Freshwater Fishing Report, January 27 Update:
Contributor Eric Packard reports that the winter trout stocking locations continue to be productive. Along with the nymph with a bead head dropper that proved so productive last week, he’s tried using a simple bobber rig baited with redworms with success. We also heard from a pair of anglers that visited some southern Maryland stocking locations in Prince Georges and Charles Counties who reported catching their limit on two different days. Slow retrieved Super Dupers, and pink and white, or orange and white mouse tails on a drop shot caught most of their fish. There aren’t many anglers braving the chilly days so there’s the potential to enjoy some very fast-paced catching in recently stocked areas. Visit the Maryland trout stocking page and the Virginia trout stocking page to find out where those fish will be.
Up in the mountains, Mossy Creek Fly Fishing reports that brook trout fishing has been good. They expect the spring creeks to be firing on all cylinders and anglers should anticipate excellent streamer fishing on the rainy days. The dry fly fishing can be quite good if a significant number of bugs come off. A zebra midge under a size 12 or 14 caddis can also be a deadly combo if you see fish in a feeding lane.
Pickerel fishing is great right now in the tidal tributaries and non-tidal waters like the Eastern Shore mill ponds. Besides the brief freeze earlier this winter, we have been lucky that most of our waterways have remained ice free up to this point. We hope that this trend continues so that water access remains plentiful. Jerk baits and spinners are great artificials to throw for the pickerel. Shiny baits or baits that rattle work well at getting their attention and enticing them to bite. Live minnows work especially well in the colder temperatures. The pickerel fishing should remain good through the rest of winter. There is still time to register for the CCA Pickerel Championship which runs until the end of February. There are plenty of divisions and prizes to compete for!
Freshwater Fishing Report, January 19 Update:
Recent trout stockings have provided many winter fishing opportunities across the region. Contributor Eric Packard reports that the Maryland trout stocking locations have been providing plenty of bites. He hit a recently stocked ponds with his fly rod rigged with a nymph with a bead head dropper and caught 10 fish in a little over an hour. Another reader headed out to some southern Maryland lakes and found them with drop shots and super dupers. They said that pink mouse tails with white heads were the hot bait on the drop shots. There aren’t too many anglers braving the chilly days so there’s the potential to enjoy some very fast-paced catching; visit the Maryland trout stocking page and the Virginia trout stocking page to find out where those fish will be.
Packard also reported that despite the relatively warm daytime temps, cold nights created icing issues in a number of areas last weekend and early last week. A visit to one of the Baltimore creeks resulted in denied entry, and then running over to an Eastern Shore millpond he discovered it half-covered in ice. Crunching through to open water then produced a half-dozen pickerel and three bass for two anglers, with most of the catches made on minnow. A Beetle Spin and a jerkbait produced just one fish each. It looks like colder temperatures will return this weekend and persist through next week, so icing may continue to be an issue on certain bodies of water. Take advantage of open water while we have it.
The AIC hit the upper Pocomoke early this week and reported a slow pick. The water levels were unusually high even at low tide, and the fish remained scattered throughout the tidal cycle. Minnow on shad darts fished along bottom outside of the channel in six to eight feet of water produced a handful of pickerel, yellow perch, crappie, and (just one) bass, with yellow perch providing the bulk of the action. Bobbers set deep also produced a couple of fish, but the chatterbaits that produced so well just a week ago went uneaten. Another angler reported just a single pickerel there fishing an afternoon. He noted that he had large minnow and felt many tentative bites that didn’t produce fish, so small minnow may be in order for the crappie and perch.
Freshwater Fishing Report, January 12 Update:
The mild weather this month has made fishing more tolerable through the start of winter. Many freshwater species are active, which is great incentive to get out on the water. The Angler in Chief and Contributor Eric Packard both hit the upper Pocomoke River midweek, and report a steady bite on pickerel, perch, bass and crappie. The fish were on flats of five to seven feet when the tide was up, and as it dropped they gathered in the main channel. Minnow on shad darts did plenty of the catching but the bass and pickerel didn’t hesitate to smack slow-trolled swimbaits and chatterbaits in the four-inch range. Whites and chartreuses were good color picks. Perch were hitting small spinnerbaits, as well.
Many of the reports from the millponds have been on the slow side for this time of year. FishTalk kayak fishing sharpie Zach Ditmars hit the Salisbury ponds last weekend and only had a couple of fish bite, and a reader fishing one of the southern ponds reported three pickerel and one yellow perch on minnow.
Trout stocking started back up as many southern Maryland ponds and lakes were stocked this week including Myrtle Grove, Lake Artemesia, and Wheatley Lake to name a few. The trout stocking schedule can be found on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website. Virginia has also been steadily stocking locations throughout the state since the New Year. Their stocking schedule can be found on the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources website. We checked in with Mossy Creek Fly Fishing for the latest and greatest for trout fishing in the Shenandoah Valley. They reported that water levels are solid everywhere. Brook trout fishing has been good through the recent warm spell. Little black stoneflies, midges, and small caddis are flying around the mountaintop streams but they say anglers will find more success using nymphs and small streamers. . The best action has been on the overcast and rainy days. Take advantage of the nicer weather while it lasts because winter is sure to bring on colder weather sometime soon.
Freshwater Fishing Report, January 6 Update:
The New Year has brought us some unseasonably warm weather that has made for some great fishing days this past week. Contributor Eric Packard reports that the warmup solved the ice issues many freshwater anglers had difficulty with after the deep-freeze, and that a trip to St. Mary’s Lake produced a handful of pickerel which hit a #3 Mepps. Another angler there who had been targeting crappie had struck out, and a third had caught a couple of crappie and five bass hit live minnow. Packard also hit the upper Patapsco on the search for smallmouth, to no avail. He said he did see a couple of anglers who had luck on trout while casting chartreuse inline spinners.
Multiple reader reports came from the millponds this week as anglers took advantage of the weather. Most reported a decent pickerel bite, with four to seven fish about average. Minnow on large shad darts, Mepps spinners, and swimbaits were all mentioned as effective. Several largemouth bass were mixed into multiple catches, as well, and one angler fishing Johnson’s pond noted reeling up a 10-inch yellow perch. Make sure to check out the CCA Pickerel Championship which runs until the end of February. There are plenty of divisions for anglers to enter along with some great prizes.
Anglers Sport Center let us know that the yellow perch are staging right now. This means that they are in the deeper holes in the upper parts of tributaries like the Magothy, Choptank, Nanticoke, as well as Tuckahoe and Marshyhope Creeks. Over the next month they will begin to move into shallower areas. Small jigs work great, but live minnows will be the best bait to use when targeting them. Bluegill and crappie are still active in our area’s ponds and lakes. Feather jigs and wax worms fished under a bobber can get them biting. A cool catch from this week came from guide service Apex Predators. They were out crappie fishing on the Potomac this week and hooked into a 25-pound, 30 inch carp. The fish was caught on a small crappie jig, two-pound test, and an ultralight rod! The fight lasted about 15 minutes but they were able to land it.
