Weekend Fishing Report

It appears the big ocean stripers have started to visit the Chesapeake Bay as they’re heading south along the Atlantic Coast. The Tackle Box store in Lexington Park (St. Mary’s County, Md.) reported that local angler Tom Allwine came into the store over the weekend with two rockfish, one a 50-incher, the other a mere 27 inches. Both displayed the tell-tale sea lice found in the gill plates of only ocean-run striped bass. Allwine also had a 34-incher, but it appeared to be a resident rockfish.

In Virginia, James River anglers are hooking stripers by simply casting and retrieving jerkbaits, bucktails and Sassy Shads clear up to the I-95 highway overpass in Richmond, while the Chickahominy River has been surprising bass fishermen with sudden strikes from rockfish, as well.

Locally, the mid- to upper tidal portions of the Patuxent, Potomac, Pocomoke and Rappahannock rivers have been quite good as far as bass catches are concerned. Despite unusually high tides over the past week, topwater lures — worked across grass patches and spatterdock fields in the mainstem of the rivers, as well as the tributaries — can deliver fish.

Crankbaits worked around wood or rockpiles in the rivers also produce largemouth action. Best of all, the crappies are beginning to school in some of the local lakes and ponds, forming tight bunches of willing fish that will snatch up a tiny white/chartreuse shad dart simply fished under a small, plastic float. But be certain to do such fishing in flooded brush or downed trees.

Ocean fishing hasn’t been the greatest, but that’s primarily because of strong winds that again kept many of the boats in safe harbors. Tunas and albacores are out in the canyon waters of the Middle Atlantic, with sea bass hanging tight against offshore wrecks and man-made reefs.

(Ratings key: ****=excellent fishing; ***=Good; **=Fair; *=Poor.)

AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY

POTOMAC RIVER: 0-35 miles (***) — In the District, Fletcher’s Boat House portion of the river (off Canal Road, 202/244-0461, fletchersboathouse.com) will give up catfish, some bass, an oddball striper and occasional walleyes — particularly up toward the bridge abutments. The river is very fishable now, showing good color. Bass guides Andy Andrzejewski (301/932-1509) and Dale Knupp (301/934-9062) find fair to good topwater action in main-stem grass beds, as well as around marsh banks and spatterdock in the feeder creeks. Sunken wood and brush piles can be good for producing bass that will jump on scented worms or crawfish-pattern crankbaits. Already, there’s some limited Mann’s Sting Ray grub fishing going on. As soon as the weeds all disappear, the grub fishing will begin in earnest. In the more saline parts of the Potomac, trollers are finding a few rockfish going up and down the river between the Route 301 bridge and downriver areas, including the Wicomico, St. Clements Island, St. George’s Island and Tall Timbers, and when you reach the Point Lookout vicinity the fishing can get very productive some days.

MATTAWOMAN CREEK: 40 miles (***) — Bass and a few early morning stripers (most of them small specimens) are seen around the creek mouth’s northern points, including Deep Point. Inside the creek, the sunken wood along the slow zone’s banks, as well as parts of the upper creek’s marsh and spatterdock shorelines, will give up bass to crankbaits and plastic worms. Some fish are jumping on surface lures.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND LAKES: 40-50 miles (***) — Gilbert Run Park’s Wheatley Lake (Route 6, east of La Plata) has sunfish, a few decent bass and stocked trout. Worm baits under a bobber can catch all three species. I was disappointed with St. Mary’s Lake (Route 5 south of Leonardtown, on Camp Cosoma Road) earlier this week when only one bass and four crappies decided to look at my little white jig. However, you might do a lot better. The fish can’t leave; they live here year-round.

LITTLE SENECA LAKE: 30 miles (***) — Black Hill Regional Park (off Route 117, near Boyds, 301/972-9396) and the nearby Seneca Creek Lake (Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, 301/924-2127) delivers a few decent bass to users of jigs, grubs and plastic worms. Catfish and sunnies also are available and, yes, some lucky stiffs find a tiger muskie now and then.

WSSC RESERVOIRS: 20-30 miles (***) — (Triadelphia, off Route 97, or Route 650, in Montgomery County; Rocky Gorge, off Route 29 in Montgomery County) The DNR’s Keith Lockwood passes along how local angler Chris Peloquin found bass to be deep, in water from 10 to 30 feet down around offshore structure such as long points, humps and falling ledges. Jigs, dropshot rigs, crankbaits and heavy spinnerbaits seem to do well. Peloquin also hooked a 15-pound, 10-ounce landlocked striper that hit a spinnerbait down deep.

