Freshwater Mid-Atlantic Fishing Report, April 2022

Freshwater Fishing Report, April 29 Update:

The region’s reservoirs continue to offer up a great bite with the spring warm-up, all across the board. Contributor Eric Packard hit Tridelphia Reservoir to enjoy some action on pike and bass before the upcoming closure to boating for a dredging project (expected in mid-May but no specific dates announced as of yet) and found crankbaits of various assortments and inline spinners had both species snapping. From the Eastern Shore millponds several reader reports came in this week of solid action on both crappie and bass, with jigs and small spoons proving effective (including on a serious bucket-mouth, caught on a Johnson’s Minnow).

pike hit a plug
Northern pike were on the hunt in Tridelphia this week.

In the rivers in central locations along the Mid-Atlantic the shad run has been extremely strong; fishing in the Potomac in the Fletchers/Overlook area Contributor Eric Packard and two friends noted catching well north of 100 fish between the three of them early this week prior to the rain moving through. Reports from the Rap were also good, though we did hear from one reader who “only got a dozen.” Anglers is reporting that the Choptank, Patuxent, and Mattawoman are all holding some fish. We also had a reader report come in from Mattawoman with small silver spoons doing most of the catching. In the northern areas the shad fishing was decent rather than awesome, with a reader who hit Octoraro Creek reporting a dozen or so fish.

Trout anglers are mostly finding good water levels and visibility in the western rivers and streams, but Mossy Creek is reminding wade anglers that the midweek cold front could slow down the smallmouth spawn and those walking the water should be careful to avoid shoals and eddies where fish may be nesting. As for the stocker trout in more urban areas, this week was another big one but the end of the month also marks the winding down of the spring stocking season, so the next week or two is a great time to go get ‘em. The fish do tend to get caught out quickly in popular spots and areas near population centers so heavy stringers will become hard to come by within a couple-few weeks. If you haven’t already seen it remember to check out Freshwater Contributor Jim Gronaw’s Fishing for Stocked Trout Tactics 101, and check to see where the latest stockings have taken place on the state websites:

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Freshwater Fishing Report, April 22 Update:

Bass anglers hitting the smaller lakes and ponds in the region reported this week that fish in these bodies of water are already bedding up as water temps have hit the 60-degree mark in some areas. A reader fishing one of the Eastern Shore millponds also reported a great crappie bite with fish up to 14-inches, and since these relatively shallow lakes warm up quickly, they may be seeing peak spring crappie action right now. In larger bodies of water fish are still pre-spawn, but a reader hitting Smith Mountain Lake reported temps in the upper 50s and fish beginning to shift shallower this week, providing a steady bite on wacky worms and Ned rigs, with bass up to four pounds in the mix. Contributor Eric Packard paid a couple of visits to St. Mary’s Lake and reported a slow bite early in the week with windy, difficult conditions but bass and pickerel both took small spinnerbaits. The bite had improved later in the week as the sun came out and the winds dropped a bit, though.

big crappie from a pond
Herb got another nice one, in an Eastern Shore millpond.

Shad anglers have been reporting a so-so bite basically depending on location and water quality. Average reports are of just a dozen or so fish on spoon/dart tandems, without any real standout locations reported.

Snakehead hunters had radically divergent experiences in the recent past, with some hooking into dragons (the biggest of the Angler’s Monster Snakehead Hunt as of last weekend was a 12.5-pounder) but many others reporting a tough bite. FishTalk’s own Zach Ditmars hit the Blackwater last weekend and reported seeing fish jumping and active on the surface but refusing to hit every offering in his box. A number of anglers he spoke with were also empty-handed, indicating a case of widespread weekend lockjaw made worse by very windy conditions. On the west side, we heard about a couple of onsies-twosies but no big hauls. Snakehead Angler Alert: Remember that at 4:00 tomorrow (Saturday) FishTalk Contributor Eric Packard will be giving a seminar on how to catch snakeheads at the Bay Bridge Boat Show! The seminar will be at the Fishing Pavilion located near the food court, and Packard will hang around for a happy hour meet-and-greet afterwards.

Trout are still going great guns on the stocking front, but April is drawing near a close so get out there for ‘em soon! Stocking schedules:

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Freshwater Fishing Report, April 15 Update:

Although the shad are still running in many rivers the cool, cloudy days seem to have put a damper on the action much of the week. We had reports from multiple readers targeting shad as well as Contributor Eric Packard, FishTalk intern Ian Rubin, and Production Manager Zach Ditmars, and in all cases, the catch consisted of just a handful of fish on spoon/dart tandem rigs. Water levels were elevated in several rivers following the rainfalls and discolored or dirty water reports came from the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the Eastern Shore even as late as mid-week. The James and Rap seem to have fared a bit better with less impact, and hopefully by the weekend these other areas will have settled out and the bite will be back on. And on the catfishing front, this week brought with it more reports of monster blues, including one estimated in the 80-pound range in the Potomac.

big trout
Luc S. tied into his PB trout in Chester County, PA this spring. Wow Luc — that trout looks big enough to be a salmon!! Photo courtesy of Evan Fields.

