Weekend Fishing Report

Just about everybody agrees that the start of the Maryland trophy rockfish season last Saturday began more with a whimper than a bang, but some of the boaters who trolled the Chesapeake’s waters with massive parachute bucktails and umbrella rigs that contained a series of Sassy Shad lures connected.

For example, Ken Lamb of Lexington Park’s Tackle Box, said: “Trollers found the going slow. However, there were some exceptions as a good bite of big fish was found north of Parker’s Creek early Saturday; the boats out of the Rod’n’Reel Dock did very well. But that cooled down by 10 a.m., and everyone was just plunking along after that.”

Added Christy Henderson of Buzz’s Marina, along St. Jerome’s Creek in St. Mary’s County: “The rockfish were scattered. They seemed to be more concentrated in the Triangle area. Everyone caught fish but some more than others. The biggest one [we saw] measured 46.5 inches.” Henderson also mentioned that some croakers were caught near Buoy 72 on the ledge in 60 feet of water, and she added that the flounder had arrived.

There may be croakers out in the Chesapeake Bay, but after last weekend’s optimistic outlook for the hardheads, fishermen in the Bushwood area of the Potomac’s Wicomico feeder river are saying the bite has come to a screeching halt. Continuous warm weather will change all that.

Freshwater river fans should know that the upper Potomac (and other mountain rivers) should be avoided currently because of recent heavy precipitation. In the case of the Potomac, river levels are hazardous for recreational use on the main stem from Cumberland to Little Falls.

Here’s one more reminder that the American Fly Fishing Trade Association’s will have its annual fishing event Sunday and Monday at Fletcher’s Cove (off Canal Road in Georgetown) on the Potomac River. D.C. children and their families are invited. A Family & Youth Casting Call goes out 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, and specially stocked fish in the C&O Canal will await visitors. On Monday, government decision-makers will fish for shad on the Potomac. For more details, go to www.familyandyouthcastingcall.com and www.nationalcastingcall.com.

(Ratings key: **** Excellent fishing; *** Good; ** Fair; * Poor)

AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY

TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER: 0-35 miles (***) — At Fletcher’s Cove (Georgetown, off Canal Road; call 202/244-0461) Ray Fletcher said the Potomac was high, swift and muddy.

“But I’ll wager that by Saturday and Sunday, maybe even Friday, things will be good enough for fishing and it will be very productive. The shad will be jumping on shad darts,” he said, adding, “In fact, I believe the peak of the run will occur this weekend.”

Meanwhile, the waters between the District and western Charles County are in fair to good shape, and largemouth bass are taken over most of the flats that contain emerging coontail and milfoil water grasses. All you need is a shallow-running crankbait in blue/chrome and a slow retrieval, and the bass will do the rest. Continued whopping catches of blue catfish are possible along channel edges in the river, from the Wilson Bridge to the Piscataway and on toward the Greenway Flats where deep-water ledges also hold fat white perch. Down below the Harry W. Nice Bridge (Routes 50/301), very few rockfish were caught in the immediate waters, but some keepers over 28 inches were scored south of St. George’s Island across to the Coan River mouth in Virginia and down toward the mouth of the river.

WICOMICO RIVER: 55 miles (**) — The croaker bite that we were so happy to report last week has come to a screeching halt. Several of our friends and readers called and sent e-mails, saying they fished with every imaginable bait, including super-expensive bloodworms, in the Bushwood area and elsewhere, but came up skunked. By the weekend, with warmer weather staying here for a while, we’re betting that something will develop.

MATTAWOMAN CREEK: 40 miles (***) — This is beginning to sound like a broken record, but the emerging grass beds hold the bass. Jerkbaits, shallow-running Baby 1-Minus lures, even soft craws, will do the job. Some of the wooded shorelines also give up bass, but the underwater grass at high tide have been very reliable. By the way, shoreline and dock walkers at Smallwood State Park’s marina area are catching pan-sized crappies on small jigs and minnows.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND LAKES: 40-50 miles (***)Gilbert Run Park’s Wheatley Lake (Route 6, east of La Plata) will turn up fat sunfish and some bass, including one or two of bragging size, now that the females might be in the upper end of the lake and they’d hate seeing a plastic lizard landing in their beds. Remember, you must let the bass go until June 15, when keeper season arrives. The same bass activity is possible at St. Mary’s Lake (south on Route 5, past Leonardtown, to Camp Cosoma Road) where bedding activity in the coves and upper ends is under way. The crappies will bite small darts, jigs or live minnows if you fish them under a bobber and make your casts toward flooded brush and timber. In a few days you’ll also see bedding activity by the lake’s bluegills and some of them are whoppers — ideal for fly-rod bug casters.

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) Bass and bluegills are either beginning to sit on their spawning beds or making plans to do so. Be gentle when you hook and release a bass. If you do it properly, they’ll immediately return to the beds and continue with their spawning chores.

Story Continues →