Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 27 Update:
Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that fishing the Pocomoke has been a little rocky recently. Some days anglers are finding plenty of perch, bass, pickerel, and crappie to keep them busy, and other days it is hard to find a decent bite. The yellow perch are staging for their spring spawning runs and will be schooled up in holes or channels. Six to 10 feet of water seems to be producing the most consistent bites. Crappie will also been in the deeper holes but will be concentrated more around submerged structure like sunken trees. Pickerel and perch are also biting in the area millponds. In the winter, live minnows will be your best friend. They seem to produce more bites compared to artificials. Rig the minnows under a bobber or tip a shard dart with one to be bounced along the bottom when fishing for perch and crappie. Pickerel and bass will be near transition zones with structure and can also be caught on live minnows or jerkbaits and soft plastics. Colder water temperatures call for slower presentations and bites will often be subtle.
For anglers headed towards the coast we have good news from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. They have voted to open a special recreational black sea bass season from February 1 through 28 of 2023. More information regarding the special season can be found on the VMRC website. A free permit is required to participate, which can be found here. After not opening the special season last year, this is a great opportunity for winter fishing while other bites are limited. Some boats heading offshore to target tautog have been finding some nice sized sea bass in the mix so there are definitely fish to be caught at the nearshore wrecks and reefs.
Out in the bay, there is still a chance for some catch and release rockfish action. Bigger rockfish have been in deeper water between 40 and 100 feet of water. The key to finding them this time of year is to locate schools of bait and keep a close eye on your depth finder. Metal jigs up to three ounces have been working well. Larger seven-to-eight-inch plastics on two-ounce jigheads are also getting the job done.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 19 Update:
We were treated to a few warmer weather days this week after a chilly cold front last weekend. The AIC hit the 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. The upcoming weather forecast looks to be trending colder which may keep the bite slow. Fishing ahead of fronts or during the warmer parts of the day are times when these fish may be more active and wanting to feed.
There are still opportunities for catch and release fishing for rockfish in the Bay. These fish are now in very deep water and there are some larger schools of big ocean run rockfish staging before their spring spawning run. Anglers Sports Center reports that these fish are moving around quite a bit from day to day. They recommend starting your search in 40 feet of water and drifting deeper while looking for arks on your meter. If you mark suspended fish, the bigger ones will likely be below them close to the bottom. Use one and a half to two-ounce jigheads or up to three-ounce metal jigs to get down to the fish. Most anglers are launching out of Solomon’s or Point Lookout, but this pattern will exist almost anywhere in the Bay. Patience will be required when targeting these fish. Guide Pete Dahlberg of Four Seasons Guide Service has been targeting these beasts with mixed results. Some days are epic with multiple fish over 40 inches coming onboard while other days the fish seem to disappear and can’t be located. Chasing these fish can make you experience the highest of highs and lowest of lows when it comes to striper fishing.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 12 Update:
January has brough milder temperatures than we are used to for winter, but anglers aren’t complaining. A brief cold front is expected to come through this weekend but next week is forecasted to be back into the 50s. Make sure to take advantage of these warm days while we have them because old man winter is sure to make a return soon. We haven’t heard of much action coming from the sounds but with rockfish season closed, few boats are heading out for catch and release fishing. Along the coast boats have been finding success chasing down the big schools of ocean run rockfish within the three-mile zone. Jigging large metal spoons or soft plastics on heavy jigheads is one of the more popular tactics for these fish. Some days birds give away their location and others it takes some searching around with a close eye on the depth finder. Many fish in these schools are 40 inches or larger, so if you target them, make sure to handle them with care as they are the future of the fishery.
Sea Hawk Sports Center says the Pocomoke perch and crappie action has been hot this week. Water temperatures are hovering around the low 50’s and fish have bene biting in four to 12 feet of water. Sea Hawk says anglers have been finding success using small spinner baits tipper with minnows. 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.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, January 6 Update:
The New Year welcomed us with unseasonably warm temperatures which made for some great fishing days this past week. Unfortunately, Virginia’s rockfish season closed on December 31st, and the only zone open to keep rockfish is coastal waters within three miles of the shore. We did get a report from one reader who told us that fish along the coast seem to have slid a bit further down the beach, as he located the rockfish south of the OC inlet and caught and released some beautiful 40-plus inch fish. Catch and release fishing is still open in Maryland and Virginia waters but the cold snap around Christmas pushed many fish south and into deeper water. Channel edges in 30 to 70 foot of water is where you may find some schools of rockfish close to bottom. Subtle light tackle jigging might get the fish to bite but this time of year they can suffer from lockjaw, making it frustrating when you mark them on the meter but they won't bite.
There are some good freshwater options on the Eastern shore in the wintertime too. An area angler who shifted his attention from the Sound to the tribs and millponds reported a surprisingly slow pickerel bite in Salisbury early this week, catching just a couple small fish in an afternoon of fishing with minnow. Contributor Eric Packard also took a trip to one of the southern millponds this week and he found the pickerel happy to play. Packard caught seven pickerel plus a bass. A Mepps #3 was the hot offering, and he spoke to a couple anglers who were also catching pickerel and bass while fishing with shiners. Sea Hawk Sports 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 Nanticoke. As we get closer to February, they will begin to move into shallower areas. Small jigs work great for them, but live minnows will be the best bait to use when targeting the perch.