On the trout front many anglers are still looking for the stockers, and finding plenty, with Berkley Trout Nuggets reported by readers as effective on them this week. Those after wild fish have a good outlook, with water levels brought up by the recent rains but the water running clear in most areas of the western region by this point. The Maryland DNR stocked a whopping 17,250 rainbow, golden, and brown trout across Maryland this week and stockings have continued throughout the area. This action won’t remain hot for much longer so get those fish while the getting is good; we’ll keep putting up the links to stocking pages for a bit longer:

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Freshwater Fishing Report, April 7 Update:

With the recent warming in weather, however slow, we’ve seen many freshwater species across Delmarva shake off their winter slumber and pop into action for spring. Bass anglers know this better than no other, having seen some impressive bites and great action this week. On the Susquehanna smallmouth bass fishing is good right now, with anglers who headed out reporting that bass are willing to bite a variety of baits and are now also taking topwater lures. Reports from the Baltimore area reservoirs are also positive, as well as from St. Mary’s Lake, Smith Mountain Lake, Lake Anna, and Lake Smith in Virginia Beach. These areas have generally had good crappie bites, too, and anglers can get in on it fishing with minnows or small jigs. In fact, we heard of several very nice crappie of 12-plus inches ending up on a stringer this week. We’d expect this bite to remain very strong in water of eight-plus feet near structure until water temps push up close to the 60-degree point, and the crappie shift to shallower water to spawn.

big crappie from a lake
Herb Floyd caught this beaut of a crappie this week.

Stocked trout are being caught in good numbers throughout the range. Contributor Eric Packard noted that he’s still catching good numbers in early stocking areas that would normally have been more or less thinned out by now. The rather difficult weather may have stymied effort to this point, so there seem to be more fish readily available than usual. Check the stocking schedules at:

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The hickory shad are running full steam ahead in the upriver areas that normally get a run on both Eastern and Western Shores, although the rain earlier this week has muddied up some areas (one reader noted on Wednesday that there was high, muddy water at Fletcher’s and he only caught a single fish). We may be seeing peak action in southern tribs right about now, with multiple angler reports coming in of catches (well) over a dozen in a matter of a couple of hours. As usual tandem rigs tied with a spoon on the bottom and a shad dart up top are the hot offering. In the past week we heard from various sources and readers of multiple dart colors proving effective, and gold, chartreuse, and silver spoons were doing the trick. Remember, these fish can change their color preference from day to day so go armed with several choices and swap ‘em out until you find the hot choice of the moment.

Snakehead reports dropped off recently, no doubt due to weather, but Captain Bones did say they’ve had some reported from the Eastern Shore this week. And one angler who stopped in reported catching one while bass fishing with a Slug-O. SNAKEHEAD ANGLER ALERT: Don’t forget to sign up for the FREE CCA-MD Invasives Species Count. Just take a pic of the snakes you catch, upload them on iAngler, and you’ll be entered to win uber-cool angling prizes!! (Plus, fisheries scientists will then get access to the population data you help to accumulate).


Freshwater Fishing Report, April 1 Update:

Many area anglers have turned their attention to the shad bite in the rivers, and AIC Lenny Rudow reports that the fish are around although their numbers haven’t yet seemed to have hit their peak and the recent cold slowed them down a bit. Among the anglers he fished with the average catch in the Mattawoman was a half-dozen or so hickory shad (plus some very small yellow perch), and reader reports coming from Fletcher’s were identical (minus the perch). Small green or gold spoons and pink/white shad darts drew the most strikes. Contributor Eric Packard caught just a handful on a follow-up shad attempt after the temps fell out early in the week. We haven’t had any confirmed reports for shad from areas north of Baltimore as of yet. But the Susquehanna/Deer Creek run is usually a week or two behind the southern runs and with the weather trending warmer now, there’s a good chance for an improvement in the action in the coming days.

shad fishing mattawoman
FishTalk's own Zach Ditmars displays his first hickory shad; note the small green spoon, which proved a winner.

Maryland and Virginia have stocked a crazy amount of trout this week, continuing ongoing efforts. Many thousand rainbow, golden, and also some brown trout were stocked across the region and more waterways are now open for harvest (plus Saturday marks the opening for youth season in Delaware); click to read Contributor Jim Gronaw’s feature on how to catch stocked trout, and check the links for your local area:

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Anglers who hit the Susquehanna searching for smallmouth bass generally had good days this week. We had a couple of check-ins from anglers who found that fishing was pretty but slow, eventually managing to hook decent smallies. What about the reservoirs? And snakehead action? Thanks to the chilly, windy weather we’ve been having we didn’t hear much on those fronts this week. The Tackle Box mentioned that snakeheads could be tempted into biting, and that the bass bite at St. Mary’s Lake is good. With the temperature drops, however, we’re expecting most of the fish in lakes and reservoirs to have stayed relatively low in the water column, hanging over underwater points and submerged structure or chasing bait in deep water. Snakeheads may be more or less on pause in northern and western shore areas until we get a couple more sunny, warm days to get ‘em juiced up again.