Weekend Fishing Report

The dog days of summer apparently haven’t bothered the freshwater or saltwater fish in our region. In fact, the hotter it gets in the lower Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, the more willing it seems certain fish species take to lures and baits.

For example, Ken Neill of the Peninsula Salt Water Sport Fisherman’s Association said cobias are the top catch in the lower Bay, not all that far from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

“Large fish are being caught by sight casting [and even] larger fish are being caught by anglers fishing chum slicks,” he said. Top spot has been the Bluefish Rock area. If it’s flounder you want down that way, concentrate on the Cell and Buoy 36A. “Large flatfish are available at the Bridge-Tunnel, but a lot of undersized fish were the main catch there this week,” added Neill.

Master angler Julie Ball has been setting hooks to big amberjacks at various navigation towers scattered off the coast of Virginia.

“Although it is a long run to the south tower — about 65 miles — that is one of the best amberjack holding towers anywhere,” Ball said, and she proved it as she and friend Skip Feller, a charter captain, caught 30 large amberjacks.

If it’s largemouth bass you prefer, you couldn’t be in a better area than the District. Ask La Plata’s Dale Knupp, who fishes in the upper tidal Potomac River with his wife, Nancy.

“I’ve yet to return home from a Potomac bass outing without having hooked and released at least 20 to 30 largemouths,” he said. “We can be up at Belle Haven, the Pomonkey, or the Chicamuxen, it doesn’t matter. The bass are everywhere. They love topwater poppers early in the morning, then we switch to small plastic worms later on.”

(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) it’s mostly big catfish and a few bass. Much the same is available as you head downstream. Bass are found from Roosevelt Island down to Washington Channel; the catfish and huge carp are everywhere in the river. If you see a weed line or open pockets in a bed of milfoil or hydrilla, try a Pop-R surface lure early in the day and hang on. The bass will react to your gentle popping, stopping, and popping again. Once the sun burns down, switch to Texas-rigged finesse worms or take a Strike King Zero or a Senko worm and fish it wacky-style. You’ll catch fish from the District down to western Charles County and across to Virginia’s Prince William County. That includes the main stem and all the feeder creeks. Downstream, from the Route 301 Bridge to St. Clements, there’s a chance of hooking a mixed bag of spot, perch and some croakers. Even an occasional keeper striper and baby bluefish is possible. But the fishing doesn’t really heat up until you get past St. George’s Island and head toward the Cornfield Harbor sector of the river, which is not far from Point Lookout. The flounder catches in water from 15 feet to 30 feet and more can be astounding. Drifted or slowly trolled strips of bluefish or live bull minnows can be amazingly effective. If you troll deep water, you’ll need up to 10 ounces of inline sinker weight. The inline sinker doesn’t get hung up as much as a bank or drop sinker.

WICOMICO RIVER: 55 miles (★★★) — Quade’s Store in Bushwood says there is no reason why you can’t hook croakers and spot most any day. By the way, the weed lines along shore and any riprap stones are home to fat white perch that love 1/8-ounce Beetlespin lures.

MATTAWOMAN CREEK: 40 miles (★★★) — The Paralyzed Veterans of America tournament is coming out of Smallwood this weekend, so things will be busy. Will these tournaments ever come to an end? Meanwhile, bass and catfish catches can be very good inside the creek.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND LAKES: 40-50 miles (★★★) — Gilbert Run Park’s Wheatley Lake (Route 6, east of La Plata) is sizzling in the daytime, and even the sunnies are sometimes hard to find. At St. Mary’s Lake (south on Route 5, past Leonardtown, to Camp Cosoma Road) try to get here early and cast small topwater popper lures, followed by 4-inch PowerWorms. You’ll score on bass.

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) are going through a hot-weather phase, but early birds will get their bass, catfish and sunfish.

WSSC RESERVOIRS: 20-30 miles (★★★) — (Triadelphia, off Route 97, or Route 650, in Montgomery County; Rocky Gorge, off Route 29 in Montgomery County) has turned up some fine bass catches. It requires a bit of work, sometimes even working plastic craws, worms or pig’n’jigs in water around lake points as deep as 20 feet. But the bass are there and you have to adjust. Of course, early hours will find them closer to land in shallower situations around stickups and sunken wood where a wacky-rigged worm or even a topwater lure can do the job.

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