5/26/2017 Update:
We talked to Mike at Herbs Bait and Tackle to find out how fishing in the northern part of the bay has been this week, and he let us know that with clear water finally beginning to return to the area schoolie rockfish have been hitting topwater plugs left and right. Most anglers have been highly successful since the seasons open, with many 18 to 28 inch fish being caught. Chartreuse and white have been the most popular colors, but blue with a white underside has also been a good color choice.
Many anglers have also been fishing at the mouth of the Susquehanna not just for stripers, but for white perch as well. The bite has been hot, and the most popular baits have been blood worms and grass shrimp. For anglers looking to use lures, shad darts have been highly effective. Catfish are in most rivers right now, too, are being pursued in the Susquehanna below the dam, and are especially heavy in the North East River and the Elk River. Although catfish have been biting just about anything, those using cut fish for bait have been the most successful. In addition to catfish, bass are now active in many of the northern rivers, and as water warms up bass fishing should continue to take off.
5/19/2017 Update:
With schoolie season open, opportunities for catching and keeping rockfish have opened up in the upper Bay and anglers are no longer forced to troll in hopes of catching a trophy rock. The bulk of the tactics being employed shifted this week from trolling to chumming and jigging according to the guys at Herb`s Bait Shop. They reported the most popular colors this weekend were white and chartreuse soft plastics, and many fish being caught were between 20 and 25 inches. The mouth of the Susquehanna (catch and release is still in effect in some areas to the river's south and others are still closed; check the DNR maps before fishing) and Love Point were popular spots this past week, and as waters warm up and become more clear the fishing should continue to improve. Herb`s also let us know that white perch are plentiful in the Susquehanna, and are biting blood worms and grass shrimp.
A few shad are still around but the bulk of their run is history. Since the floodgates at Conowingo are (finally!) closed, cat-fishing in the river should pick up, or at least become easier, as the water flow dies down and the use of a ton of weight isn't necessary.
Anglers willing to travel should take a peek at the Middle Chesapeake report, which details a very good bite for stripers in the 20 to 30 inch range.
5/12/2017 Update:
With high winds this past week, many anglers found it difficult to get out on the water. Those who did make it out between breaks in the gusts found fishing to be slow, possibly due to to cold temperatures this week. We talked to Captain Bones Bait and Tackle and Herbs Bait Shop to find out how the guys who did brave the weather this week did. White perch have been slow but steady, biting on bloodworms at the spillways. Many are being caught in the Port Deposit eddies. Despite high, muddy water, schoolie rockfish have been biting in the Susquehanna. Most successful anglers have been using bloodworms and lures in black, red, and white to target the rocks. Hickory shad are also currently still in the Susquehanna and the creeks in decent numbers but conditions have made fishing tough; a break in the weather could change that, fast. If conditions remain difficult, however, the best bet is to shoot for catfish. Try tossing cut fish or chicken liver into a deep hole, and make sure you have plenty of weight to fight the current.
5/5/2017
We talked to the guys at Herb’s Bait Shop and Sarge’s Bait and Tackle to find out what’s been going on up North, and discovered that white perch, catfish, and bass are being caught on the Susquehanna flats. They’re biting on bloodworms and grass shrimp (chicken liver are effective for the catfish, too), with the bass hitting topwater lures. Most of the perch and catfish being caught are in holes or around structure. More perch are deeper closer to the mouth of the river, and around structure upriver as the water gets shallower. As the weather warms up more fish are expected to move from deeper, colder waters up into the shallows.
Area anglers are also reporting that the time to catch trophy rockfish seems to have passed—most of the fish being caught right now are between 22 and 30 inches. When schoolie season opens up, anglers should look forward to lots of plentiful, if smaller, resident fish. We’re also cautioning, however, that if the weather man is right as of right now, the winds heading our way this weekend will probably stir up many shallow areas that aren’t in the lee and on top of that, it looks like there could be another slug of turbid water heading for us.
Hickory and American shad are still around, but the weather has put a bit of a damper on the bite. A few warm, sunny days could turn that around… fingers are crossed.
On the Delaware side of the boarder, anglers are fishing the ponds and lakes for largemouth bass and crappie. Stocked trout are biting, too, and have been put in Beaver Run, Christiana Creek, Mill Creek, Pike Creek, White Clay Creek, Wilson Run, and Tidbury and Newton ponds. Berkley Powerbait Trout Bait fished on a plain hook and weighted down with a single split-shot is a top pick, for those hatchery-reared trout.
