Weekend fishing report

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By Gene Mueller

If the high cost of gasoline forces you to stay close to home, be thankful that at least you have some of the finest largemouth bass fishing in the country as close-by as the tidal Potomac River. The late spring is turning up excellent numbers of the fish. They're caught from downtown Washington south to Charles County's feeder creeks on a variety of lures, from topwater poppers to deepwater plastic worms.

In the lower tidal rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay, don't overlook the Patuxent and Potomac, where increasing numbers of Atlantic croakers are making their presence felt.

Shrimp, squid, bloodworm or artificial FishBites pieces on weighted bottom rigs do the job from the Potomac's Swan Point to the mouth of the Wicomico and inside to Bushwood, then downstream again in the main stem to Piney Point, St. George's Island and south to Point Lookout.

Trollers and lure slingers out in the Bay connect on a mix of striped bass and bluefish from Virginia's Rappahannock River mouth north into Maryland, from the Point Lookout Pier area to the Middlegrounds, Buoy 72, Hooper's Island Light, Gooses, Calvert Cliffs stretches and up to the Bay Bridge and beyond.

From the Virginia Beach area, Ken Neill reports that along with the weather, the fishing is hot. “Everything is here now,” he said. “Billfish have joined into the offshore mix off the Virginia coast. In fact, offshore action is good from Morehead City, N.C., to Ocean City, Md., and we are right in the middle of it. Tuna, dolphin, wahoo, marlin and sailfish are all being caught offshore.”

Here's this week's outlook:

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

AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY

POTOMAC RIVER: 0-35 miles (***) — At Fletcher's Cove (Georgetown, off Canal Road; call 202/244-0461), the blue catfish continue to bite cut baits on the bottom. Many anglers find a couple of keeper rockfish now and then and one man caught a large walleye a few days ago. The river is fishable even after Tuesday night's rains. In the tidal creeks below the District, largemouth bass are taking topwater poppers, Baby 1-Minus crankbaits and soft plastics of every type from near the Wilson Bridge down to Mallows Bay and across the river to the Aquia Creek.

WICOMICO RIVER:55 miles (***) — The Bushwood area up to Chaptico Wharf is beginning to turn up better numbers of croakers now. The trick is to find a good high tide and some movement in the water. Crabbers are complaining. Trotliner Mike Roselle said he ran a baited 1,000-foot line a few days ago and came home with 18 — 18 crabs, not 18 bushels — a poor outing, to put it mildly.