Weekend fishing report

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By Gene Mueller

Some Chesapeake Bay boaters have had to work overtime to find willing rockfish, yet others hook them quickly, including trollers who drag their lures through the lower Potomac River. There is reason to be optimistic even if the trophy fishery hasn't settled into a predictable pattern just yet. Some of the stripers have finished spawning and now are beginning to roam about in search of food. Signs of improvement are being seen.

Among notable rockfish catches over the past week was a 55-pounder checked in at JJ's Tackle Shop in Solomons, Md. It was hooked in the Buoy 77 area of the Bay by Scott Bruther, of Odenton, Md. The whopper rock measured 55 1/2 inches long. Bruther was aboard the Rock Hall-based charter boat Bayside Girls with Capt. Chuck Clark.

As concerns the much-awaited croakers, a few anglers score nicely while others can't catch even a cold -- never mind a hardhead. But in St. Mary's County croakers are here, as they are on the Wicomico River.

The tidal Potomac River's largemouth bass aren't the least bit bashful if you concentrate on the many submersed grass beds in the main stem and feeder creeks. River guide Dale Knupp reported a catch of around 40 bass of mixed sizes going after a white Chatterbait lure with a plastic trailer. Shallow-running crankbaits and soft plastic finesse worms also worked. Other bass hounds echo such success rates, with the best producing creeks pointing to the Aquia, Potomac, Chicamuxen, Mattawoman, Dogue and Piscataway.

If you want some real fast action, get to the District's part of the Potomac, up around Fletcher's Cove, where hickory and white shad are on a rampage.

"There are plenty of shad here and all our boats are rented out," Ray Fletcher said. In addition, the catfish and white perch bite can be fairly good also. The shad also cooperate in the Rappahannock River in downtown Fredericksburg.

(Ratings key: **** excellent fishing; *** good; ** fair; * poor)

AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY

TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER: 35 miles (***) -- At Fletcher's Cove (Georgetown, off Canal Road; call 202/244-0461) Ray Fletcher said: "There are plenty of shad here and all our boats are rented out."

The hickory shad and much larger white shad are in the river big-time; anglers are having a ball. Catfish and white perch also oblige. Rockfish season (one keeper a day for licensed anglers) will not start until May 16. Elsewhere on the river, find some submersed aquatic vegetation and roll a Chatterbait with a plastic trailer over top of the grass, as well as a Baby 1-Minus or a soft 4-inch plastic worm, and you'll score on the main stem and in practically all of the feeder creeks. The blue catfish bite is good along channel edges from Wilson Bridge down to Greenway Flats. White perch have been hooked with bloodworm pieces in dropoffs, especially between marshall Hall and Greenway. Rockfish should start taking trolled lures south of the Route 301 Nice Bridge, but it might require a bit of a run before you find willing stripers, such as the Piney Point, St. George's Island, and Ragged Point sector of the river where keepers were caught this week. We do know that the waters near the mouth have turned up some beautiful rockfish also.