Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 29 Update:
Panfish action is sustaining the local fishery right now — in the protected waters of upriver areas, anglers are enjoying crappie, pickerel, and yellow perch bites. The crappie bite has been particularly good. Sea Hawk reported that slow trolled minnow tipped with 1/16-oz curl tail jigs in four to 15 feet of water were producing best. Pickerel are also taking the bait, and yellow perch are hitting in deeper areas where feisty minnow will entice them.
We realize that this week's reports are unusually thin, but that sometimes happens in the middle of the winter. The following is a public service announcement that has nothing at all to do with us trying to come up with more than a single sad paragraph for the entire report. Nothing at all (ahem): Please remember as we’re experiencing frigid temperatures, wearing a life jacket and paying attention to boating safety have an incredible level of importance. Make sure your life jacket is suited for your size and the appropriate buoyancy rating for your excursion. Additionally, always, always, always go fishing with a buddy and make sure that someone is aware of your plan for the day. in low-40-degree water temperatures, individuals who fall in generally have only 10 to 20 minutes depending on their age, gender, weight, and submersion level before losing all coordination and muscle strength. It’s important to be able to spot the signs of hypothermia: sleepiness, clumsiness, confusion, slurred speech, shivering, a weak pulse, low blood pressure, and a body temperature below 96 degrees. Stay safe out there - and we're hoping you'll find some fish.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 21 Update:
Heading up the tidal rivers continues to be an excellent option, for a mixed bag of crappie, yellow perch, bass, and pickerel. Sea Hawk noted that some days the bite’s on the slow side, but working a small twister tipped with a minnow along bottom at the channel edges has been producing fish. Yellow perch have been providing the best action.
That jibes with AIC Lenny Rudow’s report he gave after running up the Pocomoke one day mid-week. He said the perch were sitting on bottom in eight to 10 feet of water and at times were providing extremely light, finicky bites, but would tentatively take shad darts with lip-hooked minnow. He also mentioned that oddly, the fish showed a clear preference for darts slowly dragged right across the bottom — not hopped or hovered — and that 90-percent of the (limit up to 13.5” perch) came that way. He also said a few bass and pickerel were in the mix and that pink or white shad darts seemed to do best, but color wasn’t a huge factor. Last of the outgoing was prime time.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 15 Update:
Sea Hawk reported that some areas of the sound tributaries were busy during the end of this week, when frigid temps weren’t deterring anglers from hitting the water. Pickerel, yellow perch, bass, and crappie can be found far up the tribs. The Pocomoke is holding especially impressive numbers of crappie and yellow perch — anglers targeting them with minnows are enjoying steady bites, and pickerel are occasionally in the mix. Sea Hawk recommended using curly tail 1/16 oz jigs tipped with a small minnow, in six to 12 feet of water during the first of the flood tide. Fishing the jigs deep seems to be producing better results.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 7 Update:
Anglers hitting the millponds report steady success, on a wide range of species. AIC Lenny Rudow reported that last weekend in Salisbury the mix included pickerel, crappie, bass, and yellow perch, and he notes that crappie in the 11- to 13-inch range have been rivaling the pickerel numbers recently. Minnow on a white marabou jig continue getting bites. However, Contributor Eric Packard (who we must note kicked Lenny’s butt last weekend, pulling in two pickerel over 25-inches while Lenny topped-out at 24-inches) had the best success slow-trolling a dark green three-inch paddletail.
In the upper branches of the Wicomico and Pocomoke, some of the best fishing in the area is available. The upper-trib waters are chock-full of pickerel, bass, yellow perch, and some crappie. 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. Occasionally, anglers are finding bass under branchy areas as well. Yellow perch have typically been in deeper water. taking minnows near the bottom.
As we move into 2021, we’d like to thank all of our readers who have contributed their reports to FishTalk and those that have supported us by reading them. We love hearing from you and featuring the photos and reports from our readers who make FishTalk possible. If you’d like to send in your own reports, feel free to email lenny@fishtalkmag.com!
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 1 Update:
Welcome to 2021 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. This week saw reduced reports thanks to weather, the holidays, and reduced tackle shop hours. That said, it’s time to head up the rivers an inland to the millponds, which are holding strong yellow perch, pickerel, bass, and crappie bites. On the final day of 2020, Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow and Dinghy Sailor Ryan Gullang headed to the waters in and around Salisbury and slammed all these species. Although it took a bit of time to locate them, once there, the bite was on using small shad darts tipped with a minnow, and small swimbaits in varying dark colors. Contributor Eric Packard hit a millpond slightly to the north, and had similar action from bass and pickerel.