PATUXENT RIVER: 25-60 miles (***) — From the Tackle Box in Lexington Park, Ken Lamb says if you fish around creek points and main stem points and bars with jerkbaits or Sassy Shads, maybe a Rat-L-Trap, during falling tides in the evening you’ll catch rockfish. Upper river, from Hall’s Creek up to Wayson’s Corner, will give up increasing numbers of largemouth bass and some decent resident yellow perch.

OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR: 25-30 miles (***) — From the Fountainhead Park (Route 123, Fairfax County) area up to Bull Run the bass, crappie and catfish opportunities are fine. The bass love a scented plastic worm, a Senko or Zero sinking worm, or crankbaits in crawfish colors.

BURKE LAKE: 29 miles (***) — (Ox Road, Route 123, Fairfax County) Pick a lake point and if you’re there early enough cast a broken-back Rebel or Rapala jerkbait to the left and right of the point. Work it erratically, don’t just reel it in. The bass will do the rest. If that doesn’t work, switch to a short, plastic worm. If it’s overcast, try a topwater popper. Small darts under bobbers connect on crappies in brush piles.

AREA 2: CENTRAL, WESTERN MD.

UPPER POTOMAC RIVER: 35-100 miles (***) — Brown jigs can produce smallmouth bass but it was a black buzzbait that worked for Jerry Rogers, who cast across an upper river grass bed with a 1/4-ounce black buzzbait and caught a tiger muskie that he eventually released. Tubes, jigs and small crankbaits can do a fine job up and down the river, from Montgomery up to Washington County.

DEEP CREEK LAKE: 210 miles (***) — DNR biologists did a fish study here and during its sampling found largemouth and smallmouth bass, as well as yellow perch, close to shore in fairly shallow water. After sunset, the DNR began to sample young-of-the-year walleye populations to check on this year’s spawning success. An amazing 262 walleyes were discovered per hour of electro-shock sampling. It was the highest number ever recorded in this lake.

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER: 65-100 miles (***) — Stripers are biting inside the river from around Conowingo Dam clear out to the Flats. Some keepers are taken and they strike lip-less rattle lures, Zoom Flukes, Sassy Shads or Bass Assassins, but stick with the smaller sizes. Don’t expect a lot of action if you cast and slowly retrieve a 6- or 8-inch-long Sassy Shad. Three- and 4-inch sizes are best.

AREA 3: CHESAPEAKE BAY

MARYLAND: 45-75 miles (***) — Small-boaters are finding small and medium size rockfish along the shores and points of most of the rivers that empty into the upper bay, including the Chester, Gunpowder, Patapsco, Magothy and Severn. Trollers also are scoring, but they must remember to do it very slowly so the bucktails and other lures are actually bouncing around the bottom, where the fish are most likely to strike. Kent Narrows and Eastern Bay (just around the corner from Bloody Point) also show plenty of rockfish where cast-and-retrieve Rat-L-Traps, Flukes and the like will see action. Even live-lined white perch can score. Chum boats continue to score around the Gooses and just west of James Island, while the top chumming area, as well as the best live-lining spot or perch stretch continues to be Buoy 72 and the Middle Grounds. Ocean-run stripers are showing up for trollers. Local fisherman Tom Allwine had a number of them, including a 50-incher, and all had sea lice in their gill plates. Allwine trolled a parachute rig near Hoopers Island Light.

VIRGINIA: 75-150 miles (***) — The Northern Neck capt. Billy Pipkin (804/580-7292) says the water temperature stands at 61 degrees and is steadily falling. Top catches now point to rockfish, with large numbers available right outside the mouth of the Great Wicomico River. The Northern Neck Reef and the Asphalt Pile give up a good mix of stripers and bluefish, many of them to chum boat clients. Trollers also score on rockfish and bluefish down around the mouth of the Rappahannock. Some trollers find ocean-run stripers, complete with sea lice in their gills. Ken Neill of the Peninsula Saltwater Sport Fisherman’s Association says speckled sea trout are cooperating along Mobjack Bay and the Chesapeake Bay side of the Eastern Shore. Meanwhile, gray trout are taking jigs and baits around the Bay Bridge-Tunnel’s third and fourth islands. The Norfolk spot bite continues inside the Lunhhaven Inlet, but that won’t last much longer.

AREA 4: EASTERN SHORE/MD.

CHOPTANK RIVER: 120 MILES (**) — (Route 50 east to Cambridge) The mouth shows increasing numbers of rockfish this week, while inside the river occasional striper catches are possible. In the upper reaches, from upstream of Denton, bass catches are fair to good some days.

