Freshwater Fishing Report, April 28 Update:
Spring is a great time for freshwater anglers as many fish are spawning and eager to bite a variety of lures. Contributor Eric Packard said there’s a great bite cranking up in the reservoirs, and last week in one day he caught a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, crappie, and a 20-inch walleye at Tridelphia. The fish took a wide range of lures including wacky worms, spinnerbaits, paddletails, and crankbaits. The fish were staging in three to 10 feet of water near partially submerged trees and off points. Another angler bank fishing Tridelphia this week caught his personal best largemouth weighing just under six pounds and coming in at 21 inches. His fish was caught on a spinnerbait while casting along the bank.
On the trout front, Mossy Creek reports that the mountain brook trout streams are seeing a lot of insect activity, but conditions are low just about everywhere. Rain is in the forecast this weekend, so water levels should be on the rise. They say there are still a few caddis popping and some other larger mayflies hatching. The low clear conditions this month have allowed for some excellent dry fly fishing. Mossy Creek recommends trying a dry dropper to prospect around when insects aren't on the water. Sculpins, darters, dace, chubs, and crayfish are active, and the big fish will react well to these when they aren't looking up for dry flies. AIC Lenny Rudow went west to the trout zone early this week, on the hunt for Cassleman and Savage River fish on the fly, and reports that… it was cold out there! The trout thought so, too, and provided a timid bite mostly deep in holes on nymphs weighted down via split-shot. Rudow says there's no possibility whatsoever that he was out-fished by both Zach Ditamars and the Fish and Hunt Maryland crew... none whatsoever.
We had two snakehead-hunting readers check in from the west side after fishing undisclosed Chesapeake tribs, both saying the bite was tough. One drew a skunk, and the other reported that several fish he saw were unwilling to eat but a lone 27-incher slammed a white soft plastic. Captain Mike with Apex Predators guide service let us know that despite the colder weather this week, the snakeheads were still biting on the Potomac. Last weekend he went out with a fellow angler and caught seven fish, the largest around the 30-inch mark. He also spent a few hours searching for snakes one afternoon in the middle of the week and landed four, two smalls and two in the mid 20s. His biggest catch of the week was a giant 35-inch snakehead that hit the scale at just under 14 pounds. He noted that the fish would have weighed more but he could tell it recently spawned out. Most of his fish have been caught on custom soft plastic creature baits that Apex is making.
Freshwater Fishing Report, April 21 Update:
Snakeheads continue to provide on-again/off-again action but anglers targeting them have reported an overall increase in action with the warmer spring temperatures heating up our waterways. The fish are moving shallower and the topwater bite has greatly improved. One reader checked in after hitting the Eastern Shore haunts over the weekend and reported just one snake in the box, plus some bass and crappie, and he noted that spawning carp were causing a serious ruckus and seemed to be shutting down some of the other species. He spoke to a number of kayak anglers back at the launch and they all reported a similar level of action. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow says the snakeheads were biting in creeks off the Patuxent just below Wayson’s Corner this week, starting off slow but hitting white flukes from about noon on. Largemouth bass were in the mix, too.
Thanks to the early spring warmth reservoir fishing has been solid. Contributor Eric Packard noted good action at Tridelphia one day and at St. Mary’s Lake another, catching plenty of bass plus a crappie and a pickerel, and also had a couple of pike on at Tridelphia but both came unbuttoned. He said a red square-bill crankbait was the hot lure in both waterways. Crappie have been biting good in local ponds and lakes as they begin to spawn. One angler fishing a private lake in Calvert County reported catching his personal best crappie while fishing with live minnows. The fish was 17 and ½ inches and weighed in at one pound 13 ounces. Another pond angler reported multiple were bass hitting and said he already saw some in the 12- to 15-inch range staging in the shallows. The DC tidal basin and headwaters of Oxon Creek have also seen good crappie action recently. Live minnows under a bobber are working best but small jigs are catching them too.
Many western and central counties in Maryland were stocked with trout this week. The weather has been great for trout fishing and there should still be plenty of holdovers from previous stockings at other lakes, ponds, and streams. Unfortunately, we got some reports of algae taking over some of the smaller trout ponds, making it hard for anglers to fish effectively. Keep that in mind when heading out this week. Virginia trout stockings are right on schedule this week as well with tiger, brook, brown, and rainbow trout being stocked at various locations. Check the Maryland DNR trout stocking website and the Virginia DWR trout stocking website for the latest information.
