Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 24 Update:
With travel restrictions still limiting fishing opportunities in many areas, we note that if you’re headed out to fish all the regular regs for the season are still in place and social distancing orders are a go, even if you’re on the water, whether you live in Delaware, Maryland, or Virginia. Don’t forget that our Social Distancing While Fishing page has links to all the different state authority webpages with the latest info and updates on when, where, and how fishing is allowed. With many businesses still closed, we’d also like to give a big thanks to all you readers who sent in reports and pictures. Please keep them coming to [email protected].
With plenty of catfish and white perch around, anglers have been staving off the stay-at-home boredom by hitting the water for dinner. Anglers are finding catfish easily accessible by both shoreline and boat, and targeting them has been simple as tossing chicken livers or cut menhaden on the bottom. For white perch, anglers often haven’t been leaving the shoreline. They’re easily found in tributary coves and near the local community piers. If you're looking for a bait supply note that Fishbone's Bait and Tackle is open for phone orders with curbside pick-up, and has a wide selection right now including fresh bunker, bloodworms, and chicken necks if you're looking to drop the crab traps. The first reports of crabs caught in local pier pots and pull traps have come in, though the catch numbers have been very low (two reports of one crab; one report of eight but he had traveled south).
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 17 Update:
With travel restrictions still limiting fishing opportunities in many areas, we remind you that if you’re headed out to fish all the regular regs for the season are still in place and social distancing orders are a go, even if you’re on the water, whether you live in Delaware, Maryland, or Virginia. Don’t forget that our Social Distancing While Fishing page has links to all the different state authority webpages with the latest info and updates on when, where, and how fishing is allowed. With many businesses still closed, we’d also like to give a big thanks to all you readers who sent in reports and pictures. Please keep them coming to [email protected].
White perch have been the primary fishery in the Upper Bay, with the fish now spreading throughout the tribs and beginning to show up in post-spawn areas like mid-river holes with structure. Going after them with bloodworms on a bottom rig is always a good bet, but several anglers have reported success with grass shrimp either on bottom rigs or on darts suspended under bobbers. We also had a report of catfish in the Back River this week, though the cats are undoubtedly widespread and can be targeted in any Upper Bay trib right now.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 10 Update:
Hey, anglers! With fishing in many parts of our turf limited to sustenance only, we remind you that if you’re headed out to fish all the regular regs for the season are still in place and social distancing orders are a go, even if you’re on the water, whether you live in Delaware, Maryland, or Virginia. Don’t forget that our Social Distancing While Fishing page has links to all the different state authority webpages with the latest info and updates on when, where, and how fishing is allowed. That said, in light of the current circumstances many of our local, well-loved tackle shops have closed their doors for the time being. Every week since FishTalk’s founding they’ve contributed much of the information for this report, which we’re immensely thankful for. As many of them are shuttered for now, we’d like to thank you readers for the reports you sent in via email this week. You’re all helping us keep the reports going during these unprecedented times, and we hope that they help everyone – especially those who have a real need for harvesting their own dinners – hone in on their fishing plans for the weekend. Again, a big thanks to everyone who’s chimed in, and please send future pictures, reports, and updates to [email protected].
Although we heard from a number of area anglers who switched over to freshwater options this week for a surer bet at harvesting dinner as they sustenance fish, Fishbone’s reported that the white perch bite has been picking up steam in the tributaries, in post-spawn areas. With plenty of them dinner-sized and available to both shoreline and boat anglers, bloodworms have been leaving the shelves fast. The Magothy has had them up-river and in the creeks, primarily coming in on bottom rigs. Anglers who are headed out should consider bringing some chicken livers or fresh cut menhaden with them – the catfish bite has also been on fire, and they aren’t picky about where they’re hanging out. Reader reports of good catfish action fishing from backyard docks also came from the Back River and the Chester this week.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 3 Update:
Fellow FishTalkers: We know you’re all rearing to get out of the house and on the water like we are. We live and breathe fishing, and are quite bummed about the limits placed upon being on the water right now. While it’s tough to keep away from the docks and shorelines, we encourage you all to abide by the regulations put in place by Governor Larry Hogan. If you’re a substance angler, remember to abide by social distancing requirements while keeping in mind that all the normal fishing and boating rules and regs are still in effect. With such stringent limits put in place regarding who can be on the water right now, as well as reduced hours and customer contact in most tackle shops, we’d like to forewarn you that the reports are going to be a bit thin this week and probably will remain so until this blows over. We also know there’s been a lot of confusion over exactly what the current regulations are regarding who can and cannot fish. We can’t tell you the regs in this report because they differ by the area and are changing by the day, but visit our Social Distancing While Fishing page, and in the fourth paragraph you’ll find links to the different state and federal agency websites and announcements regarding the legalities.
White perch have been hanging around the upper areas of the tribs just down-river from the spawning zones, and going after them with bloodworms on a bottom rig has been the best way to bring home dinner. Some anglers also reported success with grass shrimp; we heard from one reader who got a couple fishing off his private pier in the Magothy after netting his own shrimp.