140-170 miles (**) — (From Snow Hill down to Shad Landing) DNR shocking studies between Pocomoke City and Snow Hill showed an incredible number of young bass, according to DNR biologist Angel Bollinger. Bolinger said none were found that weighed more than 4 pounds, but the number of young bass they sampled was awesome.

NANTICOKE RIVER: 120 miles (***) — (Sharptown ramp off Route 313) From Vienna’s spatterdock and marsh edges up the river toward Seaford there’s a fair chance of hooking a rockfish while fishing for bass with rattle baits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

AREA 5: CENTRAL VIRGINIA

LAKE ANNA: 82 miles (***) — (Route 208, Spotsylvania County) Crappies, stripers and bass are turned on during these fairly warm days and cool nights. The largemouths and crappies are often found side by side in sunken brush under docks and along dropoffs near points or rip-rap.

RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER: 47-100 miles (**) — (Fredericksburg to Leedstown) Very high tides in the portion below Fredericksburg have made bass fishing a chore, but it can be done as you cast Rat-L-Traps around creek mouths and stickups, sunken brush and trees. Catfish action is fine from Hicks Landing down to Leedstown — a long stretch of water.

LAKE BRITTLE: 59 miles (***) — (Route 793, off Route 29) Bass, sunfish and crappies will delight weekend anglers. A couple dozen small minnows, fished under a bobber, will find crappies and bass.

LAKE ORANGE: 75 miles (***) — (Concessionaire: 540/672-3997; look for left turn sign on Route 20 before entering town of Orange) Good numbers of crappies are possible, but the heavy schooling of the speckled fish hasn’t yet gone into high gear. Some fair-sized bass are taken with shallow crankbaits around stickups and points.

LAKE GASTON: 179 miles (***) — (Route 46, Gasburg) Rip-rap walls in the creeks turn up bass if you use a jerkbait of some kind or a Senko worm.

KERR RESERVOIR: 185 miles (***) — (Route 58, Clarksville) Crappie fishing is good in deeper brush piles and sunken wood, or around bridge abutments. White bass are smacking inline spinners and Little George tailspinners (if you can find one in a store). The bass like jig’n’ craw lures or plastics, as well as crankbaits.

CHICKAHOMINY RIVER: 160 miles (***) — (Williamsburg area) Rockfish up to 26 inches are showing up inside the river and jerkbaits or Zoom Flukes can catch them. The adjacent Chickahominy Lake shows fine bass catches now.

JAMES RIVER: 115 miles (***) — (Tidal Richmond area and downstream) Stripers are said to be all the way up the river, clear to the fall line in Richmond. Redfins and Zoom Flukes, as well as other soft or hard jerkbaits, will get them. A 60-pound blue catfish heads this week’s list of outstanding catfish catches.

AREA 6: WESTERN VIRGINIA

SHENANDOAH RIVER: 75-85 miles (***) — The Route 340, Front Royal, Luray and Bentonville areas have fishermen saying this past week was one of the best smallmouth and largemouth producers all season. Every kind of lure or flyrod streamer has worked.

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE: 210 miles (***) — (Route 122, east of Roanoke) Crappies aren’t the biggest, but they’re willing, as are the stripers which of late have come into shallower water to chase bait. Some rockfish are taken on Sassy Shads in less than 6 feet of water around lake points and such. Bass fishing has been fair.

UPPER JAMES RIVER: 130 miles (***) — (Route 6, south of Charlottesville, Scottsville) Good chances for smallmouth bass and the weekend looks like it will continue that way for some time. The only thing that can ruin it is a heavy rainstorm.

AREA 7: ATLANTIC OCEAN

MARYLAND: 153-175 miles (***) — (Route 50 to Ocean City) Offshore tunas and albacores remain, but strong winds and nasty waves have curtailed many a trip. Even the surf anglers have complained, but that will change this weekend. The weather outlook is good and the big ocean stripers are heading south — in fact, some of them will wander into the surf shallows where a bunker bait or smartly retrieved Hopkins metal squid will be struck. Sea bass will be caught from the headboats.

VIRGINIA: 210 miles to Virginia Beach (***) — Ken Neill of the Peninsula Saltwater Sport Fisherman’s Association says sea bass will bite very well out on the wrecks. Yellowfin tunas have not been scored because of tough offshore winds. Still, they’ll bite this weekend if all goes well. Everyone down this way is waiting for the big bluefin tuna to arrive in November, plus the large ocean chopper bluefish are about to come down from up north. The fishing will be fine. For charter boats, call Virginia Beach Fishing Center, 757/422-5700.

Reach me via e-mail at gmueller@washingtontimes.com