Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
The weather is slowly but surely warming up, and with it, water temperatures inside the Bay and its tributaries have seen slight upticks in temperature. As a result, the yellow perch run is peaking in the rivers, striped bass are chewing well prior to swimming up the rivers to spawn, and freshwater species like trout, bass and crappie are all putting on the feed bag after a long, cold winter.
The guys at Always Bent Fishing OC reported some good striper fishing toward the tail end of last week. On the 29th, Taylor Bakke got into some solid bass from the kayak while jigging around bridge pilings at night. The biggest of the leap-day bunch measured a solid 28.5 inches. Later that night, he also managed to stick a striped bass of the same size class from shore while fishing shallow backwaters with 3- to 4-inch paddletails on 1/4- to 1/2-ounce jigheads.
Angler’s Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Angler’s Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Team Member & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
This past week we have seen the peak of the yellow perch run in most of the lower Eastern shore rivers to the middle section of the Chesapeake in the Severn and Magothy rivers. Most are catching a mix of yellow perch and white perch with whites becoming the most common catch as the yellow perch start to move out of the spawning areas. Some of the hot spots over on the eastern shore have been Tuckahoe Creek, Choptank River, Marshyhope Creek and the Nanticoke River. Over on the Western shore, the Patuxent River from Jug Bay north has seen a good amount of yellow perch and some white perch; Allens Fresh had a good run of yellows and even some crappie. Live minnows, grass shrimp, and bloodworms have been the baits of choice for most anglers enjoying the perch run, and if fishing with artificial lures is your preferred way to fish, the Bust’em Baits stingers paired with a small 1/32-ounce to 1/16-ounce jighead has worked really well specially on the natural-colored plastics.
Striped bass fishing has been great with the warmer water temperatures this week. Water temperatures have climbed to the upper 40s and the striped bass are on the move to the spawning grounds and feeding heavy on their way to spawn. Fishing from Chesapeake Beach to Eastern Bay has been producing some good fish with lots of upper 20-inch fish to some upper 40- and even 50-inch striped bass have been caught around the area. Most are jigging over schools of feeding striped bass or around bunker schools using 6- to 10-inch soft plastics like BKD, Z-Man and NLBN being some popular choices. Don’t forget to carry different size jig heads! We recommend having 1-, 1 1/2-, and 2-ounce jigs to have every scenario covered since you could be fishing anywhere from 15 to 50 plus feet of water at times. Some of the hot colors for plastics have been more natural-colored baits like the NLBN green back color, Z-Man Pearl and Bust’em Baits dry ice color.
Fishing around the Blackwater region on the lower Eastern shore was hot this past week with the warmer weather pushing the water temps up to the lower 50s. We saw the first few snakeheads of the year with some nice size crappie and largemouth bass also caught. Most where using small chatter baits, inline spinner baits and paddle tails on a weedless screw-lock hook.
The Angler’s Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Team Member & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Freshwater
Since December, trout anglers have been enjoying the generous preseason stockings around the state. The put-and-take areas are providing plenty of fun fishing opportunities for anglers, young and old. Closure 1 put and take areas will close on March 10 and closure 2 on March 24. All will reopen at 6:30 a.m. on the traditional opening day of the 2024 spring trout season on March 30 at all Closure 1 and Closure 2 trout management areas.
New this year, DNR is offering a special youth trout fishing day on Saturday, March 23 for anglers who are under the age of 16. This is a great opportunity for our young anglers to essentially have the popular put-and-take trout management waters all to themselves. Familiarize them with casting before the outing, because if you cast for them, you need to have a fishing license and trout stamp to be legal.
Trout are not the only game in town this time of the year. Fishing for smallmouth bass and walleye is excellent in the upper Potomac River and to a slightly lesser extent in the lower Susquehanna River. A variety of soft plastic swim jigs, grubs, soft craw jigs, and crankbaits are all good choices to cast near current breaks and submerged ledges.
The colder months of early spring are a great time to fish for chain pickerel in the upper tidal waters and freshwater ponds and lakes. The heavy growth of grass beds has yet to begin, so there is a lot of open water and chain pickerel are looking for any kind of structure to hold near to ambush baitfish. Sunken wood is usually the most available structure. Casting a variety of lures that are rigged with single inline hooks work well for this mostly catch-and-release fishery.
Deep Creek Lake and reservoirs across the western and central regions are coming to life and offer a variety of fishing opportunities for yellow perch, crappie, largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass. Most will respond to smaller lures that are fished deep and slow this time of the year.
It is still a little too cold for northern snakehead activity but as March moves on, fishing large minnows under a bobber or popping cork near shoreline brush can offer up a few fish. The sunny afternoon shores of a body of water will often attract northern snakeheads to warmer waters.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Most of the fishing activity in the Ocean City area revolves around tautog. A few fish are being caught around the Ocean City Inlet and the Route 50 Bridge area. A few striped bass are being caught by anglers casting soft plastic jigs at the Route 90 Bridge and Ocean City Inlet area, but most are under the 28-inch minimum.
The new recreational summer flounder regulation modifications are now posted. From January 1 to May 31, the minimum size for flounder is 16 inches, with a creel limit of four flounder per day. From June 1 to December 31 the minimum size will be 17.5 creel limit of four flounder per day.
Fishing for tautog at the offshore wreck and reef sites is good this month with plenty of tautog coming over the rails. Traditional crab baits and jigs are popular choices for anglers.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.