Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 30 Update:
The Pocomoke remains a hotspot, with crazy-good perch and crappie fishing dominating its waters. Sea Hawk Sports Center let us know that crappie are biting steadily, eager to take pink 1/16 ounce curly-tailed jigs and chartreuse shad darts and Panfish Assassins. The best time to go after them has been early in the morning, especially if you’re hitting up one of the more popular weekend spots that might be a bit dry by midday. The dusk late afternoon bites are good as well. Tossing out minnows under a bobber will tempt them as well, and has been resulting with plenty of other species. While the bite has been primarily crappie-focused, pickerel, yellow perch, bass, and catfish are all showing up.
We didn’t hear anything from the winter snakehead hunters this week, but we did get reports of crappie in the Blackwater.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 24 Update:
The Wicomico and Pocomoke have been providing some of the best regional fishing available lately, with the upper trib waters full of pickerel, bass, yellow perch, and some crappie. Lower shore mill ponds have remained hot, too. Bass have been quick to hit Bass Assassins and spinnerbaits cast along edges and drop-offs during the morning, sometimes coming up in rapid succession. Anglers targeting pickerel have been finding them in along with the catch, as they’ll snag minnow suspended by a bobber as well. Yellow perch have typically been in deeper water, taking minnows near the bottom. As a general rule, deeper holes and channels are producing the most fish, particularly at the end of an outgoing tide and early in the flood.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 17 Update:
Fishing the upper tributaries of the Sounds this week, anglers enjoyed steady action and the thrill of never knowing what’s coming up on the end of their line. Bass, pickerel, and yellow perch have been active throughout its waters, all eager to scoop up a minnow dangled by a bobber. Bass have been taking soft plastics and swimbaits, as well. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow and Fishing Reports Editor Mollie Rudow headed to the Snow Hill area of the Pocomoke last weekend and were met with a steady flow of action despite windy conditions.
All three species came from the deeper waters of the main channels (mostly in six to 10 feet of water) and minnow suspended behind a white marabou jig proved a top offering. Road Runners were also effective, particularly on the pickerel.
Area anglers were also running over to the Blackwater during the past week. Remember that a sudden warm-up can trigger a snakehead bite very rapidly here – and this one certainly did. Most folks weren’t reporting huge numbers of fish, but lots of catches of three to six fish came in from anglers hitting the bridges last week. Minnow fished near bottom were the best bait but chatterbaits and swimbaits also took a few fish. We can expect that the abrupt change in the weather means it’ll be a lot tougher this weekend and for the immediate future, but keep a sharp eye on the predictions because it only takes a couple of warm, sunny days to kick it back into gear.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 10 Update:
Anglers in this neck of the woods are either running south to get in on the (catch and release) striper bite (more on that in the Way South report) or have switched from Bay to tribs, and the Pocomoke has been getting a lot of attention. The river is holding strong yellow perch, pickerel, bass, and crappie bites. Yellow perch and crappie have been hiding out in deep water and near structure. Although it’s often taking a bit of time to locate them, once you’re there, the bite is on. Most anglers have been using small shad darts tipped with a minnow or grass shrimp, however, small swimbaits in varying colors have been working as well. In the cuts and coves, pickerel have eagerly been taking minnows suspended by a bobber. Another good option in the near-by area is to hit the Eastern Shore millponds, which have also featured a strong bite for pickerel and bass plus some crappie.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 3 Update:
Welcome to 2020, anglers! We at FishTalk would like to wish everyone a happy new year and we hope you have some fabulous fishing adventures as a new season dawns. With all now quiet in the salty zone, area anglers are turning their attention to the up-river tributaries. FishTalk team member Zach Ditmars reports a solid bite going off in the Pocomoke, with a great mix of species including pickerel, yellow perch, crappie, and a surprising number of bass. Minnow worked well, three-inch plastic swimbaits worked very well, and using gold and dark green color patterns proved fruitful. He also noted that changing colors rapidly when not getting bites was key, because small variations in the lures he was pitching had a huge impact on success levels.
Also of note: if you have an ocean-worthy boat on a trailer, the folks at Alltackle mentioned that heading to the beach may be the move – big stripers have been chewing hard – but more on that in the Coastal reports.