Freshwater Fishing Reports

Freshwater Fishing Report, March 20 Update:

The warmer days are beginning to outnumber the colder days as spring continues to march on. Youth trout day is this Saturday, March 21st in Maryland. This is a great opportunity to get kids out for an improved chance to catch some fish. All waters designated as closure one are closed from March 8th to March 28th but are open for kids to fish on youth day. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources stated that all the closure one areas will be stocked before youth trout day, but the stockings would not be listed on the stocking schedule. What that means is that there should be plenty of freshly stocked trout that have not been targeted at several locations across the state. The regulations for youth day and the locations that have been stocked can be found on the Maryland DNR trout stocking website. In the western trout areas, Mossy Creek Fly Fishing reports that anglers should start seeing quill gordons and caddis up in the mountain streams. They mentioned caddis are on the spring creeks as well and dry fly reports from the mountains have been good. Several areas in Virginia have also been stocked recently, courtesy of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Stocking information can be found on the DWR trout stocking website.

Contributor Eric Packard paid a visit to Mason Springs looking for shad but only found a few mostly small male yellow perch. Other anglers on-site reported the same, with small fish present but only a couple of keeper-sized fish showing up. The water was high and muddy from the rain early this week, but it should have settled out by the weekend. Reports Editor Dillon Waters made a trip with his brother over to the Eastern Shore to fish the perch run last weekend. They started the day at Red Bridges but reported no bites there. They also talked to an angler fishing in the area who had only caught one white perch and two river herring. After striking out there, they drove over to the Tuckahoe in Millsboro and launched their kayaks right as the incoming tide was starting. As they worked their way down the creek, they found scattered yellow perch hanging around fallen trees along the shoreline. They fished for two hours, and each caught a limit of yellow perch plus a dozen more and one big crappie. Everything was caught with minnow suspended under bobbers. An angler fishing at the boat launch had also caught four yellow perch with minnows. Most of the fish appeared to be males, and only one of the fish they kept was a female. We also had a report from a reader who said they were at Jackson’s Landing on the Patuxent River last weekend where some yellow perch and white perch were biting bloodworms. The bite wasn’t hot, but steady enough to stay busy. The yellow perch run is likely at the tail end, but the white perch run should be following right behind it. Warm temperatures in the forecast this weekend should have the white perch on the move pushing up tributaries like the Choptank and Patuxent River.

Freshwater Fishing Report, March 12 Update:

The warm temperatures this week made for some beautiful days to be on the water this week. The fish were loving it too, and we had several reports from all over our region. Contributor Eric Packard says the Potomac River crappie are biting strong in creeks and coves and had a great trip last weekend fishing a spider rig with minnows. Some of the crappie topped 14” and they also picked up one largemouth bass. He also spent some time at local lakes this week, including Lariat, Collusion, and St. Mary’s, catching a mix of bass, crappie, and pickerel. The crappie in those waters responded well to small jigs under bobbers, while chartreuse/white jerk-baits worked well for bass and pickerel. The bass were also happy to hit pumpkinseed wacky worms. A reader reported finding water temps into the mid-60s at sun-warmed flats in creeks off the Rappahannock, and that triggered good action from a nice mix of crappie (up to 13.5") and blue catfish plus a yellow perch.  The fish hit minnows and night crawlers. Another angler fishing similar areas with a jig caught some largemouth. Stocked trout are biting, and a reader reported that a 7/64 Blue Fox inline spinner was crushing them at Annapolis Waterworks. Another reported that he caught a few trout at Myrtle Grove using Powerbait Trout balls on a split-shot rig. We also had a report of slow action at Unicorn Lake this week despite the warmup, with a lone 20" pickerel chasing down a chatterbait but the crappie and perch refusing to play.

A reader checked in after spending a day early in the week fishing a southern Maryland lake for bass. Typically, this time of year, bass are staging at the mouths of coves getting ready to push shallow. Lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits, and spinners are very effective. They fished open water for a few hours without any bites from bass but did catch a few crappie up to 14 inches on a lipless crankbait. After working the areas that typically produce, they started fishing shallow cover and found that the bass had pushed up into the shallows. The afternoon bite turned on and spinnerbaits were the ticket. Casting spinners up to the bank near cover and slow rolling them along logs and brush had fish fired up. They ended up catching over 20 bass, with the largest weighing five and a half pounds. During the last hour of light, they even saw bass blowing up on bluegill in the shallows. Another reader fishing St. Mary’s Lake had a similar experience this week. They started out fishing the main stem of the lake where they typically catch crappie in the early spring but didn’t have any luck. They then pushed into a shallow cove and saw some fish popping the surface on bugs. They started throwing around a trout magnet under a bobber up to the bank and that’s where the fish were. They proceeded to catch a limit of crappie, seven yellow perch, and over 20 bass. Most of the bass were small, but they did catch a four pounder. They also mentioned that the shallow gravel shorelines were covered in yellow perch egg chains. It seems that the warm weather this week had many freshwater fish moving into the shallows earlier than expected.

Freshwater Fishing Report, March 6 Update:

Pre-spawn bites are starting to shape up, but the up and down weather patterns have made for a finnicky bite at times. Contributor Eric Packard reports that a recent trip to St. Mary’s Lake produced a mix of pickerel, crappie, and bass. A jerkbait and a tandem rig with small bucktail jigs and plastics proved effective in the chilly water, which ranged from 42 to 46 degrees. The eight to 16’ of water range was best, with many fish holding deep. FishTalk’s Zach Ditmars spent a couple of days at the Eastern Shore millponds in the Salisbury area last weekend, and said the fishing was surprisingly slow in multiple ponds. He had to work hard to catch a couple of bass and four pickerel up to 24” while fishing minnow on underspin jigs and Tin Man shad darts. X-raps, paddletails, and spinners garnered no bites. He spoke with several other anglers who had either skunked or caught just a fish or two. Water temps had actually dropped after a slight warmup last week, so a few warm days should hopefully turn that slow action around.

The perch runs are getting started across the state, and this week we heard that white perch are moving up the rivers of the Eastern Shore. There have been scattered reports of white and yellow perch coming in from the Choptank and Chester rivers. The warm temperatures in the forecast for this weekend and early next week are sure to kick things into high gear. Trout stockings continued this week with several previously stocked ponds and lakes receiving a second round of stockings in Maryland. Virginia trout stocking operations are also keeping their crews busy as they get fish out across the state. As the weather turns warmer, these fish will provide excellent opportunities for anglers of all skill levels to get in on some high percentage catching. Trout fishing is an excellent way to introduce young kids to the sport because they are relatively easy to catch and usually eager to bite. We had a few reports from an angler fishing in the southern region of Maryland where he said gold spinners have been the hot lure. They also mentioned that Berkley Powerbait Floating Mouse Tails seem to be the preferred bait for casting out and letting your rod sit. Good ole fashion Powerbait will work too, but the mouse tails seem to be the hot item. The start of meteorological spring was on March 1st, and daylight savings is this Sunday, March 8th, so we are finally kissing goodbye to winter and looking onward to bigger and better fishing opportunities.