang also hit St. Mary’s Lake this week, where they caught a largemouth bass and a pickerel over the course of two hours. They also spoke with a few other anglers on the shoreline, only one of whom had caught. He reported two small pickerel in the weedy cove near the dam, both caught on minnows. We’re hoping that like with Allen’s Fresh, the warm weather we experienced late the week will set the fish off for the weekend, which is shaping up to be just slightly cooler.
In freshwater headwaters virtually all of the Bay tribs that support runs, yellow perch reports are steadily improving as the temperatures rise. Minnow fished on shad darts have generally been the best bait, with success levels varying a bit from one area to another (check the different Bay area reports for more details) and often bass and/or pickerel are mixed into the catch. In the southern rivers (the Rap and down) that see shad, the first of the spring run have begun popping up as well. Farther up the rivers above the fall lines the water is high but mostly settled out thanks to a lull in the precipitation. As a result, both bass and crappie fishing have been on the upswing.
Late breaking news today for Delaware anglers, the state will be opening some trout waters early to avoid creating big crowds along the shorelines. Get the details at Delaware's trout webpage. Since the Maryland DNR has already stocked over 55,000 trout this year, trout anglers are enjoying excellent fishing when conditions (and seasonal openings) allow. Anglers fishing put-and-take should be aware that Closure 1 trout management areas are closed to fishing from March 7 until March 27, and Closure 2 areas will be closed from March 21 to March 27. Closure 0 areas remain open at all times. Here’s some more information about closures and where those 55,000 trout went. In Virginia, DNR trout stocking is also ongoing. You can check out more information about what’s going on with the Virginia trout scene here. If you’re interested in trout fishing in Maryland or Virginia waters, remember that both require an additional stamp/license for trout (with some exceptions in VA).
Freshwater Fishing Report, March 5 Update:
The yellow perch run has lit up, people! Multiple reports have been flowing in from traditional Eastern Shore spring run hotspots including Hillsboro, Greensboro, Stoney Point, Red Bridges, Watts Creek, the Potomac creeks, the northern creeks, etc. etc. etc., of solid catches. Minnow on shad darts, sometimes cast and retrieved, sometimes under bobbers, and sometimes on bottom rigs, have been the best offering. We also had a report of grass shrimp hooked through the nose on a shad dart and hopped across bottom doing the trick. A reminder: if you’re into the fish hot and heavy, consider releasing the fat females and keeping the skinnier males. There’s not a huge difference in the amount of meat, and the more females that get to spawn, the better off we’ll all be. Also consider how many you really need to take home, as four or five fish will provide a meal to most families and the legal limit of 10 is more than most folks need for dinner. On the flip side, we do want to mention that we also had reports from a couple of readers who struck out this week. All were fishing tidal areas on high water, so it seems that being there on a low or falling tide can make a big difference. If you haven't seen it yet, check out our yellow perch spring run how-to video:
Additionally, with the weather warming up a bit and spring within sight the Eastern Shore millponds are on fire. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow and Contributor Eric Packard report that the pickerel were pouncing on large minnow under bobbers all last weekend, plenty of bass were mixed in, and when small minnow were deployed on small marabou jigs or darts, crappie were also biting in good numbers. The bulk of the fish were still out in open water and had not yet shifted to shoreline or spawning territory, although the pickerel numbers in upper-lake areas near the feeders was on the rise. By the way, as of the latest reports Deep Creek still had ice as of last weekend. Temps trending upwards indicate that this won’t be the case for much longer, but if you hurry out west you might still get a chance! Just be careful and test the ice to be sure you still have three inches or more before setting out.
Again, here’s a big old shout-out to the Maryland DNR: in Allegany County they stocked 1,500 golden and rainbow trout in Jennings Run and 500 golden and rainbow trout in the North Jennings Run Watershed this week. Additionally, Morgan Run in Carroll County received 1,000 brown and rainbow trout and 2,000 brown trout were added to the Casselman River in Garrett County. More trout are going into the water daily so visit the Maryland stocking page to learn more. Virginia anglers have trout going overboard, too, in too darn many places to list out here — see the Virginia trout stocking page for the details.