Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Fishing Report, 8/31/2018 Update:
Editor's note: Mollie Rudow, our intrepid fishing report compiler, started at St. Mary’s College of Maryland last week. As a new student she has prioritized her studies and will no longer be working on our FishTalk fishing reports every week. Moving forward, Parker Martin, our former FishTalk intern who has filled in for Mollie in the past, will be gathering the intel and writing up the reports. Please join us in welcoming Parker to the reports!
Deep creek lake is going to be quite the hotspot for labor day weekend, so get to the ramp early. The same can be expected at most of the Baltimore and Virginia area reservoirs, where fishing daybreak and dusk has been the best tactic anyway, as the fish are suffering through the heat of summer just as we are.
Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Fishing Report, 8/23/2018 Update:
While many rivers on the Western Shore in Maryland and Virginia remain muddy and high from the rainfall we’ve had, conditions are continuing to improve as time goes on. Until the water clears up, however, in many areas the safe move is to focus on blue and channel cats, which will slurp up cut herring or mud shad without hesitation regardless of water clarity. The Potomac is muddy down to around the 301 bridge, and the Rappahannock is messy to Belle Isle. Most freshwater areas of the York and James are out of kilter as well. Still, all of these areas are better than they were a week to 10 days ago, and in the next week or so, will hopefully return back to normal.
Contributor Jim Gronaw spent the past week with a friend fishing out at Garrett County's Deep Creek Lake, mostly in the dawn and dusk time frames and a little beyond. Using #3 and #4 Mepps Aglias with attached "boot foot" style plastic trailers they caught chain pickerel, largemouth bass, yellow perch and a surprising number of northern pike in and around various weed bed types. Top bass were in the three-pound category with lost fish estimated at four pounds. Pickerel ranged from 18 inches to Jim’s new personal best of 26.25 inches. Northerns ranged from 22 to 27 inches. Also, they caught some decent smallmouth bass and some big pickerel at the state park area on eighth-ounce Road Runners tipped with minnow. Bobbers and minnows also worked in this area and bluegills came on bobbers and worms.
Back east in Maryland, we have had some good reader reports of active largemouth in ponds, but the presence of a lot of weed growth and scum often makes it necessary to use lures like weedless frogs. A few similar reports from snakehead fishermen trickled in from the Cambridge area, where weedless topwater was the ticket.
A bit farther south at Lake Anna, we heard good news and bad news this week. The good news is that striped bass in the 18 to 26 inch range have been biting strongly, especially for those dropping live baits over the side. Some anglers have also had success jigging with spoons, mostly near bottom in water 20 to 50 feet deep. The bad news is that the Virginia Department of Health announced over this past weekend that areas of the Pamunkey and North Anna branches of the lake have experienced a harmful algae bloom, and the public has been advised to avoid contact with the water in these areas until algae levels return to normal – which will hopefully happen very, very soon!
Meanwhile, in the western part of VA Mossy Creek reports that the water is still high and rising, but isn’t in bad shape and they’re still catching good numbers fish. Cicadas have been thick, so they suggest you try fishing boogle bugs. Brook trout have also gotten fat with good water flows, and they are currently taking terrestrials like beetles and ants.
Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Fishing Report, 8/16/2018 Update:
The after-effects of the insane rainfall we had earlier this summer are starting to finally give way to normalcy. Although a few of the Western Shore tributaries are still running high and muddy, trout and smallmouth fishing has picked back up in the mountains, where Mossy Creek Fly Fishing reports stream levels and clarity have returned to near-normal after the tumultuous summer. Wooly buggers and little frogs have been the best lures.
In the lakes, largemouth bass are still in typical summer behavior patterns. Deep Creek Outfitters reported a good week of fishing on the lake for anglers who were there at sunrise or sunset, when the lake wasn’t packed with boats. Reader reports from the Baltimore-area reservoirs also indicate standard summer conditions.
In the creeks off the Potomac River and in the Blackwater complex, snakeheads seem to be on a bit of a summer feeding spree. Last week FishTalk team member Zach Ditmars spanked 'em on the Shore, and this week reader Eric Packard noted that although much of Mallows Bay was too weedy to fish, while catching bass out near the wrecks the snakes were attacking his offerings. We also heard from a reader who caught several while fishing in road-side ditches near Toddville.
Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Fishing Report, 8/9/2018 Update:
Clyde’s Sport Shop reported that largemouth bass are in their typical summer behavior patterns, staying in the shallows during morning time and venturing into deeper water as the day wears on. Using small poppers, soft plastics, and buzz baits have been most productive means of catching them. Loch Raven has had a great bass bite, as well as its fair share of bluegill and crappie. Further west, Deep Creek Outfitters reported heavy traffic on the lake making it hard to nail down wake-free spot to fish. Anglers who have managed to secure a spot enjoyed stellar bass and pickerel fishing. Snakehead fishing on the eastern shore has been a steady bite on topwater frogs, paddletails, and spinnerbaits. Targeting fry balls while often yield defensive strikes.
Mid-Atlantic Freshwater Fishing Report, 8/2/2018 Update:
We're afraid that once again, due to the torrential downpours, storms, and runoff, the fishing report is abbreviated this week. It was difficult to locate many people who were able to fish, much less those who have caught, within the past week.
Although reservoirs and lakes weren't as up-ended as rivers and the Chesapeake Bay were by the torrential rains, there has still been an impact. B & B Tackle reports that much of the freshwaters of southern Pennsylvania have poor quality at the moment, and while lakes have begun to clear, visibility is still poor and in some areas debris near shore makes fishing problematic. They noted that due to reduced visibility, bait fishing has been more productive than casting lures. Similar reports from the Delaware ponds and Eastern Shore millponds indicate that the riled waters may need a few more days to clear up, before fishing returns to normal summer patterns.
We had a number of reader reports from Baltimore-area lakes and ponds this week of decent bass fishing, including one from our own Heather Capezio, who had some luck casting bubble gum pink plastic worms. A reader a bit further south also caught bass plus crappie casting small pumpkinseed tube jigs at St. Mary's Lake.
The Western Shore tributary rivers throughout Maryland and Virginia are a wash at the moment, and in some areas, are still running high enough that they may be unsafe. Where it's possible to fish, putting chunks of fish on bottom for catfish is the best bet. J & W mentioned that blue catfish have been biting despite the awful conditions in some areas.
Mossy Creek Fly Fishing gave us a similar report from the rivers in their area, saying that visibility is poor and fly fishing is tough. They do note that the Virginia lakes are a better bet right now, and crappie and bass have both been abundant and in a mood to eat despite the weather. Small minnow are best for the crappie, which can reliably be found near bridge pilings and deepwater structure. Bass fishing has been best early and late in the day.