Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, December 31 Update:
Welcome to the final fishing report of 2021! Here’s hoping that 2022 is a better year, both fishing-wise and otherwise. Between the holidays and the drop-off in effort we didn’t hear anything new and surprising from the northern reaches of the Chesapeake this week, but good bites do continue for those braving the weather. Crappie have been biting well in the rivers and a few yellow perch are in the lower reaches of the Susquehanna, and of course catfish are ever-present throughout the area for anglers dropping cut bait in channels and holes. Remember, if you’re within sight of the 95 bridge and can reach deep water, catching cats is a solid bet. Just check out this beast caught on cut bait this week!
Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, December 23 Update:
Happy Holidays and Merry Fishmas anglers - we hope your holidays are full of lake trips, bucktails, and winter water wonderland fishing success stories! But we have one week of fishing in 2021 left, so: It’s panfish time, people! We have reader reports this week of both crappie and yellow perch in the northern creeks and rivers, with crappie apparently headlining. The fish are willing to hit minnow under bobbers and photo-documented evidence came in of a 14-incher. The yellow perch weren’t reported in numbers as strong but they’ve begun showing up in any case, with minnow again reported as being the offering of choice but fished deeper on darts.
The Conowingo Dam Pool and Susquehanna Flats have been very quiet, with the exception of anglers targeting catfish. In the Dam pool, they’ve been easy to come by for anglers soaking cut baits on bottom. The same is true for anglers fishing the Flats, where some larger cats have been landed, up into the low 30-inch range (photo confirmed) this week. Herb’s sends their reminders that catfish love some fresh and juicy bait, but’ll pass up the stuff that lacks some stink. Sticking to fresh-cut is one of the best ways to up your chances at landing cats.
Alert!! Alert!! Due to dredging the Havre de Grace boat ramp at the city yacht basin has been temporarily closed. We don't have a solid date on re-opening but we're told maybe February.
Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, December 17 Update:
The fisheries in the northern reaches of the Chesapeake have switched over to almost entirely freshwater-oriented species at this point, and this week we heard about a nice mix of catfish, crappie, and a few early yellow perch from readers hearty enough to hit the lower Susquehanna and the upper tribs. Catfish are thick from the Rt. 95 bridge down to Perryville and are biting on cut fish and chicken livers dropped into the channels and holes near ledges. That same zone holds some perch, though we didn’t have anyone reporting banner catches. The opposite can be said for those targeting crappie in the tribs, though, where a reader reported that excellent numbers hit minnow on darts and jigs suspended under a bobber.
Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, December 10 Update:
Fare thee well, dear rockfish, we’ll miss you—and we’ll see you again in 2022. For now, however, as of the end of the day today, December 10, the catch-and-keep season in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay is over. We note that that you can continue to catch and release fish for stripers through the end of the year. In Virginia and in the Potomac, the catch-and-keep season continues for the rest of the month. So, if you’d like to take home a fish for dinner you can still head south. Additionally, the coastal season remains open as well.
Meanwhile, catfish continue to put a serious bend in the rods of many anglers and more utter monsters continuing to be caught throughout the northern Chesapeake. Cut frozen bunker is a favorite bait that’s easily procured at most local tackle shops, but one reader noted that live bull minnow are thoroughly attractive to the cats, including very large ones, despite that bait’s diminutive size. Herb’s is reporting catfish at Perryville up to 25 pounds (and has now cut back to weekend-only hours). The lumps south of Poole’s were a good bet noted by readers. Another mentioned that reaching drop-offs to 10-plus feet was important when fishing from the shoreline.
Way North Chesapeake Fishing Report, December 3 Update:
Casting soft plastics is the most popular method to go after the morning bite in the Dam pool and downriver but few stripers are being caught at this point regardless of location, and those showing up have mostly been thoroughly undersized schoolies. The occasional 19-incher is popping up, but isn’t to be expected. Cool water temps have the fish moving south and holding deep. In large part, they’re cleared out of the northern most reaches of the Chesapeake or have gone more or less inactive. While the rockfish have been petering out, however, reports of big catfish continue to come in from up the Bay, and we do mean big — one reader checked in after catching a 43-pound monster along with a 30-pounder, plus some “normal” fish, in the Gunpowder on Thanksgiving. He did also note, however, that a return trip Sunday was fruitless; one thing that can shut the catfish bite off is a potent front passing through, so hopefully they’ll be back on the feed by this weekend. Herb’s also reported some excellent catfishing from the Perryville area this week. They let us know that one day produced over a dozen cats in the 15- to 25-pound range, all caught on live minnows. Crappie reports from northern waters are also picking up, with multiple reports coming in that they’re big and biting. We had one report from an angler who lost count after 15 fishing a northern creek and Herb’s suggested heading to the North East.
