Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 1 Update:

With striped bass season now open in parts of Maryland and Virginia waters set to follow shortly, anglers are finding a promising early bite around structure in the Potomac and Bay, with fish holding in the shallows and responding to jigs, soft plastics, and topwater during low-light conditions. Blue catfish are providing steady action throughout the river system, while low water levels are making shad fishing a challenge and could shorten the run without a significant rain boost. Overall, improving water temperatures are fueling a transition into a more active late-spring fishery, with multiple species in play despite fluctuating conditions.

Striped bass season is now open in some Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The slot is 19 to 24 inches, and anglers can keep one fish per person per day. There are still certain tributaries that are closed to targeting striped bass, so make sure to take a look at the striped bass regulation maps to when and where areas open for striped bass fishing. Striped bass season in the Potomac River and Virginia waters will open on May 16th with the same creel and slot limit. FishTalk contributor Eric Packard checked in after fishing the Potomac River near Piney Point this week. Packard fished on the Potomac side of the bridge and said he only got to fish for an hour before being blown off the water. Fishing was good during that hour, and he landed six striped bass between 19 and 26 inches while throwing three-quarter ounce jigs with Rapala CrushCity four-inch “The Mayor” gizzard shad soft plastics. The shallows should be teeming with life now that water temperatures are at the 60-degree mark. Points of interest for striped bass anglers should be docks, bridges, rip-rap shoreline, and marsh points. Focus on areas with current and ambush spots like creek mouths. Topwater lures should also be rigged and ready to go for low light and overcast conditions.

Packard also took a trip up north on the Potomac to the area around Fletcher’s Cove to fish with Dennis Fleming. They were targeting flathead catfish with artificial lures but had no luck. Instead, they caught seven blue catfish on five and a half inch pro blue colored paddletails on one and one and a half ounce jigheads. Other anglers fishing up the tribs for blue cats are having a great bite right now, and this week we heard from a pair who enjoyed excellent action on eating-size blues to 27” in the Potomac near Fletchers. Bunker chunks on FatKat float rigs in 10’ of water were the ticket. The historically low flow on the Potomac for this time of year seems to be causing a slower bite for several species in the D.C. portion of the river. Shad anglers have been struggling while fishing from the banks because of the low water. Anglers fishing from boats or kayaks have to fish the deeper holes and channels in the river to find where the schools of shad are staging. Our recent rain events have been lackluster, and if that trend continues, the shad run will likely wrap up earlier than normal. If we do get a bigger rain event, that usually provides the ingredients to get a late season push of shad up the river, which can extend angling opportunities by a few weeks.