Maryland Fishing Reports
02-16-2008
The 2007 fishing season is just a memory now that we find ourselves starting the journey through 2008. Many fishermen have been hitting the fishing shows looking over what’s new in boats and fishing tackle or looking for good prices on equipment and tackle replacements and upgrades. A number of other fishermen took advantage of the warm weather during the last weeks of December and the first weeks of January to do what they like to do most, Fish. Many fishermen continued to catch large striped bass in the lower bay region by trolling or jigging; just for the fun of it even though all fish had to be released. Fishermen reported excellent fishing until the cold weather moved in after the first week of January. Fishermen in the upper tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River have been enjoying good fishing for chain pickerel and crappie and will continue as long as the waters remain ice free.
Fishermen at Deep Creek Lake began to see ice forming only to have it recede in the warm up but fishermen took advantage of the warm weather and open water and did just fine. Fisheries biologist Alan Klotz sent in this short report from last week. No Ice- No Problem. With the January thaw taking off all the ice that had formed on Deep Creek Lake, fishermen have been fishing the shallow ends of coves with good success. Minnows fished under slip bobbers are taking walleye, yellow perch, chain pickerel, and northern pike. Pictured is Jeff Haines with a trophy northern pike that he caught on a golden shiner. Jeff returned the big fish to the lake to fight another day.
Alan Klotz also sent this exciting report about a recent trout stocking in western Maryland. The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute made another generous donation of 2,400 lbs of nice rainbow trout (each trout about 2lbs each!) to the State of Maryland. These trout were stocked in the Town Creek Delayed Harvest Trout Fishing Area, the Youghiogheny River Delayed Harvest Trout Fishing Area, and the Youghiogheny River Put and Take Trout Fishing Area in Friendsville. Reports from the NRP field officers indicate that the Freshwater Institute rainbow trout stocked in the Casselman River Delayed Harvest Area in December are providing a lot of action for fishermen.
John Mullican and his fishing buddy Steve Peperak took advantage of the mild weather last week and filed this report. Smallmouth, walleye, and muskie fishing have all been excellent this winter. When river temperatures drop down below 37°F the smallmouth action drops off, but walleye fishing remains strong. During the winter spells of mild weather, however, can mean terrific smallmouth action. Steve Peperak and I landed nearly 40 smallmouth between 13 and 17 inches last weekend in the Point of Rocks to Brunswick area. Look for relatively deep spots with little current. Hair jigs, tubes, and grubs fished near the bottom were the ticket.
Anglers in the Ocean City area are reporting that they are still catching large striped bass within three miles of the beach while trolling Mojo’s, parachutes and Stretch 25’s and 30’s. Ocean City fishermen are also reporting that tautog fishing on the wreck sites has been good and the tog are large.
As is always the case one never can readily predict what Mother Nature will throw at us in regard to weather and 2007 will certainly be remembered by many as the year of severe drought conditions. The lack of rain made it pretty difficult for our freshwater fisheries; causing low flows in streams and creeks and extremely low water conditions in many of the reservoirs in the central region. Higher salinities marched up the bay making it tough for oyster survival but good for some types of summer fishing such as summer flounder, Spanish mackerel and bluefish and recreational crabbing in the upper bay. Maryland fishermen experienced another excellent spring trophy striped bass season and finished off the year with one of the best fall fishing seasons for large fall migrant striped bass that fishermen can remember.
The biologists that administer many of the fisheries programs involved with the management of the fisheries resources in Maryland have taken the time to write to everyone about their activities for the year 2007. These reports under the three headings commonly used in the fishing reports cover our Chesapeake Bay tidal fisheries, our freshwater non-tidal fisheries and lastly the Atlantic Ocean and coastal fisheries. You are encouraged to pick and choose topics or fisheries that you are interested in or to read them all at your leisure. The biologists have done a wonderful job and deserve our thanks and gratitude.
State Record Fish: A number of impressive fish were caught by anglers this past year; a total of nine new state records in all. Sam Beauchamp of New York, New York started off the run for records with a new state record tautog in the Atlantic Division that was caught at an artificial reef site off Ocean City on March 11th that weighed a whopping 20 lbs, 11 oz. Ron Callis of Ocean City set a golden tilefish record with a 59.2 lb beauty caught on May 27th near Poorman’s Canyon. Mike Horsey finished off the Atlantic Division honors with a 67 lb cobia caught near the wreck of the Marine Electric while trolling a ballyhoo/Islander combination on July 18th.
