Way North Fishing Reports

Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, May 3 Update:

It was a great week to get out and fish as summerlike temperatures gave us a nice switch up from last week’s cool down. Fishing activity responded well to the warm-up as many species seemed more willing to bite. Shad fishing in the area has been on the slow side this spring, but fishing finally made a turn for the better. One angler reported catching a couple dozen in Octoraro creek. They started their day fishing in Deer Creek but didn’t have any luck and moving locations led to a much better bite. Shad fishing below the Conowingo Dam has also been good with white and pink shad darts noted as more productive than other lures. Further down river, schools of white perch are moving in and there were solid reports from those targeting them. A report from a boat fishing out of Lapidum showed a slow bite on the Harford County side in 20 feet of water. Once they made their way to the other side of the river, they found a much better bite and class of fish in 30 feet of water. Another boat fishing in an unspecified area of the lower Susky said they were catching fish on almost every drop with tandem rigged shad darts and Gulp! baits on jigs. 10- and 11-inch fish offered steady picking with even some 12- and 13-inch fish. Great eating size!

The Susquehanna’s waters have been producing plenty of catfish, as expected for this time of year, but including some unexpected mega-catches. We didn’t get a specific weight on this one but there’s no denying it’s an utterly epic catch! The blue catfish have been keeping a lot of anglers busy during the striped bass closure. It will be a few more weeks before anglers can target stripers in the Bay, but the catfish bite should remain hot in the meantime. A couple of reader reports came in of an uptick in the snakehead action, on the Flats and also from the Aberdeen area where one father-son team caught four the weekend before last. Chatterbaits were mentioned as an effective pick. Aquatic grasses are emerging with the warmer weather and snakes are moving into these areas. Up the Susquehanna River Captain Kayla Haile of River Queen Guide Service reports that the smallmouth fishing has been great. Lots of fish are in pre-spawn mode and will soon be spawning as the warm temperatures are heating the water quickly. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and ned rigs have bene producing best. Get out and fish this hot bite now because Captain Haile says that there is usually a lull period while the fish have their minds on spawning. The pre-spawn bite also produces some of the biggest fish of the year, so don’t miss it.