Freshwater Fishing Report, April 13 Update:
It looks like bass are bedding early in lakes and ponds that warmed up fast, and Contributor Eric Packard reports that he’s been getting plenty of action from juvenile bass (as well as some crappie and pickerel) recently, but larger bass have become tougher to come by. He also noted that after rain there’s been some silty water in the upper ends of coves in some lakes, and he’s caught best just outside of the silt line. One inch crawfish-color square-bill crankbaits have remained highly effective.
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow says he (finally!) wet a line last weekend, but the cooler temps we had back then did seem to tamp down the bite a bit. Fishing in the upper Marshyhope where the week before an angler had caught numerous bass and white perch, just a couple of sunfish and one bass were caught. A black Beetle Spin and a shad dart were the ticket. He also said that later in the week the snakeheads in the upper reaches of the Patuxent and its tributaries were hitting white flukes. The fish weren’t very interested in eating but a cast right on top of their head triggered an attack about half the time (the other half the time they spooked).
Walleye season opens on April 15th for Deep Creek Lake and goes to a 15-inch minimum size limit with no upper slot limit on the Potomac. The bass and pike bite at Deep Creek has improved with the warming temperatures. Now is a great time to fish the lake before the summer crowds and boat traffic make fishing difficult. Small Rapala lures are great to throw along steep rocky shorelines in the lake while soft plastic jigs and crankbaits are good options when targeting deeper areas in the upper Potomac.
The Lower Bay tribs from the Potomac south are enjoying prime shad run action right now. Contributor Eric Packard and two readers checked in with reports of 15 to 40 fish afternoons, caught while casting shad dart/spoon combos. Silver spoons were highlighted as a top lure. Trout season is well underway too, and stockings are still happening in many areas. The warm spring temperatures are offering some great weather to head out to local streams and lakes to target these fish. It is also a great opportunity to take young anglers out and introduce them to the sport. Check the Maryland DNR trout stocking website and the Virginia DWR trout stocking website for the latest information.
Freshwater Fishing Report, April 7 Update:
Spring is always an exciting time to target freshwater species as they prepare for their spawn. We checked in with freshwater correspondent Jim Gronaw for the latest happenings around the region. He says that bass, crappie and bluegills are moving up and crappie should spawn in many waters once the water hits 60 degrees and maintains that temperature. While targeting the crappie, Jim recommends using smaller one to one and a half inch plastics in the backwaters, shallow brush areas, and spillways to entice these spawning slabs.
There are still plenty of stocked trout in locations throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It seems that these agencies stocked a fair number of large breeders this year based on various reports. Jim was lucky enough to catch a 27-inch, eight-pound rainbow in a southern PA lake to start off his trout season. We have seen many other anglers land fish close to this caliber along with the usual class size of fish in many of the stocked areas. Stay up to date on stocking information by checking the Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania trout stocking pages.
Largemouth bass are also responding to increased water temperatures as the spawn approaches. Many fish will spawn early this year due to the exceptionally mild winter and coinciding heat and moon phase, and Contributor Eric Packard said that yesterday he observed some bass already bedding in a small pond that warmed up fast. Last weekend wind and weather was a major impediment, but we heard from two anglers who fished just after the blow that some bass were biting; one noted that a dark blue/silver flake plastic worm on a Texas rig did the job in a local pond. After the weather settled out a bit Packard reported a red-hot spring bite in full force at St. Mary’s Lake, catching 18 largemouth, four pickerel, and a perch in four or five hours of fishing. Small spinnerbaits were working, but most of the bass munched on a one-and-a-half-inch crawfish-colored square-bill crankbait. Coves with a southern exposure warmed up to the tune of four degrees during the day and triggered the activity.
Jim also let us know that smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna, Potomac, Monocacy and Shenandoah systems are active and are taking a variety of tubes, hair jigs and smaller crankbaits at this time. Many tributary streams to these larger river systems can be very good for high numbers of 10 to 14-inch smallies and an abundance of rock bass and redbreast sunfish that will take a variety of smaller spinners and soft plastics. One angler fishing the Monocacy River earlier in the week and ended up with 25 smallies and a bonus largemouth. Fish were biting spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and ned rigs. Most of the fish were medium sized but the biggest was a 20 incher that weighed just under four pounds.