There were to be four new state records in the Chesapeake Bay Division this year two involved the same species. Sid Stollings of Reisterstown started things off on March 30th with a 4 lb. crappie he caught in Dundee Creek. Charlie Barron of Manassas, VA brought in a whopping 10 lb Atlantic Spade fish which he caught at Buoy 72 on July 15th. Kevin Bautista of Waldorf set a new record for a Spanish mackerel at 11.67 lbs on September 22nd near the Target Ship; only to have Dean Mitchell of Dagsboro, DE eclipse that record with a Spanish mackerel at 12.4 lbs in the same area on October 6th.
Freshwater anglers accounted for two new state records this year; both involved bullhead catfish. Danny Graves of Reston, VA pulled in a 2.76 bullhead from Piney Run Lake on March 31st only to have Zelijko Koretic catch a bullhead in Loch Raven Reservoir that surpassed it with a weight of 3 lbs, 6 oz on August 11th. To view the entire gallery of Maryland's 2007 State Records click here.
Last Cast: The Maryland fishing community lost two of its own this past year. Kyle Wilson who made his last cast much too early in life for another fishing hole where perhaps the walleyes that he pursued with such a passion on the upper Potomac will appear in wonderful bounty. The second is Harvey Schreter who had lived an amazingly full life for 91-years as a world explorer and adventurer but called the trout streams of the central region his own and actively became a steward of them. Charlie Gougeon wrote the following words about Harvey. We are saddened to report the passing of a long time supporter of our Central Region Fisheries program. Mr. Harvey Schreter, who resided in Baltimore, Maryland, was a member of Trout Unlimited and remained a steadfast supporter of fish management activities within the Central Region for more than two decades. Even at 91 years of age, Harvey could be found climbing into his chest high waders on the Gunpowder Falls or Little Patuxent River for a day of trout fishing. He was always complimentary of our work and us as fisheries biologists, and he frequented many of our fish surveys over the years to observe our work on new or developing fisheries. A year never passed without Harvey checking in on us to inquire about our planned fish sampling or to get directions to some new trout stream destination in the Central Region. We’ll miss that for sure, but life goes on and so too will Harvey’s memory.
11-16-2007
Chesapeake Bay Upper
Fishermen are reporting that they had a few runs of hickory shad at Deer Creek this past weekend, particularly at dawn and during dam releases. Most would agree that it?s just about over now for the season. Fishermen are still catching hickory shad and American shad in the Susquehanna below the dam. The Susquehanna Flats Catch and Release Season is scheduled to end Thursday May 10th at midnight. Water temperatures are now holding above the 60-degree mark and steadily rising. Fishermen have reported some good fishing at times on the flats, but a lot of lean times in between. Some of the greatest successes on large striped bass reported have been drifting live herring. Fishermen trolling in the upper bay from the Brewerton Channel south to the Bay Bridge have been reporting fair fishing lately for striped bass. Most have been trolling parachutes and bucktails in the 2oz to 6oz weight range in white and chartreuse. Spoons, Storm lures and diving or shallower running plugs have also be part of the arsenal of lures being pulled behind boats. Channel edges such as the Sandy Point to Baltimore Light edge have been popular as has the channel around the Bay Bridge. The larger white perch have been steadily moving out into the upper bay waters and recreational crabbers that tried crabbing over the weekend in the Magothy and Patapsco reported no crabs were caught.
Chesapeake Bay Middle
Fishermen trolling for large striped bass saw the fishery pick up towards the end of last week in the middle region of the Chesapeake. The channel edge along the Brick House Bar, the deep hole in front of the Bloody Point light and the channel edge of Thomas Point Light were three of the most productive locations in the upper limits of the region. The Gas Buoy south to the Clay Banks and down to the CP Buoy on the east side of the bay and the west side of the shipping channel has also been productive from Thomas Point Light south to Plum Point and beyond. John Kuch caught and released this nice 42-1/2? striped bass while trolling west of the Bloody Point Light. Although fishermen are reporting that they are finding striped bass at all levels of the water column, the bite closest to the surface has been the most productive. Fishermen are also reporting the morning bite is the best. This could possibly be due to the aversion to bright light that striped bass have, but certainly boat traffic has an effect also. It?s no secret that big striped bass avoid engine noise and this could explain why shallow running lures behind planner boards are working so well. Many anglers have been letting out a lot of line on their flat lines off the stern, some as much as 400?. Many fishermen have been using the lighter parachutes and bucktails, often in the 4oz to 6oz size range. Most anglers are trolling both white and chartreuse, leaving nothing to chance although most would agree that white tends to work better on sunny days and chartreuse on cloudy days. Spoons such as #18 and #20 Tony?s, Storms and plugs have also been working. Don Andrews holds up a nice 42-1/2? striped bass for the camera that was caught off of Chesapeake Beach.
