With record rainfall recorded over wide portions of the D.C. area, bet the rent that at least the freshwater fishing will have to be put on hold until late Sunday or Monday. From Fletcher’s Cove on the Potomac River in Georgetown, Ray Fletcher said, “The water is high, fast and muddy. Even if it doesn’t rain anymore, I don’t expect the fishing to start again until Monday.” That means the river above Great Falls and clear up to western Maryland is a mess.
Fletcher’s prediction likely can be applied to most freshwater rivers and lakes in the area. For example, besides the mountain parts of the Potomac, the upper James, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and Susquehanna rivers also will require time before they’re back in shape. However, if more precipitation arrives, it’ll be bad news.
The tidal rivers — especially their tributaries — sometimes continue to deliver the goods. Potomac bass guide Dale Knupp said the main stem of the river looks terrible, floating debris and discolored water is everywhere, but some of the feeder creeks might be fishable during outgoing tides.
Meanwhile, rain or no rain, Richard Allen Jr. of Westminster, Md., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Northeast Division tournament on the Potomac on Saturday with a five-bass catch that weighed 20 pounds, 1 ounce. That’s not bad.
Chesapeake Bay will deliver goods — There’ll be some discolored water in the Chesapeake because of massive rain runoff from feeder rivers, but fish will be caught in the bay. The good news begins with Christy Henderson (buzzsmarina@verizon.net) on St. Jerome’s Creek in St. Mary’s County. “We had a great week of fishing prior to the rain and wind,” she said. “Trophy rockfish were caught and Buoy 72 [was] one of the hotter locations.” Henderson also said that the first bluefish of the season was seen in her marina. The blue was caught on an umbrella rig on charter captain Jeff Popp’s boat just south of the Point No Point lighthouse. It was 31 inches long. Henderson also said that one of her regulars fished with minnows in the mouth of St. Jerome’s Creek and caught a 26-inch flounder along with a 17- and 19-incher. Maryland regulations say 16½ inches is the minimum keeper size.
Smaller rockfish legal tomorrow — From the Tackle Box in Lexington Park, Ken Lamb reminds us that starting tomorrow two 18-inch-and-up rockfish can be kept in most tidal Maryland waters, but only one of those can measure over 28 inches. Lamb also said that the best location for big rockfish all week was about a mile north of Buoy 70. By June 1, all the state’s tidal waters will be open for rockfish catches.
Croakers continue in Wicomico — Croakers can be found in many of the Bay’s waters, but the Potomac River’s middle to lower Wicomico has shown what some call heavy concentrations of these fish. However, the St. George’s Island area, Chaptico Wharf (upper Wicomico), Solomons Island fishing pier and Point Lookout fishing pier also can come up with a few fish.
Occoquan Reservoir off limits — Fountainhead Park ranger Smokey Davis sent the following: “It is absolutely incredible what almost 6 inches of rain has done to our reservoir. Everything is under water, the pier, boardwalk, parking lot and ramp. Docks from upstream, some with boats still attached, are floating downstream. We even saw a refrigerator float by. I’ve been here 30 years and have never seen it this bad.”
Virginia’s Bay red-hot — The Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay promises great black drum catches. Virginia Beach’s Ken Neill said, “The black drum bite is red hot; the red drum bite is not, but it is still pretty good.” Black drum hookups are almost common for visitors who flock to the Buoy 13 and Buoy 16 area. Flounder fishing has been hit and miss with some good catches from around Buoy 36A. “Some big striped bass are falling to live bait at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel,” Neill said. In the upper Virginia parts of the bay, trollers find striped bass in good numbers, with croakers biting from Smith Point Light down to the Rappahannock, but that was before the rains came.
Smallmouth club to meet — The Potomac River Smallmouth Club will meet May 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Vienna Fire Station on Center Street. The meeting will be conducted in the parking lot where members and guests can display boats that are fully rigged for fishing to show potential boaters how to enhance the fishing experience. There will be kayaks, pontoon boats, canoes, maybe a jet-boat or two. If you have a boat that you are selling, bring it. The public is invited. For more information, contact Ernie at kiko13@comcast.net.
• Look for Gene Mueller’s Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.