Freshwater Fishing Reports

Freshwater Fishing Report, July 4 Update:

The summer heat has kicked in, and water temperatures are very warm in many of our ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. Fishing during low light hours will be best for largemouth bass anglers, but bluegill are usually willing to hit throughout the day. They can be spotted along shallow shorelines in most of the ponds in our region. They will usually bite nightcrawlers and small panfish jigs. A reader checked in after laying down the law on bluegill up at Deep Creek Lake last weekend. We are in peak season for vacationers at Deep Creek, so there will be a lot of boat traffic during most days. The best way to still have success when fishing there is to get an early start, or fish late in the evening. Smallmouth bass, pickerel, pike, sunfish, and perch can be caught by fishing around floating docks and in coves with shoreline structure. Deeper ledges will also be good ambush spots for bass and walleye. The larger tidal rivers such as the Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, and James have been offering good smallmouth fishing for the first half of summer. Flows have been high at times due to the several rounds of thunderstorms that have been moving through the area, but it is still fishable. Deeper holes and runs have been holding smallies willing to hit jigs, swimbaits, and topwater lures.

We are in the thick of fry ball season for snakehead fishing with reports of fry popping up all over the region. Reports Editor Dillon Waters had a good outing for snakeheads on a Potomac River tributary last weekend. He and another angler took their kayaks and landed a combined eight snakeheads and a handful of largemouth bass while fishing over hydrilla and lily pads. They only threw topwater frogs and most of the snakeheads were caught on fry balls. They spotted over a dozen fry balls throughout the trip with about half having parent snakehead guarding the fry. Their two biggest snakeheads were 32” and 34” with several others in the mid 20” range. FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg also tried for snakehead this week, though he wasn’t as successful while fishing at a lake near Laurel. Adam said he saw plenty of fry balls and fish popping the surface, but the snakeheads just wouldn’t bite his frog. Snakeheads will usually be in thick vegetation this time of year, so topwater is usually the way to go. They also work great for fishing fry balls as you can pause the topwater over the fry and twitch it. This usually entices a bite if there is a parent nearby. FishTalk contributor Zach Ditmars found a nice early morning bass bite on a Calvert County pond this week. Topwater frogs and inline spinners with paddletails did the trick. Once the sun came over the trees, the bite shut down.