Some fishermen looking for a change of pace from the trolling scene in the middle bay region have been happy to find that the seasons first good run of croakers have arrived throughout the lower sections of the region. The croakers are being found in the shallower waters at the mouth of the Honga River towards dusk and can be caught on bottom rigs baited with shrimp, artificially scented baits, bloodworms and to a lesser degree squid. The white perch have been moving out of the tidal rivers and creeks and are starting to also show up in the shoal areas in the bay. Recreational crabbers were out over the weekend trying some of their favorite locations such as the Wye, Miles, Tred Avon and Slaughter Creek. The best reports have been coming from the Dorchester County tidal creeks with about a 2/1 throwback ratio. Personal observations this morning of commercial trotlines on the Tred Avon and a couple of tidal creeks showed a lot of looking as the boat moved down the line and not much dipping. Water temperatures are on the rise and generally above the 60-degree mark now so crabbing will continue to slowly improve.
Chesapeake Bay Lower
The exodus of post spawn striped bass from the Choptank, Nanticoke and Patuxent River estuaries last week gave the lower bay fisheries the shot in the arm fishermen have been looking for. The Potomac River is now expected to add additional post spawn fish to the growing numbers of striped bass headed south and out of the Chesapeake. Fishermen reported that May 3rd the fishing took a dramatic turn for the better. Peter Duran holds up a nice 40? striped bass for the camera in the lower Potomac before slipping it back into the river. Fishermen and boat captains have been reporting that the best opportunity for getting into large fish has been in the early morning hours and close to the surface. Fishermen are employing planner boards and long drop backs on the flat lines to get lures as far away from prop noise as possible. The bite seems to be spread out over a wide area but some of the old favorite sweet spots continue to attract fishermen and fish; Cove Point, Cedar Point, Buoys 72 and 72A, Hooper?s Island Light and the Potomac River from St. Clements to St. Georges Island. Captains talk about finding the bulk of the fish along the channel edges close to the surface and in 50? to 80? of water. Those fishermen looking for a break from trolling have been finding some peace and quiet bottom fishing for croakers on some of the shallower shoal areas in the region towards dusk. The croakers have been moving into the shallow waters of Cedar Point, Point Lookout, the mouth of the Honga River and the Nanticoke as well as the Hooper?s Island Bridge area and the lower Potomac. Shrimp, artificially scented baits as well as squid have been working on bottom rigs. The white perch have moved into the lower sections of the tidal rivers and recreational crabbers are starting to have some success with catching crabs. The throwback ratio is reported to be high but crabs are now starting to be caught in the regions tidal creeks and rivers by trot lines or collapsible crab traps.
Tangier Sound
Excellent fishing for spot tends to dominate the fishing scene in this region when it comes to bottom fishing. The size and numbers of spot don't come much better than this. Fishermen that are bottom fishing are also catching a mix of medium-sized croaker and small sea trout. Bluefish are in the region so often the top hook of a two-hook bottom rig will attract their attention. Flounder continue to come over the rail with some regularity and many are reported to easily make the 16" minimum. Captains are reporting that just about any hard bottom is holding good populations of spot, but Island Rock, Great Rock and the Thorofare tend to standout. Since there are so many bluefish in the region many fishermen are targeting them either by trolling or by chumming. Spanish mackerel are also in the region and fishermen are catching them by casting small spoons and jigs to breaking schools of fish or jigging underneath.
Shallow water fishing along the marsh sedges has been good for anglers looking for striped bass and bluefish. Some are even finding speckled trout and red drum. Many of the cuts and tidal creeks will offer up a variety of fish to anglers whether they are using lures or bait. Large white perch, spot, croaker, flounder, bluefish, speckled trout and striped bass will all line up to see what's being served on an ebb tide from these tidal marshes.