Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 15 Update:

It has been a beautiful week to get out and fish and our springtime patterns are starting to shape up. FishTalk intern Adam Greenberg managed to find our first photo-confirmed shad of the year, which was caught at Fletcher’s on the Potomac. We had a second reader report also from the area confirming the beginning of the run, but in both cases only a single lone fish was landed. Later in the week, contributor Eric Packard ventured down to the upper Mattawoman and found that hickory shad had arrived. Packard caught around 20 fish on small shad darts. We didn’t have any confirmed shad catches from the James or Rap this week but since we know they’re beginning to show to the north it’s a solid bet that they can now be targeted in all the Western Shore rivers to the south, too. We also had a report this week from a reader who tried visiting some of the Potomac River creeks for yellow perch after the rainfall, but said the water was super high and super cold. Other anglers were spotted catching two yellows and a catfish jumped on the line, but conditions did not put the fish in a biting mood.

shad run starts
The first of the shad have officially been spotted! Photo courtesy of Adam Greenberg.

Reports of B-I-G blue cats continue rolling in from the Western Shore rivers, including a 43-pounder caught in the Potomac this week. Cut gizzard shad was the hot bait. The hot catfish bite is also kicking off in the Rappahannock where big fish are being caught in the Tappahannock area. One angler reported in after a stellar day catching 35 blue cats ranging from 10 to 40 pounds. Crappie fishing is also picking up significantly in the rivers. An angler fishing out of D.C. let us know that a lot of fish are schooling up near Blue Plains and District Wharf. On the Rapp, an angler fishing at Little Falls found some slab crappie biting, catching on a small jigs. As water temperatures rise, fish activity should continue to trend up. More opportunities are on the way, but there is plenty to catch right now!


Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 8 Update:

Fishing the perch runs can be very sporadic in the Spring with the inconsistent weather patterns. This year is no different and readers targeting the perch on creeks off the Potomac had some disappointing trips in the past week, with high and muddy water reported from several locations. However, The Tackle Box reports that all the usual lower trib creek and feeder perch grounds do have fish on them now. White perch should be moving into these areas soon too. If you can get live minnows, they usually outperform artificial lures, but make sure you are using circle hooks. If fishing in Maryland waters, note that Natural Resources police officers have been enforcing the striped bass circle hook restrictions on perch anglers, interpreting fishing with minnow as “live lining.” This means that the normal j-hooks, jigheads, and shad darts that just about everyone uses for perch would not be allowed in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. It is okay to use j-hooks if you are fishing in non-tidal waters or are using bait other than live finfish. You can read the circle hook regulations here; we are hoping to get more clarification on this matter in the future.

yellow perch in the cooler
Though conditions have been tough at times, perch are now in their usual spring hotspots.

The Tackle Box also mentioned reports of some surface action that has been happening in the lower Potomac for rockfish catch-and-release action. Birds have been indicating the zones of activity. If you have trouble finding bird action, searching for bait along major channel edges is a good way to locate fish. Water temperatures are almost prime for the striped bass spawn to bust loose, so fish will be moving up the tidal rivers towards their spawning grounds this month. March is the last month to target striped bass for catch and release in Maryland waters before the April and May closures, but the Potomac and Virginia waters will remain open through the spring for catch and release.

If you want to keep some fish to eat, fresh cut bunker is producing excellent catches of catfish in the rivers and the recent rains should allow them to extend their range all the way down the rivers close to the Bay. This goes for the Potomac, the Rappahannock River, and the James, where big blue catfish are known to hang out. Many of the Spring fishing opportunities are starting to shape up, so it is time to hit the water!


Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 1 Update:

RED ALERT for MD Perch Anglers: We have received multiple phone calls and emails this week about anglers perch fishing with minnow on bottom rigs (in tidal areas) being issued warnings by the NRP for not “live lining” with circle hooks. Please spread the word, if you fish minnow for perch this weekend with shad darts or standard bottom rigs you are at risk of being cited!!! Even more important, when we reached out to the DNR about this we were told large numbers of floating/dead perch were spotted when and where this occurred. Since this is certainly not the norm we worry something else may be amiss - if you are out there fishing this weekend and see a fish kill occurring it should be reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment hotline, 800/285-8195.

blue catfish on lure
Blue cats are so plentiful in some areas of the Lower Bay tribs you can actually catch them on lures!

Spring is approaching and fish are starting to bite more. Now is a great time to it the water, especially if we get some warm days that can turn on the bite. Big blue catfish are getting more active, and the big fish are feeding hard. Captain Mike from Apex Predators guide service sent us an impressive catch from the Potomac. He had an angler catch a 60-pound blue catfish this week. They have been catching plenty of other big fish on their guided trips too. The upper Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers are well known for producing big catfish, but the blues aren’t the only one’s biting. Dog Days Fishing took a trip to the upper Potomac in D.C. and jigged up some very nice flathead catfish. Most fish were around 10 pounds, but a few were in the 20s. All fish were caught jigging while using BKD’s.

We had a report from an angler who was fishing at the Blue Plains Advanced Water Treatment Plant in D.C. who found schoolie sized stripers biting near the warm water discharge. The stripers were biting on hardbaits which also snagged a few gizzard shad. They then went searching for crappie and found some in the Oxon Cove area while using spider rigs. Catch and release striped bass fishing regulations are getting stricter as we head into March. The main stem of the Bay is still open for catch and release fishing, but many of the rivers will be closed to targeting striped bass. In the lower Bay, the tidal creeks that extend off the Potomac on the Maryland side of the river will be closed to targeting. The main stem of the Bay will remain open to catch and release fishing from the Brewerton Channel to the Virginia line, including the Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. Maps of the open and closed areas can be found on the Maryland DNR website.

February 2, 2024
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, February 23 Update: Big blue catfish have been keeping anglers busy in the Lower Bay rivers with some monsters being caught this week. Captain Mike from Apex Predators guide service checked in to let us know… Read more...
January 5, 2024
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, January 26 Update: Big news was announced this week for striped bass regulations. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has voted for option B2, setting Chesapeake Bay 2024 striped bass regulations… Read more...
December 1, 2023
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 29 Update: We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and got some new fishing gear to try out in 2024. We have some great bites going into the New Year with some of the best striped bass action you… Read more...