Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, December 26, 2019 Update:
Happy Holidays and Merry Fishmas anglers - we hope your holidays are full of lake trips, bucktails, and winter water wonderland fishing success stories. This week, the below report is going to be a little light due to the hectic nature of the festive season and much-deserved breaks of tackle shop employees, but we still encourage you to get out and finish out 2019 with your last fish(es) of the decade. Next week when everyone’s back from vacation and we can get in touch with all our usual sources again we’ll be back with the first FishTalk fishing report of 2020!
Anglers who often frequent the Tangier and Pocomoke are switching gears to hit tribs in hope of landing pickerel, crappie, and perch. The bite in the tribs has remained steady, with plenty of fish coming in for anglers tossing out bobbers suspending minnow, or bottom rigs for perch.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, December 19, 2019 Update:
There’s been little change in this zone, and anglers in this neck of the woods have the same two options we mentioned last week: running out to the open Bay to look for the last of the stripers, or head up the sound’s tribs for a mix of pickerel, perch, and crappie. With Maryland waters now closed for rockfish, that makes the choice an easy one for anglers in the northern part of this range. Fortunately, the trib bite has been a good one, with minnow on small jigs, Road Runners, and/or under a bobber attracting the most hits. Channel edges and holes in the Wicomico and Pocomoke are good bets.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, December 12, 2019 Update:
By all reports the sounds are done for the season, leaving area anglers with two choices: head up the tribs for pickerel, perch, bass, and crappie, or run out to the open Bay to look for the last of the stripers between the Tangier and the western shore. Heading up the Wicomico and Pocomoke did produce good action for yellow perch, crappie, and pickerel last week for anglers soaking minnow under a bobber, a tactic which should provide some of the more reliable action for the foreseeable future.
Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Report, December 5, 2019 Update:
With the waters of the Sounds largely empty, anglers have been enjoying quiet days searching for white perch and stripers that are scattered throughout. The white perch bite has been especially hot in deeper areas of the Sounds. Keeping bloodworm on the bottom has been a great way to lure them in. Although the stripers are showing up few and far between, some persistent anglers are still jigging the deep holes in hopes of landing them. They’ve had limited success, but it can’t hurt to try.
Some other anglers are instead focused on one of two options: running across to the open-Bay waters to look for stripers, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, heading up the tributaries for pickerel, catfish, and crappie. Minnow suspended under a bobber on a shad dart or marabou jig is the best bet for most of the freshwater species except for catfish, which naturally want baits set right on bottom.