Way North and Delaware Fishing Report, 11/30/2018 Update:
The temperatures are dropping, the fish seem to be leaving like it’s their job (instinct), and boats are being hauled out of their slips left and right. Thankfully, however, there are still some options to be had while fishing out in the northern regions of the Chesapeake right now, despite the cold weather that has been embracing us at this point of the season. We may not be embracing it back, mind you, and it’s certainly slowed the bite. Water clarity is also a huge issue that anglers are facing out there right now. If you find spots that have poor water clarity, you may want to take heed and move on. Trolling about the south portions of the flats with Spoonbrellas, of all things (not what we’d normally see up here!) has taken some fish recently. The reflective nature of those silver and gold spoons seems to help combat the reduced clarity, with the smaller sizes offering up better numbers rather than going big or going home. Anglers jigging soft plastics on 1.5 ounce jig heads in the mouth of the Susquehanna have also managed to find their way to some keeper fish, mostly by working in deep water.
Moving to some familiar fall faces, white perch have been biting a mess of things in the canal and around the mouth of the Sassafras, including bottom rigs with bloodworms and a variety of Perch Pounders and small jigs. Reports of a mix of whites and yellows have also come from the Gunpowder and Back Rivers. The yellows can be found around docks (as well as a white here and there) but you have to get the offerings deep to target the big schools of whites, because most of the fish have shifted to 20-foot-plus depths. If you decide to tie on a medium-sized spinnerbait and fish shallower areas, be on the lookout for the pickerel. They have been moving around the shorelines throughout the day to warm up, and are feeding especially on an outgoing tide.
Way North and Delaware Fishing Report, 11/22/2018 Update:
Happy Thanksgiving, anglers! Unfortunately, Conowingo Dam continues to release too much water for conditions to calm down much and while the Flats have seen some stripers, it’s not exactly a sure bet. Topwater has slowed to a stand-still but casting jigs in deeper areas can be productive. Shad Battery Shoal came up again this week, as a good place to scout for fish on the meter.
The perch bite has been a much better bet, particularly in the river mouths and in the C & D Canal, with white perch in deep waters hitting on top-and-bottom rigs baited with bloodworms, weighted Perch Pounders, and small two-inch Gulp twisters. Yellow perch have been caught with moderate success in the Elk river and are also showing up for anglers dropping minnow in northern tributaries from Middle River up. Don't sell the Middle short, as we've had a couple reports come in from dock anglers getting both yellows and whites plus a few throwback stripers in decent numbers. A steady pickerel bite has been found in some areas too, with the Sassafras noted as a hotspot last week.
Catfish, meanwhile, continue to be caught on almost anything you throw their way in both areas that they do and do not normally frequent.
Way North and Delaware Fishing Report, 11/16/2018 Update:
Water flooding through the Conowingo Dam just doesn’t want to slow down it seems, and that’s troublesome for anglers looking for a break in the recent conditions out on the water. The Flats had seen some stripers moving out and about, but between the weather and the water conditions many of the fish have begun moving to deeper areas and they’re hunkered down at the bottom foraging for the last remaining meal that they can gobble up. Topwater Spooks and plugs should only be pulled out of your tacklebox at dawn or dusk, and cast to skinny waters – though it's becoming more and more of a long-shot, there are still a few fish that will pounce on a surface plug while the sun is low in the sky. Casting over by the mouth of the Susquehanna will be the best bet (near the shallow portions), as well as checking out Shad Battery Shoal, which has been a good place to vertical jig if you find any schools on the meter.
The perch bite has been really good, particularly in the river mouths and in the C & D Canal, with white perch getting plinked in deeper waters on top-and-bottom rigs with bloodworms, as well as weighted perch pounders. Yellow perch have been caught with moderate success in the Elk river, alongside some freshwater counterparts. Those are also getting caught predominantly on bloodworms close to the shore, in five to 10 of water. Crappie and catfish have had a good bite recently, too. The catfish are being caught on almost anything you throw their way, but packed baits and bunker strips are good options too for the large ones. Crappie in the 10 inch range are not rare up here, and many are being caught on drifted minnows. If you’re going after them in the Sassafras, there have been more reports of pickerel populating in that area, giving you double the reward if you head out that way and locate the fish. The forecasts aren’t showing signs of this cold spell letting up, so get out there while you can.
Way North and Delaware Fishing Report, 11/9/2018 Update:
The weather has not been working with us here, people. The recent temperatures and rainfall earlier in the week has made the waters up in the northern end of the Bay even more murky. This is going to lead anglers to mostly limited success with just a few methods. Trolling hasn’t exactly been the best way to catch fish up north, unlike the rest of the Bay. But, if you do find some clearer water, try skipping white bucktails off the bottoms of deep drop offs to look for larger fish, which are feeding on the bottom before their big push to the south. Areas like the drop off of the west side of the Susquehanna Flats or the opening of the Susquehanna River (find the deep channel ledges) are both excellent places to get the ball rolling. Anglers are also using pink and chartreuse plastic tails with 1.5-ounce GI jig heads to entice those stripers to pounce. Fishing along the structures just outside of the west boat ramp has been a good place to start. After this, you may want to move a bit farther east along the Flats to continue the search. Topwater is really slowing down, but if you still want to use a plug, try a spook style rather than a popper.
Freshwater fishing farther up the Susquehanna has been a possibility when searching for large and smallmouth using GULP lures in the new salmon-red color. A few musky and pickerel have also been caught through the system up there as cool water species are starting to take over, so keep a lookout for those. A few anglers have been catching them with large flies, or from drifting bull minnows under a popper. Again, these guys are going to be closer up towards the dam areas so keep that spot on reserve. If all else fails, the channel catfish are still as prevalent as before.
The temperatures outside have remained erratic and so has the fishing in many areas. Topwater at daybreak continues to produce some fish but between last week’s re-opening of the floodgates (granted on a smaller scale than earlier this year) and the rain expected today, areas in the Susquehanna and around the Flats can’t be expected to improve much in the coming few days. Many area anglers have been making the move south and focusing on Upper Bay areas like the Tolchester zone and that will likely continue to be a good move for the immediate future.
Trolling up north in clear water has been working as has jigging, but don’t think for a moment the chumming bite is over – it isn’t. Those fishing with artificials have been on the look-out for birds while those using bait have been setting up along the channel edges and drop-offs. The action hasn’t yet hit full fall stride and many of the schools being located under birds are small fish, but there are some keepers around if you work for ‘em. Unfortunately, though, with the weather moving in fishing will likely be something of crap shoot over the next few days. Remember that in off-colored water lure color choice is very important (the rule of thumb: match lure color to water color) and as has been true for much of the recent past, when fishing the rivers those locating areas of clear water will likely do best.